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!

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.

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)

3rd Quarter Richmond City Housing Analysis

From the Department of Community Development November 2009 Newsletter:

The city’s 3rd Quarter Housing Analysis shows that the average sales price in the city of Richmond for all residential units (4 units and below) was $182,253 as compared with $181,025 from last quarter, and $204,208 from this time last year.

Between July 1 and September 30, 720 units were sold as compared with the 2nd Quarter’s 956 units (compared to 1,164 units in the 3Q of 2008). There were 227 foreclosures in the 3rd quarter, down from 264 in the second quarter; which brings the 2009 total to date to 694. This is on pace to eclipse last year’s total of 768.

City Councilman Marty Jewell Arrested for DUI

City Councilman Marty Jewell's mugshot

Our 5th district Councilman “Marty” Jewell was arrested at 1:30AM on Oct 24. At this time, no details have been released, but the councilman did release this statement to CBS 6 News:

“On the advice of council, I won’t be saying anything more until Monday. I look forward to all the facts being made public.”

We look forward to hearing those details too, Marty.

Links to local coverage:

RVA News

Times Dispatch

CBS 6

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update Oct 29 9:20AM:
There has been no report or response from Councilman Jewell or his staff. The day after the arrest Jewell attended the regularly scheduled City Council meeting but had no comment.