Planning commission delays vote on Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan, asks chair to form subcommittee

The Richmond City Planning Commission voted unanimously to defer consideration of the Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan and directed the commission chair to appoint a subcommittee to work with staff and stakeholders before the item returns to the commission.

Kimberly Chen, senior manager of the city’s Authenticity Studio, and Paige Pollard, consultant with Commonwealth Preservation Group, presented the plan and told commissioners it grew from the community engagement and policy recommendations in Richmond 300. Chen said the plan emphasizes incentives, education and celebration of cultural resources and is intended as a menu of tools rather than a set of new regulatory provisions.

"The cultural heritage stewardship plan is a test attempting to heal some of those injustices," Chen said, summarizing the plan’s equity intent. Pollard described the project’s outreach: more than 48 stakeholder…