Category: Land use & Development
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Why We Can’t Build Anything Anywhere Near Anything
Is there a creative solution that would preserve the historic site of Powhatan’s birthplace while allowing development to proceed? Or will this become a zero-sum game like everything else in our society? Press release from the Southern Environmental Law Center: Today Preservation Virginia named the site of WaHลnSeNaKah (Powhatan)โs birthplace one of Virginiaโs most endangered…
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3-1 Odds, the Link Costs Us a Million
Project quacks like student housing, and city schools will pay the price. by Joe Fitzgerald It took me a long time to figure out why Harrisonburgโs Community Development Department doesnโt use one of the clearest metrics available to predict growth in the cityโs schools. Itโs similar to the reason no local news media use it.…
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Data Center Showdown
Tuesday, February 24 was cold and blustery at the Arlington Courthouse, where the Court of Appeals was meeting. Welcome to the front lines of the “Third Battle of Manassas,” which has been going on for 3.5 years — just a few months less than the American Civil War. What’s at stake? The future of western…
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What Do You Want In Your Neighborhood (and City)?
by Jon Baliles For some time now, the city has been engaged in an effort to update the cityโs zoning ordinance which was written in 1976. Richmond has come a loooong way in that time in many ways and in other waysโฆnot so much. The latest zoning effort, known as Code Refresh, has generated much…
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Before Deeds and Zillow
The Arlington-Culpeper Grant Sparked Bacon’s Rebellion and Redefined Virginia Real Estate Virginia real estate history does not begin with subdivisions or courthouse deed books. It begins in political exile. In 1649, after the execution of King Charles I during the English Civil War, Englandโs monarchy collapsed. His son, Charles II, fled Europe and depended on…
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Bill & Ed’s Excellent Richmond Adventure
by Jon Baliles The end of 2025 in Richmond was a rough and painful one as the city lost two of our dearest friends, visionaries, change agents, and just down right kind-hearted people that collectively did more to inspire change and keep it on the front burner to make this city a better place. I…
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Hanover Opposes ICE Detention Center
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Trump administration has to know it is in trouble when Hanover County opposes the establishment of an immigrant processing center within its boundaries. Hanover is the most reliably Republican jurisdiction in the Richmond area and one of the most reliable in the state.ย In each of the last three Presidential elections, Trump…
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Data Centers Provide Property Tax Relief for Homeowners
by Hans Bader Data centers cut property taxes on homeowners, by providing lots of additional property to tax. The more property there is to tax, the less tax needs to be imposed on each property. Data centers use very few government services (unlike homeowners, who use things like schools and parks), so data centers donโt…
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Virginia’s Most Conservative City Births Plan to Thwart Abortion Tourism
Lynchburg is proving that the fight against abortion starts at the local level. by Hayden Ludwig Planned Parenthood boasted earlier this year that “Virginia is the last state in the South without an extreme abortion ban.” That’s a campaign consultant’s way of twisting the truth: the Old Dominion has the most liberal abortion laws south of the…
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Feel-Good Story of the Day
No, the drunken raccoon of Ashland hasn’t started his own YouTube channel. This is a horse story… From the Capital Region Land Conservancy: Doswell, VA โ Nearly 350 acres of farmland where the legendary Triple Crown champion Secretariatย frolicked as a colt are now protected forever by a conservation easement held by the Capital Region Land…
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Caution: Speed Humps Ahead
by David Saunders Problem: Thereโs a rise in pedestrian accidents. Solution: Install speed humps that force drivers to slow down. Sounds like an excellent plan. What could possibly go wrong? If you drive in and around the City of Richmond, youโll notice that the new administration has been placing speed humps (what used to be…
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Are Virginia’s Historic Landscapes the Next Frontier for Big Tech?
Data centers continue to bolster communities in Virginia, but without proper regulation, Virginians on the ground will be the biggest losers. by Bronson Winslow Data centers, driven by Big Tech’s eastward expansion, have popped up like 7-Elevens across Virgini aโ reshaping rolling hills and historic communities in the name of progress. The aggressive transformation, primarily…
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The Battle Lines Are Drawn in Manassas
by Chap Petersen On Monday, April 28, my legal team filed our appeal of the Prince William County Circuit Court’s October 31, 2024 ruling, which dismissed our lawsuit against the County Board of Supervisors for approving the Digital Gateway Project, permitting 37 massive data centers in the slice of agricultural land next to the Manassas…
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I’ve Got It! Let’s Just Change the Rules!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Because it could not legally stop the establishment of a historical horse racing facility within its boundaries, Henrico County is asking the General Assembly to change the rules. This issue was covered before in Baconโs Rebellion. In summary, Henrico voters approved the establishment of off-track-betting facilities in the county. In 2018, the…