A Church Hill property owner filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging Richmond City Council’s approval of a condominium development for the Chimborazo Park Old and Historic District. The lawsuit by Joseph Preston Carson III is the latest in a series of scrapes between residents and Fulton Hill Properties over its plans to build Oakwood Heights at the end of East Broad and East Marshall streets.

Council OKs condo development for Richmond’s Church Hill A 33-unit condominium complex can be built on the eastern edge of Church Hill, despite protests from residents who argue it would erode the character of their historic neighborhood. The Richmond City Council voted 8-0 with one abstention last night to overturn a decision of the Commission of Architectural Review. The review commission had rejected the design for the Oakwood Heights project, saying its scale would be incompatible with the two-story homes on the block and with the rest of the district.

Neighbors in the Chimborazo Historic District have made numerous attempts to work with the developer to address community concerns so that the project could move forward with community support. There are ways to construct this development to the scale of 33 units that minimize the impact of the development on the existing residents. There are approximately 5,000 gun shows in the United States each year, and in 35 states, including Virginia, anyone—even a felon—can buy a gun without a background check from private, unlicensed dealers.