Third draft of code refresh to be rolled out in phases starting in June
Richmond’s Planning Department intends to roll out the third draft of a proposed citywide rezoning in phases beginning this June, according to Planning Director Kevin Vonck.
Whether that version of the code refresh will be the final one remains up in the air.
“Draft three will be draft three,” Vonck told the Zoning Advisory Council, a subcommittee of the Planning Commission that has no voting power but has been helping the department shape the rezoning proposal for almost two years. “It’s going to be up to this body, Planning Commission and Council if they want to continue on.”
Under the timeline laid out by Vonck last week, the Planning Department will first release a proposal on how to handle some of the most controversial policy issues. Major points of debate have so far included how many housing units will be allowed on a residential lot by right, how places of worship will be zoned and how many unrelated people will be allowed to live in a residence.
Those plans will then be presented to the ZAC, the Planning Commission and the City Council during work sessions in order to get feedback on whether there is enough support for them to move forward or whether the department needs to go back to the drawing board.
“Part of that will also tell us: How close are we on these things?” said Vonck. “I've said before, we're not going to 100% satisfy every single person, but are we doing what is best in terms of where we can best get consensus?”
Sarah Vogelsong
After that workshopping process has occurred, the Planning Department will incorporate the resulting decisions into a complete third draft that it hopes to release later in June, Vonck told The Richmonder.
Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org
