Sierra Club Falls of the James letter to Richmond Mayor and City Council about Monroe Park, Jan. 27, 2017

Have you seen Monroe Park lately? I belong to a Facebook group called "Fans of Monroe Park" and have been following the"renovations" being made to Monroe Park. Among the many changes taken place as part of a $6 million renovation is the removal of many of the trees. Below is a recent letter sent to city officials by the Sierra Club of the Falls of the James. Please read it. Please let your local city council member and the new mayor about your concerns about Monroe Park. And please subscribe to the Fans of Monroe Park on Facebook. 

- Ray.

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January 27, 2017

Dear Mayor Stoney, members of City Council,

I am writing to you today representing the Sierra Club Falls of the James, one of the largest and

oldest environmental organizations in the area. We are a local grassroots group that is part of the

national Sierra Club. We are writing because we are very concerned about the removal of trees

and the state of historic Monroe Park. We note that we previously produced a statement on this

topic in May of 2014 (ITEM 1), and we are profoundly disappointed that our concerns have been

ignored. We also note previous public outcry about trees removed at the Redskins Camp,

Tredegar Green, and the Maggie Walker statue site. In regard to Monroe Park, we would like to

present you with the following statement of facts and remedial suggestions. Ideally, we would like

to meet with you in person at a future date to discuss further.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

From 2004 until 2012, the Monroe Park Advisory Council (MPAC) was created by Richmond

City Council to craft a master plan for the renovation of Monroe Park, a designated urban green

space purchased by the city in 1851 and historically known for its comprehensive tree canopy

consisting of many mature, healthy and diverse tree specimens. This urban tree canopy provided

great benefit to the urban Richmond community through scenic vistas, cooling shade, storm water

displacement and the filtering of pollutants caused by the dense downtown street grid. In 2008, a

publicly vetted master plan was created and approved by the Richmond Urban Design Committee

(UDC) without comment. This plan emphasized restoration and conservation of the majority of the

existing tree canopy with emphasis placed on species planted during the parks major period of

significance, circa 1900-1910. The original 2008 master plan is available for download on the

Richmond city government website with a graphic depiction of a comprehensive and fully restored

tree canopy (ITEM 1).

2009 WORK DOCUMENTS APPROVAL

In order to implement the approved master plan, work documents had to be crafted. In a

move that was never presented to neighborhood associations or the public at large, the work

documents contained a modification to the tree plan that reduced the number of trees in the park

by +/- 26 trees. Members of the Monroe Park Advisory Council were not advised of the significant

tree canopy reduction as designed by 3 North and supervised by MPAC president Alice Massie.

In 2009, the UDC and the Richmond Planning Commission approved work documents.

VCU ADVOCACY OF TREE REMOVAL IN THE PARK

In 1991, VCU brought before city council a request to remove 37 trees from Monroe Park

(ITEM 2). Due to public outcry and opposition, city council voted down the measure. Again, in

2006 during master plan deliberations, VCU again made the suggestion that a substantial portion

of the tree canopy be removed. Ms. Massie was in agreement. City planning director Rachel

Flynn in response assisted by hiring consultants and the plan (ITEM 1) was chosen due to public

consensus over the copious removal of healthy mature trees.

MONROE PARK CONSERVANCY AND LEASE

In 2011, the Monroe Park Conservancy (MPC), established by Alice Massie and others as a

501c3 corporation, sought to lease Monroe Park to solicit a 3 million dollar amount toward the 6

million dollar park renovation and to exert management preferences on the park thereafter. On

April 14, 2014, city council approved Ord. 2014-010-50, a 30-year lease with the MPC with said

lease commencing after completion of the renovation. On the same day, city council approved

Res. 2014-R064-64 which sought to diversify board membership of the MPC to include

neighboring community stakeholders to be achieved within a 6-month period. Ms. Massie signed

the resolution in agreement on behalf of the MPC. Now, as of 2 1/2 years after the lease

approval, Ms. Massie has refused to diversify the MPC Board as per signed resolution. A month

and a half after lease approval, on May 27, 2014, city council abolished the MPAC through Ord.

2014-111-84. This further excluded any participation by the public on important matters pertaining

to the park.

