Donate
Newsletter

April 13 Newsletter: Mandatory trees

Weather: Here comes the heat! High of 86.

On this date in 2005, singer D’Angelo is fined $50 in a Chesterfield court for possession of marijuana.

Richmond’s rezoning allows more development. Should it also require more trees?

A draft of Richmond's code refresh introduces a tree canopy requirement in all new development, from 10% to 20% depending on density.

🌳
Richmond has a goal to cover 60% of the city’s area with tree canopy by 2037. A 2021 assessment measured the city's coverage at 32%.

A recent Zoning Advisory Council meeting offered dueling perspectives.

  • "When you add costs, it makes the affordability objective that we have that much more challenging," one member said.
  • Others pointed out that the tree canopy goal is in Richmond's master plan, and can't be accomplished with work on city land alone.

Read more from Sarah Vogelsong here.

RPS has designed a new Woodville Elementary, but there’s still not enough money to start the project

The current school is 72 years old, but when the School Board began discussing a replacement in 2022, it was clear even at the time the money to build wasn't in the budget.

  • The district applied for, and received, a $12.4 million state grant to cover a portion of the estimated $52 million cost.

But the grant may have to be returned if RPS can't find other funding sources soon.

Woodville, which has a capacity of 552 students, currently enrolls 215. Nearby Fairfield Elementary is similarly underenrolled – the two could potentially combine in a new building. Read more here.

Today in City Hall news...

Richmond will pay $549K to settle former FOIA officer's lawsuit

After a two-year legal battle, the city of Richmond has agreed to settle an employment lawsuit brought by former Freedom of Information Act Officer Connie Clay.

CAO Odie Donald II said the settlement is “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.” Read more here.

As city enacts purchasing card fixes, auditor’s office wins award for review

The city of Richmond has enacted 12 of 16 recommended fixes for its purchasing card system that were identified through an internal review that won an award last month from a government auditing organization. Read more here.

Council budget amendments aim to block Avula’s severance proposal, boost funding for schools

A majority of the Richmond City Council is opposed to Mayor Danny Avula’s proposal to allow more generous severance payouts to high-level City Hall officials.

Several Council members also put in amendments to fund the Richmond Virtual Academy, which is on the chopping block. Read more here.

In other news

The editor's desk

On a very exciting day for The Richmonder, our team also heard a keynote address from Mississippi Today's Jerry Mitchell, whose investigative work helped free two innocent people from death row. A longtime newspaper writer, he has worked in the online nonprofit space since 2019, where his trailblazing work has inspired outlets like ours.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

Sent this by a friend? Sign up for our free thrice-weekly newsletter here.

Want to support The Richmonder? Join us as a donor and we'll send you a hat or mug!

What's Next