Richmond’s proposed zoning Code Refresh seeks to allow rooming houses in every neighborhood, permitting an unlimited number of unrelated people to live in a single home. Picture this: 10 people living in a 10 room house, each with pad-locked bedroom doors, sharing one bathroom, allowed an unlimited numbers in every neighborhood! Richmond has seen this movie before. West Grace Street in the 1960s–70s, with blight, crime, and community collapse. With RPD currently not enforcing the noise ordinance, how will a neighbor quiet a noisy rooming house at 2 AM in Ginter Park, Oak Grove, Church Hill, or anywhere else?
Code Refresh is incomprehensible in this regard. The authors clearly were insensitive to the wants, needs, tastes, and character of our beloved historic city. It appears that they asked few or no local residents about this provision, and it is the belief of Richmond Civic League leadership that a clear majority exceeding 80% of Richmond citizens, if asked, would flatly reject this abhorrent provision as utterly unacceptable.
Who thinks rooming houses are good for neighborhoods? The mayor? The planning commission? Councilperson Newbille? Councilperson Robertson?
Richmond City Hall has come up with a lot of bad ideas and this one looks like the worst ever.
The current rule apparently allows a max of 3 unrelated people to live in a house. What complete idiot decided that 10 or 15 or more unrelated people will be allowed in a single house?
Wikipedia says, “often many units are in very poor condition”, with issues such as mold, cockroaches, bedbugs, and broken locks.[2] An article about Montreal rooming houses stated that the units often contain bedbugs and “faulty plumbing”.[4]
City Admin, You must be kidding. This is a horror show.