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Commission removes historic parking requirement for corner commercial buildings at Floyd & Robinson; approves separate‑use permits
Summary
The commission voted to repeal an older special‑use permit that required 23 leased parking spaces for buildings at 2526 Floyd Ave. and 105 N. Robinson St., allowing the two structures to operate as separate commercial uses and prohibiting tobacco, cannabis and adult‑oriented retail.
The Planning Commission on Feb. 25 approved an ordinance amendment that repealed a decades‑old special‑use permit and removed a prior parking‑lease requirement for two small commercial buildings at 2526 Floyd Ave. and 105 North Robinson St. in the Fan neighborhood.
Planner Cheyenne Trump summarized the request as an update to a 1988 special‑use permit most recently amended in 1999. The applicant sought to eliminate a requirement for 23 off‑street parking spaces located within 500 feet—spaces the property owner had been leasing to a nearby hospital—and to allow the two buildings, separated by an alley, to be used independently for a limited set of neighborhood‑serving commercial activities.
Applicant Will Gillette of Vector Development Resources told commissioners the parking requirement had become burdensome and that leased parking could be terminated with short notice by the third‑party owner; the most recent tenant left late last year in part because of parking and lease economics. Gillette said the Fan District Alliance reviewed the proposal in December and voted in favor of removing the parking requirement.
The approved ordinance restricts the allowed uses to a curated subset of R‑63 neighborhood commercial uses, explicitly excludes laundromats, tattoo and music/video production studios, prohibits the sale or rental of adult materials, and bans the sale of tobacco, nicotine and cannabis products on the sites. Staff recommended approval and found the proposal consistent with Richmond 300 neighborhood mixed‑use guidance. After a motion and roll call, commissioners voted 7–0 to forward the item to City Council.
Commissioners and the applicant noted that the buildings are separate, not physically connected, and that the requested change reflects citywide changes to parking regulation as well as local lease constraints.
