An email circulating says that the Planning Commission will be taking on the zoning on the block around the Oakwood Heights property at their next meeting:

City lawyers have recommended that Margaret Freund’s property stay at its current high-density zoning designation (R-53), while the rest of the area be re-zoned for single family housing (R-8).

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The RTD’s News Near You has this running today:

A Church Hill property owner is asking the Virginia Supreme Court to hear an appeal in the case of Oakwood Heights, a 33-unit condominium development approved for a city historic district at the end of East Broad and Marshall streets. Last month, Circuit Judge T.J. Markow upheld the City Council’s decision to approve the project. David Branch, an attorney for property owner Joseph Preston Carson III, confirmed the notice of appeal this week.

From the Letters section of the March issue of the CHA newsletter:

The court date has been set for the appeal of City Council’s decision to overturn the decision made by The Commission of Architectural Review (CAR) regarding the proposed Oakwood Heights Development. The date is Tuesday, March 16th at 10:00 am, in Richmond’s Circuit Court at the John Marshall Court House, 400 N. 9th St.

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A guest post by Deanna Lewis.

According to a recent review of the The Virginia Public Access Project, Margaret Freund, owner of Fulton Hill Properties, has been donating and raising a lot of cash for former 7th District Councilwoman and current State Delegate, Delores McQuinn.

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The anticipated appeal against City Council’s decision to overturn CAR’s decision on the Oakwood Heights project has been filed. Though the appeal was filed with one individual as “Petitioner” (PDF), opponents of the project say that “the petition speaks for us all as home owners, renters and investors in this neighborhood” and that “the document [...] touches strongly on the protection of the historic fabric of this community and the Old & Historic areas of Richmond.”

The RTD weighs in on the Oakwood Heights saga with an anonymous and ill-informed editorial today:

The neighbors’ objections are primarily aesthetic. They consider the condo project insufficiently gracile, and not in keeping with the character of the neighborhood. In some respects we might incline to agree. But that objection does not override the more salient issue at hand: The project is permitted under existing zoning, which has called for multi-family use of the site for several decades.

Neighbors have complained that the developer did not give sufficent consideration to their demands. After the City Council vote, some pledged to pursue the issue in court. Before doing so, they might want to reflect on this consideration: Why should their mere aesthetic displeasure give them veto power over someone else’s property rights?

High interest votes from tonight include YES on a conservation easement along the James River and an vote to OVERTURN CAR‘s rejection of the most recent Oakwood Heights design.

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The agenda for the City Council meeting on Monday (PDF) contains items of local interest including a conservation easement along the James River and either affirmation or denial of CAR‘s rejection of the most recent Oakwood Heights design.

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We’ve been forwarded a few messages about “a flier outside of the flower shop on 25th Street regarding an Oakwood Heights Public Meeting today at 5PM at the Franklin Military Academy (701 N 37th St. at M St.)”. Given reports of shenanigans regarding generating support for Oakwood Heights at the last CHA meeting, this quiet meeting is interesting. Can anyone confirm or share more info about the meeting?

Two hundred or so residents turned out for the Church Hill Association meeting on Tuesday evening. The membership voted 62-44, with a handful of abstentions, against the Shockoe Center proposal. The main concern seemed to be the finances of the project, though mention was also made of the historic nature of the area of the development.

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James Hill, secretary for Committee of Architectural Review (CAR), recently sent out a letter giving notice (PDF) that on Tues.Feb.17, City Council’s Standing Committee of Land Use, Housing, and Transportation will consider an appeal of CAR’s recent denial of the most recent Oakwood Heights application. Council will vote on the issue at the Feb.23 meeting.

An ad-hoc Church Hill Association membership meeting will be held at St. John’s Parish Hall on Dec.2 @ 7PM. The 2009 CHA budget, new zoning for the area, the proposed plan to build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom, and the Oakwood Heights project are all part of the agenda. (previously)

On Friday, September 12, 2008, the Commission of Architectural Review (CAR) will hold two special meetings, to discuss the Oakwood Heights project located in the 3600 blocks of Broad and Marshall streets. The first meeting will begin at 2:00pm with interested members of the public. The second meeting will begin at 3:30pm with Fulton Hill Properties and their architect. Both meetings are open to the public. [via]

The folks at Fulton Hill Properties have made available the new drawings for the proposed Oakwood Heights condo project (72.8MB PDF) prior to their upcoming CAR presentation on Tuesday.

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The Church Hill Association has announced a special meeting for 7:00PM on Monday, August 25 to get “membership’s input, comments and perhaps a vote to define a position for CHA” on the proposed Oakwood Heights condominium project. The Commission of Architectural Review will be taking up the next iteration of the Oakwood Heights project the next day.