Hull Street Rezoning Gains Momentum News by Michael C. Hild - November 18, 2017November 18, 201712 The proposal to change the zoning for Hull Street in order to attract more businesses and residents is gaining momentum. The open question is whether a change of the zoning for Hull Street between Commerce and Cowardin/Jeff Davis Highway from UB2-PE1 to B-5 should be approved. The reason for the proposed zoning change is to allow for restaurants, food service, and specialty grocery stores to open along the Hull Street corridor without having to tear down adjacent buildings to secure the required parking. New infill construction along the corridor would also gain parking relief, as would multifamily residential buildings when compared to the current UB2-PE1 requirements. Lastly, the change to B-5 would also increase the maximum building height to five stories from the current limit at three stories. After a presentation by the City of Richmond Planning and Development Review Director Mark Olinger at the Manchester Alliance meeting as well as a community meeting held at Plant Zero several months ago, the Hull Street rezoning initiative went to the Planning Commission. The zoning change passed unanimously. Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson requested that a second community meeting be held at the Hull Street Merchants Association regular meeting location at the Richmond Mid-Atlantic Properties office located at 1417 1/2 Hull Street on Tuesday, November 14th at 6 PM. After an overview from City staff members and questions from those in attendance, Councilwoman Robertson asked for a show of hands from those in support of the rezoning. Ms. Robertson also asked for a show of hands from those not in favor of the proposed change. Everyone in attendance voted unanimously in support of the rezoning. The next step in the process it to take the proposed rezoning to City Council for a vote. If successful, the rezoning is tentatively slated to be in place by January of 2018. Were that to occur, there will be one less hurdle in the way for entrepreneurs who want to open up restaurants/food stores and thereby increase the number of food options available to Manchester’s Hull Street. SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave
Just saw this, looks like it stops a few blocks away. Hopefully in the future it’ll work it’s way farther down hull! Reply
Michael Moore my dad and I have always wondered why old town Manchester has been so neglected. I think you guys are making a wise choice, and it’ll be cool for the people who live around there to see a bunch of weird old cars driving around haha Reply
Yea I really don’t understand it either. It’s really well connected to downtown. Takes me maybe 8 minutes to go from my old shop to the new one. I think it’ll be awhile before my area really comes up though. I’m technically not in Manchester though. I’m in swansboro, but Richmond is giving out incentives for the area so hopefully we will see something soon Reply
Michael Moore that’s awesome – that place used to be like the carytown of southside, and I think could be again. Hopefully they’ll work on keeping the few businesses that are still there open, rather than gentrifying them out of the neighborhood Reply
Yea I was reading up on it and it was really cool to see pictures of it from the 50s/60s. There are a few businesses that I would definitely want to see stick around. There is also a pretty cool building across the street for sale. I would love for that to get turned into something Reply
Thanks for sharing this info. Looks like good proposed changes (the current parking minimums are really counterproductive, and allowing structures up to 5 stories seems fine/good). Do you know if additional support is needed for these changes in terms of contacting our city councilperson? I assume the corner of Decatur and Jeff Davis is being re-zoned to R-7 because that’s its current use? Reply
It wouldn’t hurt to let Councilwoman Ellen Robertson know you are in support of the zoning change. Her contact information can be found here: http://www.richmondgov.com/CityCouncilDistrict6/index.aspx Yes, the corner of Decatur and Jeff Davis is a residence and hence the carve out/change. Reply
