Code Refresh: Bait and Switch?

Rich Souser is a Northsider weighing in on Code Refresh:

"The public has one month before the February 15 comment deadline on “phase 2” of the Code Refresh (new citywide zoning rules, and maps). Unfortunately, this is a daunting task for city residents. There are over 70,000 parcels being rezoned. There are hundreds of pages of detailed definitions and regulations. I’ve read both versions from cover to cover, been to dozens of hours of public meetings, and I’m still confused on many key provisions.

 
However, to make things a little easier, I am breaking down some of the issues into smaller, more digestible, segments. Here is the first one.

Code Refresh: Bait and Switch?

Back in the old days, car dealers used to advertise an incredibly good bargain on a popular car. However, when potential buyers went to the showroom, they found that nothing was available at the advertised price. In many cases, the bargain vehicle never existed. Customers would then get a hard sales pitch to buy a higher priced model. Consumer protection laws have reduced this practice. However, the city continues to use this tactic as part of their ongoing complete rewrite of the city’s zoning laws.

The city planners recently got Council to approve a major change to the existing zoning regulations. It allowed accessory dwelling units (ADU) to be built on almost every single family residential lot in the city without needing city zoning approval. This was a removal of a major homeowner protection that has existed for decades. These changes have been bitterly contested in cities throughout the country. In order to gain public support for this radical initiative, the city promised three big safeguards:

1) The new dwelling unit would be of a reasonable size. Generally no more than 30% of the square footage of the main building on the property.
2) The ADU option would not be available for absentee landlords. The ADU could only be rented out by the property owner who lived on the property.
3) The use of the ADU for short term rental (Airbnb) would be well regulated. The STR would fall under the fairly stringent registration and monitoring requirements adopted by the city.

Flash forward a couple of years. The city is now proposing radical changes to the recently approved ADU guidelines. These remove the agreed upon constraints.

1) An ADU can be built and rented out even if the primary residence is a rental owned by an absent landlord or company.
2) An ADU can now occupy a larger portion of most properties. Instead of the universal 30% limit, there is a complicated/confusing set of rules about square footage and lot size coverage.
3) And, while not changed substantially in the new rules, the short term rental of an ADU is not as stringently monitored as initially promised. Reporting has shown that so far the regulation of STR‘s has not been effective. It is estimated only about 10% of over a thousand short term rentals are properly registered or monitored by the city.

I encourage all concerned residents to go to the ADU section of the draft
https://richmond.konveio.com/code-refresh-draft-two
Go to “Draft Use Provisions”. Then Section 3.5.2 (A) Accessory Dwelling Unit (page 3-33).

Leave comments there about your thoughts and concerns. My comment is 'the city should leave the current ADU definition and guidance unchanged. The new rules were recently adopted. No substantial changes should be made for several years to allow thoughtful evaluation. ADUs should remain at 30% of main building. No ADU should be rented by other than the resident of main dwelling.'"

Editor's note: COMMENT on the 1. Draft Map -AND- 2. Draft Regulations but also 3. UPVOTE and DOWNVOTE existing comments and 4. tell your councilmember what you think!

Shut Down Illegal STRs Before Talking Multi Units!

Illegal Airbnbs have already pushed many neighbors who relied on affordable housing out of Richmond. Zoning has not shut down the 1,000+ illegal short-term rentals (STR) in our neighborhoods, and Code Refresh will further fuel this explosion.

Multi-units by right in what were formerly locally owned/rental homes continues to remove NEIGHBORS permanently from our neighborhoods. 

Out-of-town investors don't care about more housing for more people, they want to add another property to their passive income portfolio! 

Local homes are snatched from the market for out-of-towners to rent at luxury hotel prices. Why is zoning making exploitation easy?

CHOOSE NEIGHBORS! When you shut down illegal STRs, those properties revert to the annual leases and home ownership Richmond relied on to bring all sorts of neighbors into our neighborhoods.

Richmond wants neighbors, not rolling suitcases. Until we SHUT DOWN illegal STRs, we can't consider multiple units on lots by right. 

RVA Design Coalition Supports Gilpin Residents.

We stand with Gilpin residents asking for practical oversight (which should be for ANY commission and board that impacts our city) through the following ordinances: 

RESCHEDULED: City Council Dec. 15!

