We, the undersigned citizens of the City of Richmond and the Commonwealth of Virginia, believe in the hopeful yet realistic vision presented in the draft Downtown Master Plan, created by the citizens of Richmond. We support the Plan’s Seven Foundations (Variety and Choice in Housing, The Traditional City, Green Qualities, The River, Urban Architecture, History, and Mixed-Income), and we specifically recommend inclusion of the following:
Increased public access to the James River through the creation of new riverfront parks on Mayo Island, Chappel Island, and the parcels east of Intermediate Terminal to Rockett’s Landing; as well as the preservation of the historic viewshed from Libby Hill Park in Church Hill that is the basis for the naming of Richmond.
Creation of a state-level Architect of the Commonwealth to offer expertise to the Governor, his Cabinet and Agencies, and Virginia’s legislators concerning best practices for the future uses of state-owned buildings and property.
Creation of safe, inviting, human-scale streetscapes to encourage walking and bicycling; conversion of Richmond’s unwieldy system of one-way streets back to two-way; additional on-street parking; replacing unsightly surface parking lots with parking decks featuring ground-floor retail on the exterior; and improving signage to better serve residents and tourists.
Addition of Form-Based Code -- zoning that focuses on the relationship of buildings to each other and the street -- to the City’s Zoning Ordinance to reflect the design of Richmond’s historic districts, streets, and buildings.
Development of a model for a trolley or Downtown circulator to connect our historic Downtown neighborhoods, with a plan to expand beyond Downtown in the future.
We urge our public officials to support this vision for a beautiful, vibrant and historic capital city -- “Virginia’s Downtown.”
