Students, parents, teachers and community members gather for a rally to support funding of schools budget request in front of Richmond City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. (Daniel Sangjib, RTD)
CITY OF RICHMOND
John Edward “Dawson” Boyer is Richmond’s newest School Board member. The city’s School Board chose Boyer on Monday night to represent the 1st District for the next 10 months. He replaces Glen H. Sturtevant Jr., who vacated the 1st District seat after his election to the state Senate. Boyer, 30, a real estate agent and co-owner of Boyer’s Ice Cream and Coffee, will immediately be confronted with several major issues facing the School Board in coming months.
The Richmond School Board advanced plans Monday to address overcrowding in the city’s South Side by endorsing a $19.1 million stopgap measure school system officials said was a poor use of tax dollars. The vote — prompted by a request from Mayor Dwight C. Jones — represents a step back from a $563 million plan to right-size the district’s outdated facilities officials touted as the solution to decades of deferred maintenance. “We have been put in a position where we’ve got to do the best we can with what we have,” said School Board chairman Jeffrey Bourne, 3rd District. “These are short-term solutions that it sounds like will exacerbate our long-term problems.”
Richmond City Council voted 7-1-1 on Monday night to approve a $49 million bus rapid transit project that supporters hope is the beginning of a regional transit system and opponents worry is a flawed first step that doesn’t do enough to expand access to public transportation. The action represented the City Council’s final opportunity to sign off on the project and followed a heated, 90-minute-long public hearing before a packed Council Chambers. “We want to build the first stage of a bus rapid transit regional transportation system and it must start in Richmond,” said Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District, who went on to pledge to bring the surrounding counties to the table to work on the next stages. “It has always been a regional plan.”
More than 200 Richmond Public Schools advocates bundled in thick coats and clutching homemade signs lined the Broad Street entrance of City Hall on Wednesday afternoon chanting “Support our schools” and — briefly — “Show me the money.” Several passers-by honked horns and raised fists in support of the teachers, students and parents shouting their message upward toward the second-floor offices of Mayor Dwight C. Jones. It wasn’t the first time City Hall had seen some of the signs waved Wednesday. Several were included in a photo manipulation that Jones’ press secretary, Tammy D. Hawley, authorized for the annual state of the city address last month.
The Richmond (Virginia) city council has approved plans for a Bus Rapid transit line running east-west through the core of the city — the starting point for a more robust transit network for the whole city and potentially the region. Like all starter lines, it focuses on a small part of the city, and these projects always raise questions about the city-wide benefits. What’s in it for you if you don’t live or work near the line? One answer to that concern is that a good core transit line produces all kinds of benefits across the city. By running a busy corridor more quickly and reliably, resources are freed up to run more effective local services. Like all rapid transit lines, this one will depend heavily on improved local bus service, and improved local bus service will mean better mobility for people not on the rapid line.
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CHESTERFIELD
The county’s new-home market saw modest, but steady growth last year, according to data from Integra Realty Resources-Richmond and the Chesterfield Planning Department. The department issued 1,371 building permits for single- and multifamily housing during 2015, increasing the county’s housing stock by 1.1 percent. To give perspective, during the real estate boom in the early 2000s, the county’s housing stock grew by 3 percent annually.
With a positive revenue forecast for 2016, Chesterfield County will not raise taxes this year, but many residents will pay more because property values have increased. The Board of Supervisors on Wednesday advertised its real estate tax rate at the current level of 96 cents per $100 of assessed value, which bars the board from raising the rate. The county’s finance planners project a revenue stream totaling $808.6 million for fiscal year 2017 — that’s up nearly 3 percent from $785.1 million in the current year.
GOOCHLAND
As winter drags on, many Goochland County residents are likely looking forward to the warmer weather ahead, and the promise of spending spring days enjoying the outdoors. Fortunately, the county has a wealth of options available for those looking to log a little park time, and will soon add one more. According to Goochland County Parks, Recreation and Facilities director Derek Stamey, the county will break ground in the coming weeks on Matthews Park, a 36-acre facility located in the western end of the county.
POWHATAN
The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors opened the door for a new development in eastern Powhatan County that will create a new retail space, 22 single-family “golf villa” units and 200 apartments. During its meeting on Monday, Feb. 1, the board voted unanimously to conditionally rezone about 50 acres of land near the intersection of Route 711 and Winterfield Road from Commercial and Residential-Utility to Village Center Planned Development District. The applicant, Riverton Associates, plans to create a mixed-use development near the eastern county line that consists of a maximum 75,000-square-foot retail/commercial/office space, 22 single-family “golf villa” units and 200 apartments, March Altman, deputy county administrator, said.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Senate of Virginia voted Tuesday to back a measure that makes key changes to the proffer system, in which local governments extract payments from developers for public infrastructure. The bill bars localities from denying rezoning requests to residential developers based on the applicant’s refusal to submit to “unreasonable” proffers. The Senate backed the measure on a 29-8 vote with two abstentions.
The Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to prohibit local governments from regulating unmanned aircraft, as Charlottesville tried to do in 2013 when it declared the city a “no drone zone.” Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, said the goal of his legislation is to have uniform rules about drones across the commonwealth — and not different regulations in each locality. He said the House Courts of Justice Committee will explore the issue. “What the bill says is that no locality may regulate this until … the courts committee comes up with a way to make sure that we have an across-the-board way to regulate drones,” Kilgore told delegates during a discussion of House Bill 412 on Monday.
A bill that could lay the groundwork for a new coliseum for the Richmond region easily passed the House of Delegates Wednesday on a 84-15 vote. Del. G. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, pitched the bill as a way to allow the region to collaborate on a future project to replace the aging Richmond Coliseum. The bill, House Bill 1237, would give the Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority the power to build, own and operate an arena. The RMTA – which includes representation from the city of Richmond, Henrico County and Chesterfield County – previously owned The Diamond baseball stadium and still operates the area’s toll facilities.
After two children and three moves, Trish Nardone was burned out. When she learned her son Jason needed specialized schooling after a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, she wasn’t ready to go back to work to pay for it. But with her Charlottesville home equipped with a walkout basement, she sensed an opportunity. She started on Airbnb slowly, renting out the basement just a few days in the first year. Now, the Nardone family has paying guests, some from far-off places like France and Shanghai, almost every weekend. “We were able to pay for school and stay in the black,” said Nardone, 42, who came to Richmond this week to encourage the Virginia General Assembly to legitimize the fast-growing short-term lodging industry. “I couldn’t do it without this.”
NATIONAL
After a lengthy, hotly-contested debate, the Bend, Oregon City Council voted to ease rules restricting accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in single-family residential neighborhoods last week, joining a number of cities including Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon in allowing homeowners to rent out extra spaces on their property. Proponents hope the so-called “granny flats” — which include small backyard cottages, apartments atop garages and the like — will increase affordable housing stock while generating supplemental income for homeowners. Detractors — of which there are many in Bend — worry about the negative impacts of increased density in single-family, residential areas.
ELECTIONS
Who will run in the new 4th Congressional District?
A major redrawing of congressional districts is prompting U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, a pro-military Republican, to switch his district from the 4th to the 2nd because he fears new voters might not re-elect him. That begs a question: Who might run to take his place in the new 4th District? The one name that comes up is that of state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, says Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “It’s still a little early to say who might be in contention,” Farnsworth says. “We’ll have to wait until the General Assembly session is over. But now that Forbes has made his announcement, more names are likely to come out.”
A major redrawing of congressional districts is prompting U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, a pro-military Republican, to switch his district from the 4th to the 2nd because he fears new voters might not re-elect him. That begs a question: Who might run to take his place in the new 4th District? The one name that comes up is that of state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, says Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “It’s still a little early to say who might be in contention,” Farnsworth says. “We’ll have to wait until the General Assembly session is over. But now that Forbes has made his announcement, more names are likely to come out.”
Levar Stoney: Friend and Adviser to McAuliffe with Ambition of His Own
Levar Stoney’s name comes up frequently in state politics. Politicos who want to solve a problem or get Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s attention go to him. He is secretary of the commonwealth and, at 34, the youngest member of the governor’s Cabinet. Politically ambitious, Stoney speaks at voting-rights events and heads the administration’s effort to return voting rights to people with felony convictions. Like his boss, he enjoys working nonstop, raising the profile of the secretary of the commonwealth’s position. As a former athlete, he loves the competition of politics. He’s considering a run for mayor of Richmond. And in October he was named to the 2015 class of Style’s Top 40 Under 40. Stoney’s life didn’t start on this trajectory.
Levar Stoney’s name comes up frequently in state politics. Politicos who want to solve a problem or get Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s attention go to him. He is secretary of the commonwealth and, at 34, the youngest member of the governor’s Cabinet. Politically ambitious, Stoney speaks at voting-rights events and heads the administration’s effort to return voting rights to people with felony convictions. Like his boss, he enjoys working nonstop, raising the profile of the secretary of the commonwealth’s position. As a former athlete, he loves the competition of politics. He’s considering a run for mayor of Richmond. And in October he was named to the 2015 class of Style’s Top 40 Under 40. Stoney’s life didn’t start on this trajectory.