Richmond, VA — The recently adopted citywide Master Plan, Richmond 300: A Guide for Growth, has been awarded the 2021 Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan from the American Planning Association (APA). This award recognizes an innovative plan that helps create a more prosperous and equitable community for current and future residents and raises awareness of the importance of planning.

“Richmond is a prime example of how planning can help a community begin to overcome past wrongs like redlining and practices that unfairly excluded specific populations from access to opportunity,” said Kristen Asp, AICP, 2021 APA awards jury chair. “This plan, combined with their laser focus on implementation, is an example for other communities around the country on how planning can and should address systemic racism.”

Years of work by City staff, as well as thousands of residents, business owners, and other community members, resulted in the adoption of Richmond 300 in December 2020. The Department of Planning and Development Review (PDR), and specifically the Office of Equitable Development, are now working to implement the recommendations of the plan, which seek to achieve the outlined vision over the next 20 years.

“This recognition of Richmond 300 by the American Planning Association is a testament to all the hard work over many hours by the thousands of community members that participated in this planning process,” said Mayor Levar Stoney. “Overcoming years of divestment, specifically in our Black and Brown communities, is an immense task, and Richmond 300 steps away from the status quo and provides bold yet sound approaches to combatting inequities by adopting to our changing environment, addressing affordable housing needs, and fostering economic inclusion.”

The Plan sets the overall vision for the future of the city and provides high-level recommendations to create a more equitable, sustainable, and beautiful Richmond for its 300^th birthday in 2037. The Plan outlines specific recommendations across five topics: high-quality places, equitable transportation, diverse economy, inclusive housing, and thriving environment.

“We’re grateful and humbled to serve as trusted advisors to the city for Richmond 300 and are thrilled the plan is receiving this honor from APA,” said Mike McIntyre, program director with AECOM, lead consultant firm for Richmond 300. “From the start, our goal was to break the mold and build this plan with maximum transparency and community input. This award belongs to every person who got involved, lent their voice, and helped shape Richmond 300 into something we can all be proud of. We’re excited for our city’s next chapter!”

The sheer breadth and length of any comprehensive plan can make it difficult to execute; therefore, Richmond 300, outlines 6 Big Moves to deliberately advance over the next 5 years:

• Re-write the Zoning Ordinance
• Re-Imagining Priority Growth Nodes
• Expand Housing Opportunities
• Provide Greenways and Parks for All
• Reconnect the City
• Realign City Facilities

“Creating Richmond 300 is the first step in envisioning a more equitable Richmond,” said Maritza Mercado Pechin, AICP, PDR Deputy Director and Manager of the Office of Equitable Development. “I am looking forward to continuing to engage the Richmonders as we collectively implement the recommendations in the plan.”

The Richmond 300: A Guide for Growth can be found on the City’s website at: https://www.rva.gov/planning-development-review/master-plan

More information on the 2021 APA Award recipients can be found at: https://www.planning.org/awards/2021/

APA BOILER PLATE

The American Planning Association is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization that provides vital leadership in creating great communities for all. APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, are dedicated to advancing the profession of planning, offering better choices for where and how people work and live. The more than 40,000 APA members work in concert with community residents, civic leaders and business interests to create communities that enrich people's lives. Through its philanthropic work, APA’s Foundation helps to reduce economic and social barriers to good planning. APA is based in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Learn more at www.planning.org.

APA MEDIA CONTACT

Roberta Rewers, APA Communications Manager, 312-786-6395; rrewers@planning.org

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The Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility (OETM) has launched its community engagement process to develop a transportation policy guide. Path to Equity: Policy Guide for Richmond Connects will articulate the policy framework for Richmond Connects, the multimodal transportation planning process set to begin this fall.

The policy guide will explain why the transportation plan needs to be equity focused, detail what the city means by equitable transportation, and lay a structure for how Richmond intends to center equity in transportation planning decisions.

The Path to Equity Policy Guide will reiterate the transportation goals and objectives developed in the master plan and develop new language to articulate the specific equity outcomes desired, called equity factors. These are outcomes that the city will use to assess how equitable Richmond’s transportation network is.

Richmond Connects, using the framework developed in the Path to Equity Policy Guide, will ultimately prioritize needs and recommend transportation projects and programs for the city. It will align a variety of recommendations from various plans around what residents see as the community’s top transportation needs.

Survey

As part of this effort, OETM has designed a digital survey to inform the policy guide and the Richmond Connects transportation plan itself. This survey is unique and in line with the mayor’s Equity Agenda, as it asks Richmonders to gauge their experiences of transportation injustices in the past and detail the barriers to accessing opportunity today.

