Chairman Robertson and member of Planning Commission:

My name is Tim Pfohl and I have the privilege of serving the
Bellevue neighborhood as president of our civic association.

I am here to convey the Association’s  opposition to Crisis
Pregnancy Center’s proposed special use permit to provide
social service delivery at 4100 Brook Road, within the Bellevue
neighborhood in Northside

The Bellevue Civic Association represents nearly 1,300 households
located within the area bounded by the primary streets of Brook,
Hermitage, Laburnum and Westbrook. The Association has been a
strong and active advocate for safety, appropriate land uses, and a
high quality of life for its residents. We have an involved and
diverse array of committees run solely by volunteers from our
neighborhood.

Since initially being made aware of Crisis Pregnancy’s plans, the
Association has made tremendous efforts to educate our residents
and obtain their feedback on this issue, including articles in four
newsletters (including two cover stories) that go to every one of our
nearly 1,300 households, discussion at four general meetings to
audiences exceeding 95 residents, three meetings with CPC staff and
ongoing communication with their executive director, messages
distributed to our electronic mail listserv, distribution of the CPC
application and data, etc.

Having thoroughly reviewed and considered Crisis Pregnancy’s
application, we wish to highlight the following concerns:

We find the use of the property for educational classes and staff
training with up to two dozen attendees during evening and
weekend hours will result in excessive traffic and parking that will
inundate the immediately adjacent residential area and side streets at
times when most residents are also at home and parked on those
same streets, and when a church across Brook Road also offers
services that bring dozens of cars to that intersection.

The material goods collection, storage and distribution will
generate an undefined amount of traffic at hours that cannot be
determined or controlled. The likelihood of goods being left
outside in plain view of adjacent residences is highly undesirable
and can not be controlled by CPC staff during hours the center is
closed.

Most importantly, although the property was arguably spot-zoned in
the 1960s (it is the only RO-1 property in the vicinity) it is the
Association’s opinion that the current zoning allows a wide array of
uses that could benefit a far greater percentage of Bellevue
households than would a crisis pregnancy center. Bellevue is
part of a highly active real estate market where many properties
are significantly renovated each year by homeowners of all ages,
races and income levels. The current zoning allows several
professional office uses that could take advantage of this market,
including doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, realtors,
insurance sales, accountants, contractors, software developers
and many other uses.

To our knowledge, this property has never been actively
marketed for the currently allowed uses since it became
vacant nearly a decade ago. We do not feel it is wise,
nor is it necessary to further spot-zone to a use that is
not allowed in RO-1 nor the adjacent B-2 or R-5 zones,
when there has never been a good faith effort to comply
with the current zoning.

CPC did not choose this site because it is the best situated
location for their operation (according to their own statistics
90 percent of their clients live outside Northside Richmond),
they obtained it through a tax donation-benefited sale from
an owner who had not used, maintained or marketed the
property for more than a decade. We do not feel that Bellevue
residents should have to live with the impacts of something that
was facilitated by the federal tax code. CPC obtained the
property for $51,ooo, less than the assessed value of the land,
and less than one-fifth the property’s total assessed value.
CPC could sell the property and use the net proceeds for
program operating costs, and Bellevue could have a service
that adds value to neighborhood property rather than detracting
from it.


We would therefore suggest that CPC offer the property for
sale or lease, for use within the current RO-1 zoning. If the City
government wishes to join with the Bellevue Civic Association
in making our neighborhood and city a truly desirable and
exemplary place to live, we must raise our standards, not use
zoning to lower the bar. Bellevue and other Northside
neighborhoods are already in a precarious position due to
crime occurring within and emanating from improperly zoned
and developed properties along Chamberlayne Avenue. Let’s not
repeat past mistakes.

On behalf of our board, members and residents, we respectfully
request you deny the application for the special use permit.