Poll: 67% of Richmonders Surveyed Oppose Code Refresh.
87% Say Taxes Too High.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,
As chairman of Richmond Civic League, I’m happy to provide full copies of our much anticipated live call polling survey of 630 Richmond citizens, regarding zoning Code Refresh.
Only 34% of Citizens Aware of Code Refresh
Surprisingly, the poll establishes that Richmond’s Mayor Avula is attempting to force rezoning of 77,000 Richmond lots, yet only 34% of Citizens are aware that their property is about to be rezoned. They may have heard of Code Refresh, but do they understand its impacts? It begs the question: Is the Mayor’s plan even slightly democratic, or instead a gift to developers?
City Informs Just 5000 Citizens
This is in stark contrast to the city’s claims that they have informed the majority, by holding 100 mostly small meetings and interacting with some 5000 citizens is not city-wide engagement. Richmond’s population is 235,000. Of the mere 2% of the city who participated, how many were repeat citizens attending multiple events? If you go to any Code Refresh meetings you quickly notice the same faces. Those 5,000 do not equate to a wide understanding by Richmond residents!
The poll was conducted by American Research Group of, Manchester, NH.
ARG is one of just a handful of pollsters which still uses live telephone interviews for polling, and does not use texts or the internet.
Large Poll Covered 630 Live, Voter Interviews
The very large poll was conducted by live phone interviews between, June 19 and June 26, 2026, and surveyed 630 Richmond registered voters across all 9 City Council Districts. It actually consists of 9 individual polls or surveys down to the City Council district level, and is expected to indicate how well each Councilperson’s stance toward this controversial issue, aligns with the sentiments of their constituents. District level details are included with the full poll results.
Just 26% of Citizens Support Code Refresh Rezoning
Also surprisingly, the survey establishes that citywide, just 26% of citizens support Code Refresh rezoning as it is currently written, despite Mayor Avula’s doubtful claims that some 70% of citizens are in support.
Goldman Announces Referendum To Allow Voters to Decide Instead of City Council
On Monday, A Second Committee, RVA Right To Vote Referendum Committee Also Filed Its Intend To Circulate Petitions With Circuit Court
The timing of this release comes at about the same time that political activist and referendum expert, Paul Goldman, and a second committee have announced that they are both moving forward with 13,000 to 16,000 citizen petition efforts to take the approval vote from Richmond City Council, and to permit Richmond citizens to vote on this controversial matter directly. Goldman has successfully led 3 prior referendum efforts in Richmond.
Funded By RCL Members
The poll was funded directly by members of Richmond Civic League, a 7 year old organization devoted to the enlightenment of, and engagement with Richmond citizens in the furtherance of better Richmond government.
For More Information,
Contact: Marty Jewell, Richmond Civic League