Illustration by Bob Scott
In 2001, when Richmond last adopted a master plan encompassing all the city’s major systems, including land use, transportation and housing, the city’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was 195,966.
By 2018, the population had swelled to 228,783, an increase of almost 17%, all contained within the city’s 62.5 square miles.
With that growth in mind — and in anticipation of Richmond’s 300th anniversary in 2037 — in 2018 the city launched Richmond 300, a process to develop a master plan that will “create guidelines for how we want our city to grow over the next 20 years and include recommendations we can begin implementing in the next five to 10 years to work toward that vision,” Mayor Levar Stoney said in a report outlining the origins of Richmond 300.
The Richmond 300 process involves city staff, community professionals and the public. Staff from the Department of Planning and Development Review (PDR), the Planning Commission and other departments that work with specific areas, such as public schools and transportation, provided information about existing plans and policies, and collected and provided data.
A 21-member advisory council works as a “sounding board,” developing awareness and communication with the public. Its members were selected from 173 applicants and include professionals in real estate, architecture, historic preservation, urban design and law.
Recommendations for the master plan were developed via topic-specific working groups, whose members included experts as well as neighborhood representatives. In 15 meetings held from March to July 2019, these groups created draft strategies and maps; nearly 300 residents attended these meetings, with many people attending several sessions. Public input has been central to the development of Richmond 300, says Mark Olinger, director of planning and development review. “We have a wide variety of neighborhoods in the city,” he says. “One of the things we’re trying to do is understand how we build choice for people across all income levels and lifestyle choices.”
To date, two rounds of community consultations have drawn more than 3,000 responses from community members. The first community consultation, at the end of 2018, focused on a vision for Richmond’s future; the second consultation, held a year later, sought input on the draft master plan. A third session will be held in February or March to refine the draft plan based on public input.
The implementation of the GRTC Pulse rapid transit along Broad Street has spurred development in Scott’s Addition. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Ch-ch-changes
The Code of Virginia requires master plans for localities, noting that such plans should include “careful and comprehensive surveys and studies of the existing conditions and trends of growth, and of the probable future requirements of its territory and inhabitants … with the purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted and harmonious development of the territory which will, in accordance with present and probable future needs and resources, best promote the health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity and general welfare of the inhabitants, including the elderly and persons with disabilities (§15.2-2223).”
It’s logical, Olinger says, that plans have to be modified over time. “As we all continue to age and mature as communities — whether county government or city government — life changes, what people want changes, and technology changes,” he says.
While the 2001 master plan is still in effect, smaller plans have been created since then for specific areas. Both the Richmond Riverfront Master Plan and the Pulse Corridor Plan were developed to address specific needs.
“With the Pulse, the idea was to encourage a level of density and development that was supported by transportation,” Olinger says. “We created a new zoning district that we believe will support the Pulse.”
That new district has been key in fostering changes to Scott’s Addition, he says, noting that the earlier designation of M1 in the neighborhood — historically a light industrial area — prohibited residential development. When a property owner came to the city in 2005 with a plan to convert a former office building to include apartments, a special use permit was required. No more.
“We’re going to let the market, in some respects, tell us how this stuff goes,” he says. “We’re trying to be a little more flexible, because people seem to say they like being able to walk to things, to have things in close proximity.”
Over the years, Olinger notes, land-use categories have multiplied, leading to a total of 31 categories now on the city books. “We’re trying [in the new plan] to get that number down to 10,” he says, adding that the plan should avoid a “bright dividing line” between commercial and residential areas.
Mark Olinger, director of planning and development review for the City of Richmond (Photo by Jay Paul)
Shared Territory
While Richmond is a stand-alone city, surrounding localities often have similar concerns. The 50-year-old Richmond Regional Planning District Commission — now known as PlanRVA — has provided a way for nine area localities (the counties of Hanover, Goochland, Powhatan, Chesterfield, Henrico, Charles City and New Kent, the Town of Ashland and the City of Richmond) to confer on topics affecting the entire region.
Discussions are usually transportation-related, because of federal funding, Olinger says, but “we look at other things as well.” He adds that the planning directors from Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico also meet a few times each year, to see how these pieces fit together.
“The issues that run along Jeff Davis Highway are an issue in Chesterfield, Richmond and all the other counties up Route 1,” Olinger says. “Things don’t stop at city boundaries or county lines.”
R. Joseph Emerson, director of Henrico County’s planning department, says, “Henrico County collaborates with the city and adjacent counties on an ongoing basis.” He points to the Rocketts Landing community as an example of a mixed-use development that straddles the Henrico County-Richmond line.
Henrico’s comprehensive plan was adopted in 2009 with a sunset date of 2026. The county’s planning department is preparing an RFP (request for proposal) for consulting services to assist with updating the plan, with a goal of having a team in place by this summer.
Both Chesterfield County and Hanover County have relatively new comprehensive plans in place. Chesterfield’s was approved in May 2019, and Hanover County adopted its plan in February 2018.
Olinger says Richmond is experiencing a special moment in time.
“Richmond is in a unique position right now,” he says. “We’re growing; we’ve caught a lot of buzz; we’re seen as a creative city. People are coming here because they find what Richmond has to offer, and they want to be a part of it.”
The challenge, he says, is harnessing that energy for everyone.
“Mayor Levar Stoney wants us to be welcoming for all types of folks,” he says. “We want people to have quality housing they can afford. I think we really need to support truly small businesses — small maker communities that are part of the character and fabric of our city.
“We’re trying to make it possible for new things to happen within the city in a way that provides variety.”
