The Fan District Association’s annual meeting will be held Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 PM at the Virginia Historical Society, 428 North Boulevard. In order to attend and vote at the annual meeting you must be a paid FDA member.  Don’t fret because you can pay your membership dues that evening; dues are payable by cash or check made payable to “Fan District Association.”  Or, you can join or renew online ahead of the annual meeting by going to http://fandistrict.org/members/join/

Speaking of the FDA Annual Meeting, members will be asked to approve the minutes from the 2012 FDA Annual Meeting.  In case you’d like to read them in advance, you can find a copy here.  Minutes will also be available at the May 14 meeting.

We at the FDA are working on a pet / owner matching service. In the meantime, we encourage you to use the FDA’s Facebook site. Check there for found pets, and to report a missing pet email the information to ‘facebook@fandistrict.org‘

Note: updated on 4/30/2013. See flyer link, below.

The FDA parking committee has been working with The City of Richmond, VCU, West Grace Street Association, West Avenue Improvement Association and Monument Avenue Preservation Society to discuss needed changes to the current Restricted Parking Zones 1 and 2. There is consensus that the Fan has a shortage of available on-street parking. Parking permits exceed the number of on-street parking spaces available, however the number of decals and visitor passes issued in the current fiscal year (May 2012 through April 2013) was 2,662, down 14% from the 3,097 issued in the prior year. VCU has also made progress opening access to their parking decks to be available for students & faculty who do not live on campus.

We have reviewed numerous options and are recommending our next step to increase restrictions in a small area in Zone 1 to reduce the available hours at night and on week-ends for those vehicles without a valid decal or guest pass. The proposed changes will not affect anyone holding a valid Zone 1 parking decal or guest pass.

We are communicating this proposed change to the residents, businesses and other interested parties in the immediate area affected by thie change. If successful in reducing non-permitted vehicles parking in this area, we will consider expanding this type of restriction.

Please read the attached notice for details of the proposed change. Stay tuned to FanFare and the FDA website for more details once they become available. And please feel free to e-mail any questions or comments to parking@fandistrict.org

Thanks for your input,

The FDA Parking Committee

FDA Membership Renewals

With the year underway, it is time to renew your FDA membership for the year! Your support of the FDA through membership helps sustain many programs, communications efforts, and other activities throughout the year. Please take the time to renew your membership as soon as possible.

This year, membership renewals are being handled via the FDA website. Please go to www.fandistrict.org and select the “Membership Renewal” link. For most members, your username  will be the email address associated with your membership. You will also be able to reset your password if needed. Once logged in, you can pay your dues via credit card and also update any contact information associated with your membership.

For anyone that does not have an email address associated with your FDA membership, you will receive a membership renewal form through postal mail.

Membership is open to any individual who lives, owns property or operates a business in the Fan District. Annual dues are $20 per person or $25 per household (two voting adults) and $20 for Friends of the Fan (afforded all privileges except the right to vote and hold office).

As you take the time to renew your membership, please take a look around the FDA website and see if there is a committee or activity with which you would like to participate. The FDA is an all-volunteer organization and your participation is greatly appreciated!

Why be a Member of the Fan District Association?

Do you know what the FDA does for our neighborhood?

Here is just a sampling of what the FDA does to further its mission of being dedicated to the preservation, restoration and betterment of our urban community:

• Publishes weekly email newsletters, bi-monthly issues of FanFare, and maintain a Facebook page, all to keep Fan residents informed of community activities, opportunities, and news.

• Issues financial grants for projects such as the Meadow Park landscaping project, the Grace Park Irrigation project, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond for Art After School, Scuffletown Park Irrigation Project and Strawberry Street Festival at Fox School.

• Sponsors and organizes of the free outdoor summer concerts held at Meadow Park.

• Provides information and programs related to area crime and crime prevention. Projects have included a picnic to kick off Neighborhood Night Out in August, starting and maintaining a crime/safety hot line, and management of the Party Patrol.

• Brings city code building violations to the attention of our city representatives for corrective action including participation in zoning variance, and Special Use Permit requests that come before the City’s Board of Zoning Appeals and City Council.

• Provides ongoing evaluation of the parking in the Fan District and making recommendations to provide alleviate parking challenges for all residents.

• Coordinates the alley clean up twice a year including contacting the city to reserve trucks and recruiting volunteers. Additionally, attends court hearings on graffiti cases and maintaining resource files on graffiti-related issues.

