The Richmond City Council voted Monday to unanimously approve a resolution expressing support for more speed cameras in the city, a decision that came weeks after the road safety measure was on the brink of being stricken from consideration.

The resolution is mostly a signal of the Council’s pro-speed camera stance, but the logistics of how and where the city would install more devices have not yet been determined.

In order to salvage the proposal, the council amended it to remove a reference to a particular location — the intersection of South Belvidere and Holly streets between Oregon Hill and downtown — some Council members had identified as suitable for a speed camera.

The Council amended the resolution Monday to strip out the language calling for a camera at that intersection and provide a little more clarity on the city’s next steps. 

The amended proposal calls for Mayor Danny Avula’s administration to provide a written report to the Council by Dec. 1 that identifies possible camera locations, estimates costs and explains how the city’s existing cameras are working. 

Reflecting changes to Virginia law that have expanded where local governments can install speed cameras, the resolution focuses specifically on high-risk intersections where a traffic-related death has occurred.

After the vote, Councilor Stephanie Lynch (5th District), who urged the Council not to strike the proposal at an earlier meeting, said city residents have been asking for more road safety measures. The cameras, she said, are a “data-driven, proven tool to reduce speeding” in school zones, where the city has already installed more than two dozen cameras.

“This resolution signals the support of Council to expand photo speed ticketing in a very narrowly focused and thoughtful way, in areas that have experienced a traffic related fatality,” Lynch said.

Compromise in the works on residency for rule for top city officials

The Council delayed action Monday on a high-profile piece of legislation that would force more high-ranking City Hall officials to live in the city itself instead of a nearby county.

Council measures backing the idea have pitched it as an accountability measure that would ensure people making substantial salaries funded by city taxpayers live under the city government they help run and are part of the community they’re supposed to serve.

The Avula administration strongly opposed the proposal as originally written, arguing it would unnecessarily hamper the executive branch’s ability to recruit talented administrators from the greater Richmond area.

After Monday’s meeting, Councilor Sarah Abubaker (4th District) said she and Avula are working out a compromise that would allow both the Council and the administration to grant waivers from the residency requirement for city officials under their respective control.

“Then we can just get this done and move on to more work,” Abubaker said.

The ordinance Abubaker sponsored and lined up broad Council support for would expand the list of high-level City Hall officials required to live in the city from 12 to 43.

A more flexible waiver process that takes into account each potential hire’s unique circumstances, Abubaker said, could create a mutually agreeable “path forward” and resolve the differences between the Council and the Avula administration.

The residency proposal is set to be amended at a special Council meeting set for July 7. It’s now expected to be put to a vote at the Council’s next regular meeting on July 28.

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org