Starting tomorrow, northbound Powhite’s gonna be a rush-hour parking lot:

Motorists traveling northbound through the Powhite Parkway mainline toll plaza will experience significant morning rush hour delays beginning Tuesday, June 3, as toll lanes are reduced from nine to six lanes. The three-lane closure marks the beginning of the northbound installation of the Open Road Toll (ORT) lanes, also known as express lanes. This traffic situation is expected to last for 90 days.

Let the good times roll!

From Greg Johnson of the Springhill neighborhood:

Dear Richmond Neighbors,
We in the Old and Historic Neighborhood of Springhill request your assistance in opposition to the Manchester on the James development project. The property owner, Floyd “Pat†Patterson, is attempting to get a Special Use Permit to allow Charlotte, North Carolina developer Crosland, to build a massive 200 unit rental apartment complex at the very edge of our historic neighborhood. Although, the project is actually 15 feet outside of the historic district we feel that the enormous size of the structure, the increased traffic congestion and the 50% increase in population density will have a detrimental effect on our community. Springhill is a tiny neighborhood only three blocks wide and four blocks deep.

We feel this is of particular interest to both historic districts and all other neighborhoods, as this apartment complex is being constructed on just over 2 acres. A density of 100 units and 150 cars per acre. There are many one, two and three acre lots in Richmond, and Springhill agrees they should be developed, but developed responsibly and with great consideration of the existing neighborhood fabric. Our established neighborhoods are too fragile to be subjugated to massive development encroachments which are improperly sited and inconsistent with the surrounding neighborhood features.

On Monday June 9, 2008, City Council will vote for or against the project. The City of Richmond’s Department of Community Development and our own Councilperson, Marty Jewell, are in favor of the project and will not lend us their support. We are working in concert with the Foresthill and Woodland Heights neighborhood associations, who also oppose the project, to recruit people to attend the City Council Meeting. We have also embarked on a letter writing campaign and a petition that has garnered over 800 signatures.

We would request that you pass along this notice and attend the City Council meeting on Monday June 9, 2008 at 6:00pm in City Council Chambers, 2nd floor 900 East Broad Street. We have been told the only way to stop the adoption of this ordinance, is to have a great citizen turnout. If you are unable to attend, please write or call your Councilperson or the President of Council. Below I have included their contact information. If you have any questions, feel free to call or email me.

Thank you and hope to see you at City Council on Monday, June 9.

With the weather seeming more akin to one of Dante’s concentric circles these days, it’s easy to stay inside, but there are some interesting happenings this weekend. Of course, the South of the James market runs as normal tomorrow morning, Vibefest ‘08 at the Stratford Hill Shopping Center is Sunday afternoon, and the Once Upon A Vine folks are having a wine tasting tonight, 5-8. And just a bit outside the neighborhoods, the Richmond Tattoo Arts Festival takes over the Holiday Inn Select Koger Center.

The latest issue of Richmond Magazine includes a brief feature on life in Stratford Hills, with a focus on Riverside Outfitters owners Matt Perry and Scott Turner.

An argument turned into a shooting last night, apparently in the Ashton Square apartments. Combined with the police chase that ended with a truck plowing through the gates at George Wythe High School, it’s been an active 24 hours for the general Midlo/WH Blvd vicinity.

On the heels of Crosland’s victory at last night’s council meeting comes a nugget from the comments of another post that’s worth bumping up:

Developer is seeking a special use permit for the properties that his company as quietly purchased: all of the buildings west of the CVS in Westover Hills.

The plan is for a 300 unit rental property with commercial space on the ground floor, and the minimum amount of parking required by code.

I suspect this one should really stir some emotions.

…to hate having your car towed.

June’s Music in the Park event is this Sunday, 6-8PM, in Forest Hill Park, featuring Cashmere Jungle Lords.

Read more >

A woman was assaulted and robbed this morning on the grounds of George Wythe High School. According to police, the assaulter is described as “a black man in his mid 20s, about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and wearing a gray shirt and blue denim shorts…close-cropped hair, a goatee and tattoos on both arms.”

The paperwork is in, and the Council & School Board candidates are official. Council-wise, Kathy Graziano will run unopposed in the 4th while Marty Jewell has 2 competitors, realtor Mark E. Brandon and Lee Shewmake (a name that should be familiar to area residents) in the 5th. 9th District incumbent Doug Conner also has 2 competitors, former School Board rep and City Councilman Eugene Mason and Adrian R. Preston.

On the School Board side, the 4th District race should prove to be interesting. Regular readers are by now getting familiar with Bert Berlin. Jon Mallard, John Lloyd and Adria Graham Scott are also in, making this the most crowded school board race of the year. 5th District incumbent Betsy Carr has one challenger, Rev. Otis Mallory, while Evette Wilson runs unapposed in the 9th.

And on a related note, the good folks at the Virginia Public Access Project have already started adding contribution data for council races.

A couple of unrelated questions from readers, the answers to which I certainly don’t know:

Any idea what’s going on with the former equipment rental place on Westover Hills? I’ve noticed intermittent work going on, but can’t tell what might be going in there.

Secondly:

Are there any July 4th activities on this side of the river? Dogwood Dell is nice but it’s too crowded and we’re tired of standing on the bridge trying to catch a glimpse of fireworks.

Anyone?

It’s been just over a year since the accident that claimed the life of Forest View resident and beloved man-about-town Jonny Z. A tribute to Jonny is shaping up in the form of a mural on the side of the fan location of Joe’s Inn. Spearheaded by ART180 and manned by friends and a contingent of kids from St. Andrew’s School, the general consensus is the tribute couldn’t be any more fitting.

Thx to Terry @ FDH for the heads-up.

After seeing a car go into the FasMart and a vehicle rollover in the Shoe Warehouse lot, the Westover Hills/Clarence/Dunston parking lot curse reared its head again today in the form of a car hitting the exterior of the Family Dollar store. Store damage was noticeable, but apparently not structural.

The new express lane system is being tested on the Powhite today, 10:30-2ish. No word whether any lane closures or delays are expected, but be forewarned…

For those who haven’t yet seen it, CBRE has available an informational flyer about the Shoppes at Forest Hill development. We’ve seen the site plans and such for many months, but this is the first good view of the exterior concept I’ve seen up close. I’ll be curious to hear how it’s received by my fellow residents.

The Richmond Crusade for Voters is holding a mayoral candidate forum Tuesday July 1 at the Southside Community Service Center (4100 Hull St, Southside Plaza), 6:30-8PM.

In my haste and amidst about 45 spam comments, I believe I accidentally deleted a legitimate comment to the Shoppes at Forest Hill post. If it was yours, I do apologize and assure you it was a mistake.

…from Richmond.com:

There is good news, however. The South of the James Market has already signed up for a second year and the Market Umbrella is considering expanding the hours beyond noon.