Richmond subcommittee hears split public comment on Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan amid housing concerns

Public comment at a Richmond City subcommittee meeting on the draft Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan opened with residents and interest groups warning the plan could slow housing development while preservation advocates and planning staff said the draft is primarily policy and incentives, not regulation. Planning staff told the subcommittee the CHSP would inform later ordinance work and that any binding rules would require separate council action.

The debate focused on whether the plan—s preservation tools could be used to block housing or whether they would help keep older, lower-cost housing in place. Joe Galvak, speaking for RVA YIMB, said the plan "poses real risks to housing affordability, equity, and our city's ability to grow inclusively" and urged an equity and housing impact analysis and guardrails to prevent preservation tools from blocking affordable or modest infill housing such as duplexes and accessory dwelling units.

Samantha Kenny, government affairs director at the Richmond Association of Realtors and a member of the CHSP advisory committee, told the subcommittee that moving the plan forward before the zoning code rewrite risks "creating conflict, confusion, or even barriers to housing reforms we desperately need" and asked the group to delay adoption until after zoning reforms are complete.

Historic preservation advocates countered that the plan is a…