The city of Richmond uses a combined overflow sewage system which presently dumps raw sewage into the James River at the time of a heavy storm, year round.
The city’s new zoning Code Refresh program proposed by the city Administration will increase the number of residences in Richmond by up to 50,000 dwellings and 100,000 residents, according to Richmond’s planning director, Kevin Vonck.
Based on recognized engineering data it has been determined that based on sewage per new resident, sewage output will increase by over 10 million gallons per day if Code Refresh as envisioned is fully built.
It is an engineering fact that with Code Refresh fully built, the amount of raw sewage dumped into the James River will more than double at times of heavy storms. Richmond’s infrastructure is woefully inadequate at present, thus with 50,000 new dwellings the situation will become catastrophicly more environmentally damaging.
The city planning director, Kevin Vonck, stated on Dec. 11, 2025 that Richmond today, “has the necessary infrastructure in place to support the development,” expected to occur with Code Refresh. Unfortunately, Mr. Vonck’s statement is not true.
The City of Richmond is currently already in violation of Federal Environmental Protection Agency laws governing the discharge of sewage into rivers.
We must stop this. We must protect the environment. We have to protect our James River because it is one of Richmond’s most precious assets. We need to say NO to Code Refresh. The costs to the environment are far too great.
Based on the post below, wouldn’t that prove that Mr. Vonck’s statement apparently uttered publicly on Dec. 11 is false? Ergo, if the city is $400 million short of funds to fix the sewers, and if they currently violate DEQ and EPA requirements, then Richmond is an extreme polluter, violates multiple environmental laws, and is light years from having the sewer infrastructure to support 50,000 new homes in the Code Refresh plan.
From City’s official website.
“The cost of the CSO Final Plan as approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on August 8, 2024 was $565 million, which the City believes can be reduced to a $533.5million total. Rate payers in Richmond are already paying some of the highest rates in Virginia. The city will need $400 million in state funds set-aside for the project by FY29 in order to initiate contracts to meet the 2035 deadline mandated by the General Assembly”
Either Kevin Vonck doesn’t understand the inadequacy of our infrastructure, or he’s lying. Either way, this is pure incompetence from a so-called professional paid by the citizens to responsibly manage the Planning Department. We need and deserve true professional leadership to guide Richmond’ growth. It’s so obvious: first things first. We need a plan and funding to fix the infrastructure. Then we can collectively — the city and the citizens — work together to guide growth.