Turning Around Vacant Property in Richmond

From The Richmond City Department of Planning & Development Review:

Mark your calendar for Friday, August 20 for a educational discussion and panel on revitalizing vacant properties in Richmond.

Hosted by The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, the Virginia Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and the Partnership for Housing Affordability, the morning will include a dynamic discussion with regional leaders and national experts about addressing vacant property issues in Richmond-area neighborhoods.

The forum will focus on existing tools and strategies, as well as explore new policy alternatives that address concentrations of vacant properties in communities.

Rachel Flynn, Director of Planning and Development Review, will be joined by two city attorneys at 9 a.m. to discuss “Neighborhood Stabilization Tools and Strategies in Greater Richmond” and review vacant property trend data in the city, local policy tools and strategies, and a case study that demonstrates how a vacant building can be turned around.

The second portion of the program at 10:30 a.m. will discuss “Neighborhood Stabilization Policy Alternatives” and the panel will include, Jim Kelly, Assistant Professor, University of Baltimore; Meredith Mishaga, Program Coordinator, Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative; and  Racquel Reddie, Community Development Manager for the National Community Stabilization Trust.

They will discuss current foreclosure trends, impacts, programs and community development best practices that can help stabilize neighborhoods with high concentrations of vacant, foreclosed and/or bank-owned properties. Click here for more information.

Details:
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
701 E. Byrd St.
Friday, August 20, 2010 - 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Call (804) 422-5013 for more information.

Randolph Community Group June Meeting

The Randolph Community group requests your presence at the:
Randolph Community Group June Meeting
Tuesday, June 1st at the Randolph Community Center
1415 Grayland Avenue from 6-8 p.m.
All students, homeowners, and renters invited!

Guests to Include:
Catherine Howard–VCU Vice Provost–Division of Community Engagement
Reuban Rodriguez–VCU Associate Vice Provost/Dean of Student Affairs
Rachel Flynn–City of Richmond–Director of Planning and Development
Thomas Barnes and Darlene Mallory –Clean City Commission
Ward Kuper–RPD–3rd Precinct Community/Environmental Officer

Please come and help us build a wonderful, cohesive community!

Randolph Community Forum

When: Tuesday May 4, 2010 from 6 to 8PM
Where: Randolph Community Center (1415 Grayland Avenue)

The Randolph Community group requests your presence at the:
“Randolph Community Forum”
All students, renters and homeowners invited!

Guests to Include:
E. Martin Jewell, Councilman, Richmond City Council, Central 5th District
John Venuti, VCU Police Chief
Ronald Brown, VCU Community Development Coordinator - Carver
Catherine Howard, VCU Vice Provost - Division of Community Engagement
Reuban Rodriguez, VCU Associate Vice Provost/Dean of Student Affairs
Rachel Flynn, City of Richmond - Director of Planning and Development
Pastor James Henry Harris, Second Baptist Church
Ward Kuper, RPD - 3rd Precinct Community/Environmental Officer

Representatives from RRHA, The Fan District Association, The Carver Area Civic Improvement League, and the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association have also been invited.

Please come and help us build a wonderful, cohesive community!

Councilman Marty Jewell Hospitalized

On Wednesday April 14, 2010, the Richmond City Council released this statement regarding Councilman Marty Jewell:

(Richmond, Virginia) – Yesterday evening, [Tuesday April 13] Richmond City Councilman E. Martin “Marty” Jewell, Central 5th District was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital.

Upon experiencing some chest discomfort and with his physician’s office being closed, Councilman Jewell decided to go to the hospital where he was admitted and is currently being evaluated.

Councilman Jewell anticipates being discharged in a couple of days and thanks the Richmond Community for their thoughts and prayers. Mr. Jewell’s family requests no phone calls, flowers or visitation at this time.

CONTACT    For more information please contact Francine Young, Richmond City Council Central 5th District Liaison, at 804.646.5724.

