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Feb. 27 Newsletter: Code refresh can't touch these neighborhoods

Weather: High of 54 today with a pleasant Saturday ahead.

On this date in 2014, a violent felon who had been mistakenly released from custody turned himself in after eight days of freedom. The police learned of his mistaken release after he called to request his cellphone be returned.

For some neighborhoods, it’s covenants — not zoning — that decides what gets built

Richmond's code refresh initiative has drawn a lot of discussion, but in a handful of neighborhoods, any potential changes would be overridden by restrictive covenants, which generally get the final say.

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Windsor Farms, Willow Oaks and Traylor Estates are examples of neighborhoods where each lot is restricted to one home, regardless of zoning.

A city committee discussed the possibility of more neighborhoods choosing to add covenants in response to the rezoning, but the barrier is high since homeowners can't be involuntarily brought into a new one. Read more here.

New all-electronic tolling system goes live on Richmond routes this weekend

A new, cash-free toll system will start up this weekend on the Powhite Parkway, the Downtown Expressway and the Boulevard Bridge.

  • Drivers with an E-Z pass will be largely unaffected. Anyone without an E-Z-Pass will have bills mailed to them via a newly installed camera system that captures license plates.

On the Powhite Parkway and Downtown Expressway, drivers without an E-ZPass will pay substantially more, being charged a $2 rate versus a 90-cent rate for the E-Z Pass. Read more here.

Q&A: Richmond's first master parks plan since the 1970s is nearing its final stage

The document, dubbed Richmond INSPIRE, identifies potential improvements to city greenspaces and recreational facilities over the next 10 years that will require funding from City Council to become a reality.

The department is currently soliciting online feedback ahead of presenting the final draft to City Council. Read more here.

Richmond to add three more ‘harm reduction’ vending machines, doubling anti-overdose arsenal

The expansion will cost just over $41,000 and will be paid for using funding from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority.

In the six months that the three existing vending machines have been in operation, the city said they have dispensed 916 doses of naloxone — the most well known drug used to reverse opioid overdoses — 276 fentanyl test strips and 1,250 units of first aid and hygiene supplies. Read more here.

Children’s Hospital of Richmond opens ‘milk depot’ to help bring donated breast milk to babies in need

This week, VCU Health officially opened the King’s Daughter’s Milk Depot, a place where parents can donate extra breast milk to a milk bank in Norfolk that supplies critically needed breast milk to premature and medically fragile babies in hospitals up and down the East Coast.

Previously, families interested in donating excess supply had to travel to Hampton Roads or ship their milk, barriers that likely discouraged many from doing so. Read more here.

In other news

The editor's desk

Currently obsessed with this map that shows historic photos of Richmond at different points in time.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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