Tacos for Transportation

For additional outreach, the city is hosting three outdoor COVID-19-conscious ‘Tacos for Transportation’ events. The events will feature an engagement team ready to guide residents through the survey. In exchange for their time, the city will provide a voucher for free tacos from an on-site taco truck (for up to 250 people at each event)! The first event will be held June 26 at the Calhoun Community Center, in conjunction with the Gilpin Field Day hosted by RRHA. The next event will be July 17^th at Byrd Park, and the final event will take place next to the Blackwell pool on July 31. All of these events will take place 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

If you can’t make it to one of these events, there are other ways to get engaged:

Online

The same survey will be available online Path to Equity | Richmond (rva.gov) , and OETM plans to have survey kiosks and paper copies available around the city. A kick-off webinar will also be announced and available on the webpage.

Ambassadors & Advisory Committee

Additionally, the city is hiring about 20 ambassadors to represent the diverse experiences and communities across the city on the planning committee for Path to Equity Policy Guide and Richmond Connects. These ambassadors, along with regional planning partners and representatives from social justice advocacy groups, will help shape the policy guide.

For more information on the Path to Equity Policy Guide or Richmond Connects, visit www.rva.gov/connects.

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The draft small area plan for Richmond City Center area is available for public comment through July 12. The community-rooted plan envisions the redevelopment of a core segment of Downtown Richmond.

Throughout the past year, the Department of Planning and Development Review (PDR) has worked with the community to develop the draft plan through public workshops, surveys, and focus group interviews. Now, residents can share their thoughts on the draft in a number of ways:

• Visit https://www.rva.gov/planning-development-review/city-center to read the plan and provide your thoughts on an interactive document.
• Attend a virtual meeting hosted by PDR and Councilwoman Robertson on June 22 at 6 p.m. to listen to a presentation on the draft plan, ask questions, and provide your input. The meeting link will be posted on the webpage.
• Invite PDR staff to a meeting of your interested group or organization to share more about the draft plan. Please email Richmond300@richmondgov.com or call (804)646-6348 to request a meeting.

What is City Center?

The City Center is generally the area from E. Franklin Street to E. Leigh Street and from N. 10th to N. 5th Streets in Downtown Richmond. The City Center Small Area Plan outlines strategies for redeveloping vacant and under-utilized parcels in Downtown Richmond, which are predominantly city-owned.

The draft plan envisions City Center as a mixed-use innovation district that attracts residents, employees, students, and tourists and leverages adjacent assets by connecting to the Convention Center, VCU Health, the VA Bio+Tech Park and the surrounding neighborhoods.

What’s next?

After this engagement period, staff will review the comments received, amend the plan, and then present the amended City Center Small Area Plan to City Planning Commission and City Council to be incorporated as a part of Richmond 300: A Guide for Growth, the City’s new Master Plan. Please contact Maritza Pechin at maritza.pechin@richmondgov.com or 804-646-6348 with any questions.

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The City of Richmond will open two cooling shelter locations for residents seeking relief from the heat during the day:

• Social Services Marshall Plaza Building, 900 E. Marshall Street, Richmond, VA
• Southside Community Service Center, 4100 Hull Street, Richmond, VA

Both will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday from June 7 to September 30.

All visitors must wear face coverings while in the building and maintain a safe physical distance of six feet from others. Seating will be arranged for the appropriate social distancing. Pets, with the exception of service animals, are not permitted.

For more information regarding cooling assistance services, city residents should contact the city’s Department of Social Services Fuel Assistance Office at (804) 646-7046.

Elderly residents with cooling related issues should contact Adult Services at (804) 646-7367. In the event of a heat related emergency, please call 911.

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Nine local, minority-owned businesses have graduated from the Diverse Supplier Mentoring Program, a collaborative professional development program made possible by the City of Richmond Office of Minority Business Development and Capital One.

Led by Capital One, the program provides business owners with the tools, resources and counsel needed to succeed in today’s marketplace. As a part of Capital One’s Impact Initiative, the program aims to accelerate the success of small business owners to create more jobs, strengthen the local economy and move our society toward a more equitable future.

“At Capital One, we recognize the longstanding impact of Richmond’s Black-owned businesses on the social and economic vitality of the city,” said Jim Gorzalski, Chief Procurement Officer and Senior Vice President of Enterprise Services at Capital One. “As part of our greater supplier diversity work, we are honored to provide mentorship to accelerate the revenue and business growth of these entrepreneurs in the city where we live, work and serve.”

Mayor Levar Stoney delivered remarks to the graduating class and thanked them for the great contributions they make to the community.

About the Diverse Supplier Mentoring Program

Capital One’s diverse supplier mentoring program provides business owners with the tools, resources and counsel needed to succeed in today’s marketplace. The program pairs local entrepreneurs with Capital One associates to develop sustainable models that accelerate year over year growth, profitability and key operating metrics.  As part of Capital One’s Impact Initiative, the diverse supplier mentoring program aims to accelerate the success of small business owners to create more jobs, strengthen the local economy and move our society toward a more equitable future.

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