1. Ordinance 2025-209 - Will require people who are appointed to RRHA's Board and other boards/commissions to tell their financial interests. This will allow the public to know if board members are making money off of deals. https://richmondva.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14927320&GUID=82588530-A74A-4F25-8D59-F923D3D5F941

2. Ordinance 2025-210 - Will create an online Freedom Of Information Act library that will give access to all public record requests that have been filled by the RRHA Board of Commissioners and other City agencies. https://richmondva.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14890850&GUID=0EE41799-EAAE-4D06-A180-5C90B04942CF

3. Ordinance 2025-211 - Prohibits charging fees for FOIA record requests regarding city contracts and procurement. https://richmondva.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14927261&GUID=2C5882AE-9524-4355-BA96-86CDEBB5B8BA

Show your support in City Council tonight!

RESCHEDULED: City Council Dec. 15! FULL MEETING AGENDA: https://richmondva.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1135778&GUID=56C6DDD9-BE0C-43DB-BFE1-6BD4FEE308D1

Monday 12/815/2025 6pm - 

ATTEND IN PERSON -or-

VIRTUAL MEETING ACCESS:
Please use the following link:
https://go.rva.gov/Formal-12082025
or dial *67-804-316-9457 and enter ID: 237 549 560#.

To provide comments virtually during the meeting you must register prior to 10:00 a.m., on the day of the meeting, by calling the Office of the City Clerk at (804) 646-7955 and selecting option 3

Code Refresh Has Improvements, But Needs More Sustainability.

Stay tuned to this page for updates on Code Refresh.

Want a sign? Order yours here, and sign the petition!

December 5

We are pleased to see some changes to the proposed zoning codes and land use regulations in Code Refresh Draft 2, but believe that these zoning and land use reforms will mean monumental changes for neighborhoods city-wide, and so should be carefully researched and vetted for potential outcomes. 

We have heard from neighborhoods who are not pleased with draft 2.0 and from others who have felt excluded from the conversation. This is worth taking our time to get it right and to engage as many stakeholders as possible, including those often marginalized. If you believe that the process should be slowed down to ensure that the process ensures open, effective dialogues with stakeholders, that we have as many tools as possible in the toolkit to incentivize the kinds of diverse and affordable housing as we need for our future, and that land use regulations regarding conditional uses and criteria for bonuses awarded to developers are clearly defined, then sign the petition today!

As we chew over Code Refresh's 2nd Draft, a few items come to mind:

1. The preservation bonus is a good step. Richmond values carbon life cycles and historic charm! Retrofit is 60% less expensive, greener than any new build, and doesn't displace residents! Carbon counts in whole life cycle impacts on communities, and thus there should also be a demolition tax!

2. We don't understand how sublots and duplexes will create affordable housing vs. removing affordable housing to become luxury rentals and short-term rentals remotely owned. Where is zoning's action on STR oversight on these majority remotely-owned illegal Airbnbs? Investors are already speculating on their next lucrative duplex possibilities that used to be affordable housing.

3. Land values continue to rise and upzoning raises them further! Displacement is underway.

4. Height transition standards must be driven by solar impacts! Mandatory shadow-modeling for anything over 3 stories to allow solar opportunities for ALL OUR NEIGHBORS! Richmond is supposed to be Net Zero by 2050.

5. Tree canopies must be protected and not diminished. Tree Removal Permits for any tree 4" in diameter!

6. We love adaptive reuse of churches, especially for affordable housing! YIGBY (Yes In God's Back Yard) is great but it seems like the majority of properties are simply being sold instead being redeveloped affordably. MX3 has huge implications on communities and should be more gentle.

7. WHERE'S THE INFRASTRUCTURE? We can't evolve without adequate sewer, solar, water, and other utilities. The Department of Public Utilities and Department of Public Works staff must be part of the Code Refresh process.

Where is this rapid rise of traffic originating? From the multi-units pushed through to validate the PULSE?

As we mentioned, if Richmond planners want to immediately stop sprawl and traffic, they should
1. push remote/hybrid work and
2. save farmland from being rezoned commercial/residential. 

During COVID, Richmond’s traffic was immediately reduced by 45% with a 35% decrease in nitrogen dioxide. It's doable. It was done! Why is this excluded in planning discussions?

