Council rejects two citizen-review commissions tied to Code Refresh after hours of testimony

The Richmond City Council declined two ordinances that would have created citizen commissions to review the city's Code Refresh and the implementation of Richmond 300, voting against both proposals after an extended public hearing that included dozens of residents and community leaders.

Ordinance 2026-092 would have established a Code Refresh Review Commission to advise on a forthcoming rewrite of the zoning ordinance; ordinance 2026-096 would have created a Resident Planning Review Commission to weigh implementation of the Richmond 300 master plan. Proponents said the commissions would center renters and homeowners and help rebuild trust in a process some residents called opaque. "A Citizens Review Commission... could work to ensure that whatever version of code refresh is proposed adequately conforms to the vision of Richmond 300," Patricia Merrill, president of the Westhampton Citizens Association, said.

Opponents warned that unpaid citizen commissions risk reproducing inequities, excluding renters and working families who cannot attend meetings, and could be used as delay tactics. Maria Duuster of the Homes for All Our Neighbors Coalition said her coalition supports the intent but opposes the commission approach: "This commission's work will be unpaid, privileging those who can afford to work for free... we are concerned that new commissions would only draw from the voices already at the table," she said.

Council debate reflected those divisions. Some councilmembers argued the city already has engagement infrastructure — an Office of Neighborhood Engagement, participatory budgeting offices and advisory boards — and urged staff to deploy those tools more effectively. Others said the commissions were intended to offset the influence of developers and ensure residents are central to a process that will affect every parcel of land in the city.

Both ordinances failed in roll-call votes. Council members recorded no majority in favor of the Code Refresh Review Commission, and the Resident Planning Review Commission likewise failed to gain the necessary support.

Why it matters: Code Refresh is a comprehensive reworking of Richmond's zoning rules that council and residents say will affect housing, displacement and the character of neighborhoods across the city. The debate focused on whether to create formal, resident-led review bodies or to double down on administrative outreach and district-level engagement.

Next steps: Councilmembers asked the administration to produce a clearer engagement plan, answer outstanding questions about maps and parcel-level impacts, and identify metrics for when outreach is sufficient before moving forward with code changes. Several council members said they will continue pursuing resident-centered options if administrative outreach does not meet the council's expectations.