Richmond officials delay vote on plan meant to safeguard historical sites across city

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Richmond officials chose to delay voting on a plan meant to help the city identify, recognize and safeguard places of cultural and historical importance.

The plan was reviewed during a meeting of the Richmond City Council's Planning Commission on Tuesday, May 20.

Why is this plan being discussed?

The Richmond 300 Master Plan (R 300) is a roadmap for Richmond's continued growth towards being a place that is "welcoming, inclusive, diverse, innovative, sustainable and equitable city of thriving neighborhoods, ensuring a high quality of life for all" by 2037.

R 300 "set a tone of equity and justice" -- and the Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan (CHSP), meant to be a priority item of said master plan, aims to expand upon this, officials said.

It aims to help inform development in Richmond so it does not further disturb or destroy significant sites, as there are fears that the city will lose its unique character and rich history as the city grows.

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"There is a need to identify, recognize and acknowledge the history and historic places associated with underrepresented or historically marginalized communities specifically and to acknowledge the city’s past injustices that have resulted in the loss of tangible aspects of cultural heritage or disinvestment in Black and Brown neighborhoods," the proposed draft of the CHSP reads.

What is the goal of the CHSP?

The CHSP was developed collaboratively between city departments, the Virginia Department of Historical Resources and other stakeholders. The 202-page draft of the CHSP presented on Tuesday was developed by a consulting firm, the Commonwealth Preservation Group.

Its three primary objectives are as follows:

• "Preserve culturally, historically, and architecturally significant buildings, sites, structures, neighborhoods, cemeteries and landscapes that contribute to Richmond’s authenticity."
• "Reduce the demolition of historical buildings," as illustrated in the map below.
• "Broaden the constituency for historic preservation by more equally representing, preserving, and sharing sites related to traditionally under-represented groups (e.g., Native Americans, African Americans)."

A map displaying development in the city of Richmond between 2014-2024, as seen in the Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan draft presented on May 20. (Photo: City of Richmond)

The plan was heavily informed by community members, who were asked to help the city identify culturally and historically significant buildings that mattered to them. Per officials, there were many public meetings and briefings. Draft comments and a community survey generated over 1,500 total responses alone.

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That feedback inspired the creation of the map shown above, as a majority of people spoken to about the CHSP expressed concerns about ongoing and planned development. The map shows that there are many development projects within Richmond's National Historic Districts.

During open houses held for the CHSP, attendees were asked to answer the question: "What places in Richmond are meaningful or important to you?" The CHSP summarized their responses as follows:

• Infrastructure like parks, green space, canals, streetscape and grids
• Historic neighborhoods and districts, including public housing communities
• Cemeteries
• Places associated with underrepresented communities (like Black and Indigenous or Tribal sites)
• Oral histories
• Endangered or threatened buildings
• Churches and public schools over 50 years old

What does the CHSP recommend?

The CHSP itself is not a mandate -- it contains several recommendations for the city that it could consider to further the goals listed above. Some of the overarching recommendations include:

• Develop and maintain an inventory of city-owned historic resources, like buildings, structures, sites, parks, cemeteries and more.
• Fund and perform routine maintenance on all city-owned historic resources.
• Coordinate efforts to follow Richmond Sustainable Design Standards for new construction, maintenance and demolition within local historic districts.
• Plan around documents like Richmond INSPIRE and the Park System Master Plan to ensure consideration of historic resources.
• Perform a city-wide architectural survey, broken down into phases, that places emphasis on historically Black neighborhoods.
• Update the city code to include tax incentives for those who conserve and renovate historic structures.
• Update the relevant city ordinance to include civil penalties for performing demolition in a local historic district or demolishing a local landmark.
• Evaluate and revise city property tax assessment policies and procedures as needed to ensure historic and cultural resources, as well as long-term residents, are not negatively affected.
• Revise and reinstate a Rehab Tax Abatement Program to increase accessibility to lower-income residents or lower-cost neighborhoods, while continuing to encourage investments in larger, vacant or dilapidated historic properties.

To read the full 202-page final draft of the CHSP, click here.

Commission debates the CHSP at length

There was significant discussion among the planning commission about this proposed plan.

Those who were against the idea of recommending the CHSP, on the whole, believed that more research and study needed to be performed on the plan before it could be recommended to the city council.

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Some expressed concerns about how the plan would be funded. Others disagreed with some of the suggested changes within it.

Officials explained that the cost of the plan is zero, as the CHSP only offers recommendations.

Anything in the plan that the city decided to carry out would require separate ordinances be drafted, separate reviews be performed and separate votes be taken. The CHSP itself changes no laws and implements no actual changes.

"I know not one thing in here has to be done ... [but] I don't believe we do plans for that purpose," one commissioner said.

One commissioner said he worried about setting expectations with the community that the city could not ultimately deliver on.

"Creating no expectations for the public is worse," another commissioner said, with much of the meeting's audience applauding his words.

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There was also discussion about how "amending" the R 300 seemed unnecessary. A commissioner responded by saying that plans like the CHSP are recommended with the R 300.

Ultimately, the planning commission voted to defer a decision on this proposal. A subcommittee will also be formed to address the concerns and questions raised by the commission.

"There are thousands of people who support this ... but we have to do better," one commissioner said.

The subcommittee will make a recommendation and, at that time, a date for the planning commission to reconsider the proposal will be chosen.