Today, Jerome Legions, Carver resident, brings up further great points as he watches noticeably more cars whoosh by (like we all do along Broad and its nearby parallel streets, observing new, constant traffic jams adjacent to Scotts Addition that, until recently, never slowed):

"Where is this rapid rise of traffic originating?
Is it from the multi-units pushed through to validate the PULSE?"

If you experience a near miss in traffic, make sure to report it in the data being collected on Near Miss! 

(If only I reported the daily, multiple near misses I encounter walking on Meadow at Broad, and on Meadow and Monument!)

Jerome Legions on "Richmonders are spending more time than ever stuck in traffic."

"Is anyone surprised? Not this AIMBY (Already In My Back Yard). In my humble opinion I would equate the rise in traffic is due in part to the installation of the Pulse. Prior to the Pulse one get on the bus at on corner and literally get off at the next corner.

I think that some of this additional traffic is due to the rapid development of high density apartments. Having listened to the pitch that goes like this, "The people who will rent these apartments are the people who walk, ride bikes, take the bus or use ride share." Yet, when I drive west on Leigh Street past Hermitage, I see more cars parked on Leigh Street near Midtown Green. At some point those parked cars are taking the owner somewhere.

I would like to suggest that rideshare and direct to door deliveries from Door Dash to Amazon also added to the increase in traffic.

Now I wonder: how has the increase in traffic impacted the Vision Zero initiative?

As an AIMBY who supports growth through strategic density, I would suggest that a review of the potential impact that density will have on the multi modes of transportation. It should be more than a traffic study. Maybe there would be a solution for those two one way streets that meet on Roseneath in Scott's Addition."

Planners might respond they have no control over what private companies/people do thus can't control people's behavior, but I disagree. 

• Planning and zoning bring topics of their choice to our community conversations and culture.
• Regional planners can push protection of county farmland and the negative impacts of rezoning agricultural to residential/commercial.
• Planners tell us every day to ride the bus, why don't they promote remote work?
• If they can push people's behavior and policy to ride buses and bikes, and to recycle, then they can also push remote work - the fastest, easiest, and most affordable way to influence air quality and traffic congestion.

Remote workers have a 54% lower carbon footprint!

Consider:
"Analysis of responses from current RWH (remote working hubs) users shows a 31% increase in the use of active modes of transport including cycling and walking for work trips. There is a significant decrease (23%) in the use of cars for work commute and an 8% increase in the use of public transport. The average distance travelled to work by employees reduced by 31 km by shifting from office to RWH and the average travel time to work reduced by 69 min. This also led to a shift in the time at which employees need to leave their home. Previously, 58.9% of employees had to leave their home for work before 7:30 a.m. While using RWH, 69.2% of employees left for work between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Results showed that employees prefer a flexible work routine including two or three days of working from RWH and one or two days of working from home. Findings suggest that the respondents who were driving alone to work can save about 1.126 tonnes of CO2 emissions if they would work from RWHs for three days a week for a year."

Richmond Tree Week Highlights Sustainability Concerns with Code Refresh

It's Richmond Tree Week!

This would be a *great* time to enact a protective Tree Removal Permit for trees on private property 4" in diameter or greater. 

Our residential yards are the largest source of tree canopy in the city and if we want to aim for the community sourced goals in the Richmond 300, we must protect every inch of tree-growing potential!

Did you know our city lost 25% of our trees in just the last decade? 

That's not good for our health, water absorption, air quality, heat mitigation, and resiliency.

(And wouldn't it be nice to replace weed/invasive with native?)

The Chesapeake Bay Program's just-released "Tree Cover Fact Sheet in Richmond, VA" shows we only have 5,526 acres of forest left. (What was it in 2015 then? 7,368 acres. Wow. In 2008, our city's tree canopy covered 42% of our land. In 2018, 32%. In 2025, the average community now has 23.51%.)

Now explore Richmond's public forest acreage: the James River Park System has 600 acres, Forest Hill Park has 104, Carillon Woods is 24. Richmond National Battlefield Park's Chimborazo, the only parcel in our city, does not contain forest. Maymont, Ancarrow, Pony Pasture and other forest areas add in about 150.

Let's do math. (I am horrible at math.)
5,676 - 878ish... that leaves 4798... Wait. Does that mean EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT OF RICHMOND'S FORESTS ARE RESIDENTIAL?????