—

The people of Randolph wish him a speedy recovery to full health.

Randolph Community Group Meeting Rescheduled!

President-Elect, Stephanie Rizzi invites all Randolph residents to the next Randolph Community Group Meeting, Tuesday February 16 from 6 to 8PM at the Randolph Community Center. (Previously scheduled for Feb 2, but moved back 2 weeks due to weather.)

Our guest speakers for the evening are:

Dr. Ruben Rodriquez
, Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Student Affairs
Chief John Venuti, VCU Police Department
W. Hawkins Kuper, 3rd Precinct Community Environmental Officer

PLEASE COME OUT
, STEP UP and SPEAK UP

Light refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!

State of the City Address on Tuesday

The Annual State of the City Address will be held on Tuesday January 26, 2010 at Richmond CenterStage, Carpenter Theatre from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. This is a public event that is free and open to everyone. Complimentary parking is available across from the Grace Street side of Center Stage. Enter from 6th and 7th Streets.

CAPS Meeting Tomorrow

The Community Assisted Public Safety (CAPS) meeting is tomorrow.

Date:   Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Time:   6:15 p.m.
Place:  Round House at Byrd Park (600 Swan Lake Dr.)

What is CAPS?

Community Assisted Public Safety (CAPS) is a systemic change in the way the residents and city administration think about and approach overall neighborhood health in the City of Richmond. CAPS seeks to eliminate blight and restore luster to our neighborhoods by partnering with citizens to identify and eliminate the problems associated with the most troublesome properties in our City. CAPS provides a vehicle for us to work together to ensure that each of Richmond’s neighborhoods is clean, safe, and healthy.

The CAPS philosophy recognizes that code enforcement alone cannot deal with blighted and other problem properties in the City. Nor can the Police alone always solve crime-plagued properties. A key feature of CAPS is that numerous city departments work together as a team with citizens to ensure that a problem property will stay a priority until a satisfactory resolution is reached. The CAPS process has achieved outstanding results in all parts of the City.

Neighborhood Patrol Discovers Another Break-In

Tonight I went out with another homeowner to drop off flyers about the recent buglaries and to keep an eye out for everyone. We walked around most homes - particularly the dark and obviously empty - to make sure no “two legged rats” were around.

We didn’t get far before discovering one house with a broken window and a back door with shattered glass. We immediately reported this to the police and they came out to investigate. The police seemed very aware of the many recent burglaries in the area, and even said they caught 5 kids coming out of one house. But in that case the criminals were underage so they were quickly released to their parents! Apparently B&E (that’s breaking and entering, for those who don’t speak Cop) isn’t a big deal if you are underage.

It’s obvious these kids are coming in groups and targeting homes when no one is there. This last home was completely dark, the motion light was not working, the security system was not in use and the next door neighbor said he hadn’t seen anyone there for about a week. That house was an easy target, and as I write this the resident still does not know they have been robbed because no one knows exactly who lives there or how to get in touch with them.

If you are leaving your home for more than 24 hours, do yourself a favor and let your neighbors and the police know. Richmond City Police offers a free home watch service. Just visit the local precinct (We are 3rd precinct, Sector 313 located at 301 South Meadow Street, Richmond Virginia 23223). or download the form from this page. (They prefer a few weeks notice, so try to plan ahead.) And at least leave some lights on and activate your security system! ADT has plans for less than $30 a month. If your security system is not active and monitored it is useless.

Recent Break-Ins & 10 Ways to Secure Your Home

Over the past week there have been reports of attempted and successful break-ins in Randolph West. 1617 Jacquelin Street was broken into twice in recent days and there were attempted break-ins at 1700 Kemper Street and 1608 Lakeview Avenue.

1617 Jacquelin had 2 laptops and a Playstation stolen. The house was entered through a side window where the screen was cut and removed. The incidents occurred sometime during the night this past weekend (Nov 20 - 22).