FURTHER CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSED PARK PLAN MODIFICATIONS

In December of 2016, during the holiday season and during a time when Richmond City

government was in transition due to election of a new Mayor and a new 2nd District

Councilperson (Monroe Park lies in the 2nd District), a controversial proposal was submitted to

the UDC for an expedited hearing on January 5, 2017 (ITEMS 3 and 4). Both newly elected

Mayor Levar Stoney and 2nd District Councilperson Kim Gray would be eligible to sit on the MPC

Board of Directors as of January 1, 2017 but presumably would not have time to completely vet

the proposal before the hearing on the 5th. The sponsors of this questionable proposal were city

Capital Projects Manager Donald Summers and 3 North Project Manager Andrea Almond, also a

sitting member of the UDC. It is troubling that UDC policy dictates that proposals that have

significant impact such as this one be presented to both affected city council members and

neighborhood associations. No presentations were planned to either city councilors or

neighborhood associations. After complaints on this were made to UDC secretary Ms. Onufer,

Mr. Summers temporarily withdrew the hearing proposal for January 5, 2017.

DECEMBER 12, 2016 MEETING AND TREE REMOVAL

On December 12,2016, around the time of the UDC proposal application, a meeting was held

in Monroe Park which included Ms. Massie, 3 North Design Team, City Capital Projects Manager

Mr. Donald Summers, city arborist Alexander Elton and people from the city annual tree

contractor service. At this meeting, an additional 14 trees were specified for removal. 7 were

declared dead by the city arborist Alexander Elton and 7 were declared in conflict with a proposed

city bio-retention feature in the park, with statements being made that the bio-retention feature

would destroy the trees. None of the 14 trees were identified in any previous documents for

removal so the 7 cited for conflict should have been approved in advance by departmental

variance but in the rush to remove the trees, no variance was applied for by Mr. Donald

Summers. The trees were gone in a matter of days. It is troubling that the location of these trees,

being adjacent in proximity to the controversial UDC pavilion proposal, could have caused a

negative impact on the approval of the proposal by the UDC. The UDC pavilion proposal would

adversely affect at least 2 other trees scheduled for planting in the park. Healthy mature trees are

a much more efficient means of storm water displacement than mechanical bio-retention means

and the city undertook no study to verify that the trees would be destroyed by the bio-retention

feature. The seven dead trees were removed in days as well. Former 3 term member of MPAC

and recipient of the 2005 Jesse Reynolds Award for his conservation work on this park and

others, Charles Woodson disputes the dead tree declaration. Unfortunately, city arborist

Alexander Elton could provide no records of his decision on the health of these trees under the

Virginia Freedom of Information Act and contrary to city policy of marking and allowing an

extended time period for community comment on trees before removal, the trees were gone in

just days. Mr. Chupek, who is in charge of the Urban Forestry Division, confirmed that there were

no plans to replace either the removed trees nor the the ones questionably declared dead and

removed expeditiously by city arborist Alexander Elton. (ITEM 6)

APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY

After consideration of the facts that trees were removed without variance to possibly afford

a successful approval of an expedited and very controversial UDC pavilion proposal in conflict

with the Monroe Park master plan and due to the appearance that the new councilperson Kim

Gray, who espouses government transparency as a keystone of her governing philosophy as well

as the new Mayor Levar Stoney would have possibly been excluded in the expedited UDC review

gives the unmistakable appearance of impropriety in this matter. When factored in that 3 North

Project Manager Andrea Almond was an applicant on this expedited UDC pavilion proposal which

denied the affected public and city councilpersons of open presentation, violating the policy of the

UDC and that Ms. Almond is also a sitting member of the existing UDC, this appearance of

impropriety is compounded. It is also unmistakable that contrary to the spirit of Res. 2014-R064-

64 which would diversify the MPC Board of Directors, the community has been deprived of any

voice pertaining to the city's oldest and most historic Monroe Park, and that the opposite of

governmental transparency has been promulgated, the Falls of the James Chapter of the Sierra

Club makes the following remedial suggestions:

1.) The Monroe Park Advisory Council be permanently reestablished by act of Richmond City

Council and that members of the stake holding neighborhoods surrounding this park be appointed

by Council as well as representatives of the VCU student government and VCU Administration to

advise Richmond city government on matters concerning Monroe Park.

2.) That due to the lack of transparency and due to questionable decisions made by the MPC in

representing corporate and institutional interests to the exclusion of the legitimate interests of the

tax payers and other community members, that the lease on Monroe Park with the MPC be

terminated immediately by ordinance of city council and that former MPC board members be

rendered ineligible for appointment to the new Monroe Park Advisory Council.

3.) That the Monroe Park tree canopy, which has been tragically decimated by the removal of

healthy mature trees, be reforested to the standards established in the original Monroe Park

master plan, as approved by the UDC in 2008 and is listed on the city website under planning

documents.

4.) That a policy and funding be established by act of city council for the replacement of trees that

die or are removed due to disease or acts of God in Richmond City Parks be replaced in a timely

and appropriate manner.

Thank You,

Scott Burger,

Advocacy Committee of Sierra Club Falls of the James

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 Sierra Club Falls of the James