The Agenda: Local Government Notes for 3/28/22

Tax Items Related to Casinos, Richmond 300 Amendments on City Council Agenda

Richmond City Council meets Monday beginning with a budget workshop at 1 p.m. and an informal session at 4 p.m.

Business at the regular 6 p.m. meeting includes a resolution supporting a 2-cent reduction in the city’s property tax rate if a second electoral referendum on the One Casino + Resort project passes, and nominating funds for public schools and infrastructure projects.

A separate resolution would allocate one-third of the casino project’s revenue to a reserve fund for schools, to supplant a planned $7.2 million cut in state funding.

Other business includes a request from a majority of council members to make changes to the Richmond 300 master plan. The changes would identify the city’s subsidized housing communities – Creighton Court, Fairfield Court, Gilpin Court, Hillside Court, Mosby Court North and South and Whitcomb Court – as priority growth nodes in the plan.

Items on the consent agenda include requests from Canterbury Enterprises to adjust the number of homes it plans for two developments in the Southside. It now offers 73 townhouses, up from 65, on 7 acres at 5315 and 5323 Warwick Road and 5300 Rear Hull Street Road. And it now plans 34 townhouses, down from 36, on 6 acres at 2525, 2613 and 2701 Belt Blvd.

Also on the consent agenda is Urban Generation Living’s application for a special use permit for the 26-unit condo development it is planning at 417-419 Libbie Ave.

VUU tower signage vote postponed another three months

At its meeting last week, the Richmond Planning Commission again deferred a special use request from Virginia Union University to allow its “VUU” signage to remain on its campus steeple. The neon signs were placed without the required city and state approvals, and an agreement between the university and the state was in the works when the request was initially delayed last fall.

The matter was adjourned to the June 6 meeting, at which time Chairman Rodney Poole said he expected an agreement to be finalized between VUU, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Office of the state attorney general. Poole said this postponement would be the last on the matter and the commission would hold a vote at this meeting anyway.

RRHA Board of Directors Appoints Director of Fahrenheit Advisors as Interim CEO

The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners has appointed Sheila Hill-Christian as the agency’s interim CEO effective April 1. She replaces Stacey Daniels-Fayson, who has held the position since June 2020 and will return to the agency’s finance division as vice president. finances. The board also said it will conduct the search for RRHA’s next CEO over the next few months.

Hill-Christian is a former executive director of RRHA. She led the agency through a strategic planning process while working to deliver development projects. She is currently the Managing Director of Fahrenheit Advisors, a local advisory and consultancy firm.

A Raceway director will lead new sports and entertainment authority Henrico

Denis Bickmeier

Henrico County has named Dennis Bickmeier to lead a new authority that will oversee the county’s sports tourism program and manage its private-public facilities, including an indoor events center under construction at the Virginia Center Commons.

Bickmeier has served as president of Richmond Raceway since 2011, overseeing the 1,100-acre motorsports and entertainment complex that hosts two NASCAR race weekends and more than 200 concerts and other events annually. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in sports administration and facilities management from Ohio University.

Bickmeier also sits on the boards of Richmond Region Tourism, Henrico Education Foundation and Henrico Police Athletic League. He is active with the Retail Merchants Association, ChamberRVA and the Henrico Career & Technical Center.

Powhatan supervisors plan new inn, restaurant

The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet Monday. Full agenda here.

For council’s consideration is an application by Roberta Hudson for a conditional use permit which, if approved, would allow for a “country inn”, a use designation in the Powhatan zoning ordinance for a small hotel business.

Hudson would like to turn the four-bedroom farmhouse on a 132-acre property at 2521 Huguenot Springs Road, which is near the intersection of Huguenot Springs and Manakin Roads, into a small inn. The applicant also wishes to convert an existing structure on the property into a tea house.

A country inn, as defined in the county’s zoning ordinance, provides overnight accommodation in one or more buildings with up to 20 rooms and may include a full-service restaurant and several accessory uses. The owner may or may not live on the property.

Also on council’s file is a rezoning application which, if approved, would allow for the opening of a restaurant.

DJM Ventures Inc., an entity related to Mark and Susan Ferreri, wants to operate a restaurant in an existing building at 2125 Anderson Highway, a 1.3-acre property across from the South Creek Mall.