• Provides long term planning and enhancing the quality of parks, street trees, tree wells and medians in the Fan District. All parks have a local resident designated as a Park Steward that helps to organize park events and coordinate maintenance activities such as the spring and fall “Clean the Park” days.

• Administers of the Adopt-a-Tree program, in which an FDA member can purchase a tree for a tree well for only $25, half of the regular price.

• Serves as a liaison to the VCU Committee for Government and Community Affairs. This VCU committee meets quarterly and is comprised of representatives from the university, adjoining neighborhood and civic associations, and neighboring business. The purpose is to encourage dialogue and communication among the many groups of people who share working, living, and playing space in the Fan with the long-range goal of fostering better neighbor relations.

It only costs $20 for an individual and $25 for a household to be a member of the FDA. The FDA is the voice of The Fan. The greater the membership, the greater the voice! Encourage your neighbors and friends to become a part of this great organization.

The FDA Board of Directors has undertaken a strategic planning process to better connect and communicate with residents of the Fan.  Our FDA president, Roger Whitfield, began his term of office with the goal of envisioning a FDA strategic plan.  Your FDA board is pleased to have produced a strategic plan for the Fan District Association to guide our efforts over the upcoming two years. Much work has gone into the development of this document with the participation of Fan District residents, FDA members, FDA leadership, elected officials, city government officials, and the VCU administration.  Find the detail page here.

Meadow Park Update

The implementation of the first phase of proposed landscape improvements for Meadow Park was approved at the Saturday, October 13 meeting which was open to all interested residents of the Fan. Phase I includes the following:

  1.  Repairing the perimeter and interior brick walkways is underway. The Department of Public Works and the Department of Parks and Recreation is making the repairs at no cost to The Friends of Meadow Park. Also removing three dying trees and three overgrown shrubs.
  2. Planting low maintenance, low growing shrubs in the grassy area that is east of the Meadow Street sidewalk and at the two Meadow Street corners. Shipp & Wilson Landscaping, Inc. will begin the planting at the first of December.
  3. Limbing and pruning the tall trees and shrubs at the west end of the park (to be done by Shipp & Wilson)
  4. Replacing park signs with signs of a design that is more appropriate with the architecture of the neighborhood.

Suggestions made at the meeting include:

  1.  Request DPW to install a hose bib at the east end of the park in lieu of extending irrigation to the rose bed
  2. Request DPW to install an electrical outlet at the east end of the park
  3. Request DPW to install pavers or bricks under the benches at the same time the brick walkways are being repaired. A hard surface will stop the increasing erosion.
  4. Request matching funding from organizations such as the Fan Woman’s Club, Fan Townhouse & Garden Club, and the Fan District Association for specific needs of the park
  5. Send an email notice through the FDA to inform neighbors that Park Stewards should coordinate all applications of any chemicals or solutions used in the parks such as herbicides and pesticides. The notice will also remind neighbors that no one but Park Stewards is authorized to add any plants, bushes or trees to any park.

The Friends of Meadow Park received a $8000 grant from the FDA in 2012 to cover part of the cost of Phase I improvements which is estimated at approximately $10,000. The additional $2000 will come from a $6000 fund that The Friends of Meadow Park has with the EnRichmond Foundation, a foundation of the Department of Parks and Recreation. The remaining $4000 will be used to leverage future needs by matching any funds requested from other organizations to accomplish the suggestions noted above and to help complete the remaining phases.

Work on Meadow Park is a multi-year project, and Friends is planning another general meeting in January or February 2013.

The landscape improvements will certainly enhance the appearance and appeal of this gateway park, and neighbors have expressed enthusiastic support.

The Parks We Love

Two really nice articles on Fan District pocket parks were written by ArchitectureRichmond.  Find them below:

Ever needed to give someone a glimpse of what Richmond’s like?  Well, how about only good things about Richmond?  This promotional video for Richmond does exactly that.  It’s just over four minutes long, and it’s located here!

Two Board positions have rotated as of the September 4th FDA Board meeting.  Full details and profiles here.

The FDA’s Party Patrol phone number is 804.549.6962

The FDA Party Patrol operates on Friday and Saturday nights from 10 PM to 3 AM. At other hours and Sunday through Wednesday, call the police non-emergency number, 804.646.5100, or the 3rd Precinct at 804.646.1413.

For related news see the FDA’s Safety Page.