Richmond’s Future Housing: Code Refresh Part 2

This is RVA's Got Issues.

I'm Rich Marr.

Last week on our show, we talked to Karis Manzanares of VPM News about the latest draft of Code Refresh, the city's overhaul of its zoning code, the rules about what can be built in the city and where.

This is what Karis told us.

Code Refresh really was to align the city's zoning with the master plan, which calls for more equitable places to live, places that have sustainability, have green spaces, really kind of a more well-rounded neighborhood.

One of the things Karis and I talked about was whose voices were heard in the process of revising Code Refresh, especially when the city scaled back some of the ideas from the original draft.

It was dominated by homeowners.

And then a lot of the public stances from neighborhood associations also really dominated the conversation.

That was one of the questions that housing advocates really brought up.

Have we tapped the entire city for feedback?

Now, we know city officials have tried and are continuing to try to hear from as many people as possible.

But if some voices are dominating, it raises the question, who is Code Refresh for? And really, what does the resulting version of Code Refresh tell us about the kinds of neighborhoods we want and the kinds of families who will live in those neighborhoods? So on today's show, we'll talk to two people who have thought a lot about what we want to get out of Code Refresh.

First, we'll talk with the Richmond City Council member who's been at the center of the changes to this latest draft of Code Refresh.

And later, we'll talk to a member of Richmond's Zoning Advisory Council about what our zoning tells us about what kind of Richmond we want and who we want to live there.

That's coming up on RVA's Got Issues.

This is RVA's Got Issues.

I'm Rich Marr.

Last week on our show, we talked to Karis Manzanares of VPM News about the latest draft of Code Refresh, the city's overhaul of its zoning code, the rules about what can be built in the city and where.

This is what Karis told us.

Code Refresh really was to align the city's zoning with the master plan, which calls for more equitable places to live, places that have sustainability, have green spaces, really kind of a more well-rounded neighborhood.

One of the things Karis and I talked about was whose voices were heard in the process of revising Code Refresh, especially when the city scaled back some of the ideas from the original draft.

It was dominated by homeowners.

And then a lot of the public stances from neighborhood associations also really dominated the conversation.

That was one of the questions that housing advocates really brought up.

Have we tapped the entire city for feedback?

Now, we know city officials have tried and are continuing to try to hear from as many people as possible.

But if some voices are dominating, it raises the question, who is Code Refresh for? And really, what does the resulting version of Code Refresh tell us about the kinds of neighborhoods we want and the kinds of families who will live in those neighborhoods? So on today's show, we'll talk to two people who have thought a lot about what we want to get out of Code Refresh.

First, we'll talk with the Richmond City Council member who's been at the center of the changes to this latest draft of Code Refresh.

And later, we'll talk to a member of Richmond's Zoning Advisory Council about what our zoning tells us about what kind of Richmond we want and who we want to live there.

That's coming up on RVA's Got Issues.