The majority of the City Council is moving at flank speed to totally reconstruct the way projects in Richmond are reviewed. Pursuant to action taken on February 20 (City Council Votes to Merge Planning Commission and Design Review Board, February 24, 2007), the Design Review Board is to be dismantled and absorbed into a Planning Commission downsized to seven persons (or maybe expanded to nine persons – it’s not really clear). Councilmember Maria Viramontes is the prime mover of this initiative.

Former mayor Rosemary Corbin wrote:

A dumb idea. I hope that at least five members of the Richmond City Council can undo Maria Theresa Viramontes' truly dumb idea to combine the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission. If Viramontes wants to assist out-of-town developers to build here what would not be allowed in the cities where they live, so be it. But I hope that a majority of the City Council would care more about our neighborhoods and the quality of life in Richmond than she does. Design review boards exist in the cities which Richmond would like to emulate because they offer "peer review" of proposed developments by design professionals who are familiar with the local community. They often help produce a better plan. The jobs of members of the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission are substantial in and of themselves. Combining them would put too much of a burden on each member and would dilute the separate expertise required of each. The additional idea of letting the staff approve some projects without the meddlesome input of citizens is another terrible idea. Hopefully, before the city staff wastes any more time on this ill-conceived ordinance, a majority of the City Council will kill it.

Most of the projects currently subject to Design Review are to be subject to the whims of a single Planning Department staff person. For example, virtually all single family homes will be administratively reviewed by Planning staff in the future.

Design Review Guidelines are supposed to be adopted, but nothing substantive has seen the light of day.

All of this is being done with utmost stealth and no public outreach.

Read it for yourself. Click here for a copy of what was adopted by the entire City Council last night except for Gayle McLaughlin and me. Not a single person from the public, other than Corky Booze was in the Council Chamber when this passed. There has been virtually no public opposition.

I don’t know whether the public thinks this is a great idea or simply doesn’t care anymore. Sometimes, I think the public has been so beaten down by dealing with the Richmond bureaucracy and misguided politicians, they just don’t have the energy to keep fighting.

If you want to let your Councilmembers know what you think, click on “reply to all” and send a message.