Shot Clocks for Cities, Helene, and Euclid vs Amber
Cheers RVA!
Today will be cloudy with a high of 81 and a slight chance of showers. The evening looks similar with a low of 71.
the pulp:
Addison says he’s not dropping out of the mayoral race, despite “rumors being spread” to the contrary, via the Richmonder.
Johnson Hall, the VCU dorm that was shut down in 2021 due to excessive mold, remains vacant, according to the Commonwealth Times. Richard Silowski from the facilities department says there are no plans to renovate, demolish or re-purpose the hall, saying the most economical solution would be to convert it to an administrative building, which would be funded by the state.
The city will extend a feasibility study to reconnect Jackson Ward, after City Council voted to accept $1.35 million in Federal funding, from VPM.
An 11-yr old was shot inside his home in the East End on Tuesday, via channel 6. The boy was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries but is currently in stable condition. An adult male was arrested at the scene of the incident.
Virginia is under a state of emergency as Hurricane Helene approaches. Here’s a forecast of potential flash flooding from noaa.gov
the dive:
The Future of Land Use and Incremental Development
Andrew Burleson’s sub-stack article was recently published on Strong Towns, where he talks about some of the ongoing changes in property rights, and what the years ahead may may look like.
He begins looking at how single-family zoning has long been an impediment to building additional housing, and how those laws are being relaxed across the country. While some changes are only modest, single-family zoning makes up such a vast majority of American land that incremental changes would have significant impact.
Another ongoing change is the elimination of minimum parking requirements, allowing business owners to determine how much parking they need.
Richmond repealed parking minimums in April of 2023.
The article also dives in to ideas likely to be implemented in the near future, such as preapproved building plans:
South Bend, Indiana has pioneered preapproved building plans. Rather than requiring a lot owner to hire an architect, pay for a custom design, and then play a game of guess-and-check with the city to find out if it will be allowed, property owners can pick from a catalog of preapproved building designs and get a permit immediately. This saves owners a lot of time and energy, while also guaranteeing that they'll build nice buildings that fit well with the surrounding neighborhood. More cities are considering this as an option to streamline the construction of things they know they want.
Another clever idea is to implement shot clocks, where projects are automatically approved after a certain time period.
Mayoral candidate Andreas Addison noted at a mayoral forum recently that it took more than a year to get approval to add two bathrooms to his gym, and he’s on City Council.
The worst problem with development regulation is that it's often nondeterministic and can be held up indefinitely. It can take many years to get approvals, if they can be obtained at all. By contrast, Minnesota has a broad automatic approval statute: Many state authorities have 60 days to make a decision or else the development is automatically approved. This forces cities to actually make decisions about projects, not just leave them in limbo forever. Texas recently followed Minnesota's lead with an even shorter 15-day shot clock for residential projects. More cities and states are considering adopting shot clocks to ensure reasonable development review times.
Also included are some distant, but possible ideas, including one highly unlikely but interesting scenario: repealing the 1926 Supreme Court ruling in the landmark case of Euclid v. Ambler, which found local ordinance zoning was a valid exercise of police power of the state.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
Have a zoned in day RVA!
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