REAL sustainability starts by cherishing soil... even on residential lots.

Urge City Council/zoning to enact a protective Tree Removal Permit for trees on private property 4" in diameter or greater. How will we ever achieve the Richmond 300 goal of 60% tree canopy coverage if we don't protect our residential trees? 

Are you willing to throw away trees to zoning's Code Refresh, reducing ANY yard percentages? We need to guard any trees still here... and grow more!

#RVA #AmenitySpaceIsConcreteNotSoil #SaveOurYards #SaveOurTrees #RichmondTreeWeek #RVAgreen #CodeRefresh

Tree Cover Graphic: Chesapeake Bay Program Tree Cover Fact Sheet for Richmond, VA

Urban Land Institute Selects Richmond to Participate in the United Land Institute (ULI) Net Zero Imperative — Eight Cities Tackling Building Decarbonization

Big news! Virginia has been selected to participate in the Fifth Cohort of the United Land Institute (ULI) Net Zero Imperative—Eight Cities Tackling Building Decarbonization

The Net Zero Imperative (NZI) "is a multiyear initiative to accelerate decarbonization in the built environment and is a significant aspect of ULI’s work to advance its net zero mission priority." 

This honor and focus on sustainability and net zero comes just in time as Richmond undergoes a Code Refresh that will block existing communities' solar access with tall density, demolish decarbonization priorities by refusing to pass the Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan, proposes by-right increases in heights without shadow modeling, and has crushed terms like "carbon," "soil/yards," and "solar access" from zoning.

The specific grant, "ULI Virginia + City of Richmond," will "Advance Richmond’s Sustainable Design Standards to meet its net-zero goals by addressing the gap between policy adoption and practical implementation."

RVA Design Coalition has thoughts on Net Zero and Sustainability!

To achieve net-zero and sustainability goals by 2050, Richmond zoning must enact:

• 
  Mandatory shadow modeling and air quality assessments for any new buildings higher than 3 stories
• Mandatory whole-life carbon assessments
•  Protect solar access for all to ensure existing communities can access net zero benefits
• Protect and expand soil-based percentages on every lot
• ‘Retrofit-first’ presumptions in planning
• Carbon pricing in development decisions including a mandatory 20% carbon tax for demolition
• Enhanced requirements for demolition justification and mandatory deconstruction
• Incentives for refurbishment like a Retrofit Energy Incentive because allowing demolitions to build new energy-efficient apartments is NOT better than the anti-displacement opportunity, huge cost savings, and comparable energy-efficiency than RETROFITTING existing housing.
• Push remote work and prohibit rezoning of agriculture to mitigate clogged transit and air pollution.

To achieve our 2050 net-zero goals, I recommend Richmond zoning require whole-life carbon assessments, mandate deconstruction, and implement a 20% carbon tax on demolitions to minimally address its negative impacts on the community.

• Retrofitting costs often 60% less than demolition and new build projects.
• Richmond should implement a Retrofit Energy Incentive that would give landlords a tax credit towards energy-efficiency upgrades. Renters could stay in place like any homeowner undergoing renovation, instead of being displaced! Even better, affordable housing advocates should not only ask for a Retrofit Energy Incentive, but if the landlord uses the credit, they could agree to reduce rent while renovations are underway, then maintain those rents for current tenants for the time they apply the credit. When utilities are included, landlords should lower rents according to the new lower utility costs they saved from their increased energy efficiency!
• Retrofitting reduces embodied carbon and lowers a building’s carbon footprint through reuse.
• Retrofitting significantly reduces construction waste, and speeds up project timelines!
• Retrofitting can achieve the same efficiency goals as new builds. We know that it’s not just about Passive House or LEED certifications but the WHOLE embodied carbon cycle that matters.
• Retrofits SELL. Old character and craftsmanship command higher prices than new builds, and have greater property value appreciation.
  

Richmond's solar access, water, air quality, and soil must be protected for the finite sustainability and resiliency resources they are.

Read more: "DIMBY: Disconnects in Richmond's Zoning Code Refresh and Sustainability Professionals Leading to Death In My Backyard." 

Author: Copeland Casati is a sustainability professional with the passive solar net zero prefab house kit companies Green Modern Kits, Green Cabin Kits, and Green Cottage Kits.