Controversial Broad Street high-rise ordinances withdrawn
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 12/10/2020, 6 p.m.
The battle over possible Broad Street high-rise buildings has temporarily ended in victory for the opponents.
Mayor Levar M. Stoney on Monday quietly withdrew from consideration three ordinances that called for rezoning portions of West Broad and West Marshall streets to allow for buildings up to 20 stories tall.
The mayor’s action means that City Council will strike rather than consider the proposals at its upcoming meeting on Monday, Dec. 14.
Mayor Stoney has not explained the withdrawals or indicated whether the ordinances are being redrafted and would be re-introduced.
The mayor previously joined the city Planning Commission in endorsing the plans that were seen as promoting increased development and greater population density between Belvidere Street and Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
A coalition of eight civic associations, ranging from the Carver Civic Improvement League to the Fan District Association, had been lobbying City Council to reject the plans, calling 20-story buildings too tall and likely to cause too much impact in adjacent residential areas.
The RVA Coalition of Concerned Civic Associations had twice unsuccessfully gone to court in a bid to halt council consideration of the plan.