10 Ways to Secure Your Property

There are many different things we can do to secure ourselves and our property while living in downtown Richmond:

1. Lock Windows, Doors and Use Window Security Tabs
   

   An extended window security tab.

   Everyone knows this, but you can’t be reminded enough - lock and bolt your doors. Lock your windows. Also, all windows in Randolph West have security tabs. Be sure they’re activated (extended) and your windows will not be able to be opened more than a few inches - even if someone breaks the glass.

2. Add Additional Locks
   Even with your doors locked and bolted, a good hard kick can sometimes break the frame and open the door (ever watched COPS?). Install additional locks beyond the standard locks to prevent people from kicking your doors in. If you’re not sure how to do this on your own contact the HOA - info@randolphwesthoa.com
3. Activate Your Security System
   All homes in Randolph West have a built in security system, but it must be active and used properly to provide any protection. These systems can be activated and monitored by any security company (like ADT) and the cost is very minimal - $20 to $40 per month.
4. Turn On Outdoor Lights
   Criminals don’t want to be seen when they’re trying to break into a home. Turn on your front and back porch lights and leave them on all night, every night. If every home in Randolph West keeps their lights on, break-ins will be reduced! New street lights and alley lights are on the way, but until then we must light up our area of Richmond.
5. Keep blinds closed
   Criminals are more likely to break into a home when they know they have the chance at stealing something valuable. Keep all your blinds closed night and day so anything of value will be hidden from outside. And if your blinds are broken, replace them immediately. Broken blinds don’t just allow criminals to browse the merchandise, it also makes the neighborhood look bad.
6. Do not leave product boxes outside
   If you buy a brand new big screen plasma TV (or any other valuable product that someone could carry away quickly), don’t advertise that fact by leaving the box outside. To criminals that’s like putting up a sign saying “Break into this house!”
7. Know Your Neighbors
   Simply taking the time to know who lives around you will allow you to know when someone around our homes is not supposed to be there. Stop and introduce yourself.
8. Join the Email List
   Anytime there is any criminal activity we send out messages to the email list. Click here to join the email list here and you’ll know immediately if there are any incidents.
   
9. Get Renters Insurance
   We have a lot of renters in our area. If you rent in Ranoldph West (or anywhere else really),  you’d be wise to have a renters insurance policy. They’re very inexpensive and will protect all your valuables. Check with car insurance company as they might provide even more discounts for having multiple policies.
10. Get Involved
    Be a part of  the Homeowners Association and/or the Neighborhood Watch. Even if you’re not a homeowner, we want you to be at the meetings and communicate with everyone. Randolph West neighborhood watch contact: Tyrone - jacksoty@aol.com HOA contact: Morgan - info@randolphwesthoa.com

What To Do If You’re a Victim

If you have a break-in (or notice an attempted break-in) please do the following:

1. Call the Police. Call 911 or the Richmond Police non-emergency number 804-646-5100.
2. Notify the Randolph West Homeowners Assoc.  - info@randolphwesthoa.com - so we can get the message out to everyone.

Richmond Fire Station Closures

Due to budget cuts, the Richmond Fire Department has been forced to make staffing cuts. When staff is sick, takes vacation or has other absences, they are not paying overtime to fill in the absence. Because some firehouses are already low on staff, they simply close entire firehouses - sometimes for 24 hours.

These closures result in fewer companies to respond to emergencies and requires other companies to travel further distances. You see where this is going - Richmond fire coverage is suffering, and it could get worse.

The The Richmond Firefighters Association, I.A.F.F. Local 995, has created a blog to list all fire house closures, and to educate citizens on this critical issue. They suggest citizens contact their councilman to let them know we’re not happy about these closures.

For those of us in the 5th District, you can contact our Councilman, Marty Jewell at 804-646-6050 or email him at marty.jewell@richmondgov.com

Important Links from this article

Richmond Firefighters Association Blog (Lists all fire station closures)