The City of Richmond is in the middle of an effort to rewrite the rules that shape how the city grows. The process, known as Code Refresh, is a comprehensive update to the city’s zoning ordinance: the rulebook that determines what can be built and where it can go — and, as a result, how neighborhoods are allowed to change over time.
Richmond’s zoning code, which favors the construction of single-family homes and restricts development in two-thirds of the city, has remained stagnant since 1976 — 49 years. Meanwhile, the city’s population has grown by over 18% in the last 30 years, outpacing the availability of affordable housing options.
Five years ago, when the city adopted its Richmond 300 master plan — which won the American Planning Association’s Daniel Burnham Award for its innovative approach to undoing the legacy of historical discrimination like redlining — one of the “Big Moves” was to revisit the zoning ordinance in order to legalize the kind of development the plan calls for.
Richmond 300 focuses on prioritizing equitable and sustainable growth, emphasizing infrastructure readiness, green spaces and incentives for affordable housing and steps to reduce the historic patterns of segregation and exclusion…