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Florenz Sterling edited and Mary Garber produced the June, 2001 issue of the Newsletter. That issue includes:
- Picnic
- Calendar
- Crisis Pregnancy Center Zoning
- Prez Sez
- News of the Watch
- News of the Patrol
- Plant Swap Report
BCA Summer Picnic
A new twist on theSummer General Meeting
Friday, July 20
Picnic setup 6 p.m., concert at 7:00
Big Gig at Westminster-Canterbury
Music by the U.S. Army Jazz Ensemble
Bring your own food or purchase food on site.
Join us in the Bellevue Civic Association Picnic Spot.
13th Annual Garden Walk
Sunday, June 10, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Reception following at Azalea
Mall Garden Center
See the Garden Walk Flyer for details and a map.
Security Patrol
New Member Training
Wednesday, June 28, 7:00 p.m.
Battery Park Christian Church
4201 Brook Road
Contacts: Chris Sterling 266-7496
Winnie Cobb 264-0959
See page 3 for details.
Bellevue Civic Association Summer Picnic
Big Gig at
Westminster-Canterbury
Friday, July 20
Westminster Canterbury
See page 6 for details.
North District Team
Third Thursday Each Month
7:00 p.m.
2712 Chamberlayne Avenue
Charles Lynch 646-7426
Crisis Pregnancy Center
seeks use permit for site
at Brook and Amherst
Several months after tentatively announcing its intentions, Crisis Pregnancy Center of Metropolitan Richmond (CPC) has filed an application with the City of Richmond for a special use permit to use the vacant medical offices at 4100 Brook Road as its new multi-purpose facility. CPC, which currently is housed in Carytown, obtained the property last fall. CPC officials met with the Bellevue Civic Association board of directors last July to brief us on their concept for the site, and official paperwork was filed with the City Department of Community Development's Land Use Administration office in April.CPC needs the special use permit because it will offer its clients free medical diagnosis and treatment, counseling, birthing/parenting education and supplies (including food, clothes, and equipment), which, under the City's Code, constitutes a "social service delivery use." In its application CPC proposes these uses and impacts:
Medical care, pregnancy counseling, childbirth education, material goods assistance, and referrals;
Four to six full-time employees and two to three part-time and/or volunteers on site, plus up to eight clients for hourly appointments each day;
Hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays (no Sunday hours);
Birthing and parenting classes one evening per week with up to 20 participants and two instructors;
Staff training sessions for up to 25 participants four to six times per year; and
Freestanding and building-mounted signage.
City staff have forwarded comments from various departments to CPC, which now has an open window of time to return with a request that the proposal be put in the form of an ordinance for City Council to vote on.
Adjacent neighbors, Bellevue Civic Association board members and interested residents have met to discuss our position on the application, and are coordinating our efforts with the Ginter Park Residents Association which also abuts the CPC site. To receive a copy of CPC's application or to be included in updates and meetings, please call Tim Pfohl at 264-1362.
Tim Pfohl
Wow, what a great day it was in Bellevue on Saturday, May 5th, and it wasn't just the hot sunny weather or the 100,000 NASCAR fans streaming by on their way to RIR!
The day began for several of us at 8:00 a.m. with the annual Neighborhood Spring Cleanup. Nearly twenty volunteers gathered at the Bellevue/Brook parking lot, joined by city crews and four garbage trucks for the annual jaunt through the alleys. A phenomenal amount of debris was gathered, including appliances, sofa beds, desks, mattresses, computers, lumber, brush, and much more than you could even imagine!
Bellevue residents obviously take great advantage of this opportunity to make our homes and neighborhood cleaner. A fascinating fringe benefit is seeing the great pride many property owners take in the maintenance and landscaping of the alley-side portions of their property. It was a vivid reminder that allowing our alleys to become tangled trashy jungles sends a negative message to everyone, including the ne'er-do-wells who may be looking to use the alleys as cover to perpetrate crime on our properties and persons (how's that for police-talk!). Many thanks to our Cleanup co-chairs John Fisher and Joe Robertson, and the neighbors and City employees who turned out to fulfill that lifelong dream of riding a garbage truck! We'll plan on doing it again this fall.
If you placed items for pickup and they were missed, please call Ms. Billie Raines, Coordinator for the Clean City Commission, at 646-5659 to arrange for pickup.
But we weren't done yet! The annual Plant Swap commenced at noon, just as the Cleanup came to a close. Neighbors who need to thin out burgeoning yard plants and other folks in search of new additions to their garden gathered on MacArthur Avenue, and in a fevered frenzy of less than an hour, dozens of plants changed hands and found new homes. Our thanks to co-chairs Kath Sadler and Janet Brown for coming up with this idea for a quick, fun event that keeps Bellevue blooming.
We look forward to seeing all the new transplants - and all of you - during the 13th annual Bellevue Garden Walk on Sunday, June 10!
Tim Pfohl, President
Neighborhood
Watch News:
ALERT!It's spring in Beautiful Bellevue, and the scam artists are out. A recent police report tells us that they are operating in pairs with a third in the car waiting. The pair will approach you in the yard or knock on the door. The pitch is home improvement. Don't let them in your home! One will distract you while the other will steal valuables (silver, jewelry, etc,). The whole thing happens in minutes; these are professionals operating along the East Coast.
As usual, we have some groups of youngsters, not from our neighborhood, looking for any opportunity to snatch goods. Please lock your cars and homes and don't leave valuables visible in your auto. Also, please report any suspicious persons or activity to the Police at 911, the Bellevue Security Patrol at 257-9705, and the Neighborhood Watch.
We still need Block Captains! There are 78 blocks total in Bellevue with 58 in the Neighborhood Watch (NW) system for relaying important information. Only 20 blocks are not involved. Pretty good! Now let's get those blocks going. Thanks to everyone who has been working so hard to keep the NW active. It wouldn't happen without YOU!
Libby Clark, 266-6753
Driving With the Windows Down
Summertime and the Bellevue Security PatrolSummer is upon us: . . . picnics . . . lawn mowing . . . cookouts . . . lawn mowing . . . porch sitting . . . lawn mowing. You get the picture. Our neighborhood is quite active during the summertime. Problem is, those individuals wishing to steal from our cars and houses are also quite active this time of year. There are several things you can do to make such theft more difficult:
Remove valuables from your vehicle.
Leave your porch light on.
Secure bicycles, tools, and other such items.
Ask your neighbor to keep an eye on your home while you are on vacation and return the favor.
Please call the Bellevue Security Patrol Community Voicemail at 257-9705 to report thefts and other incidents (by leaving a message) and to get information on recent incidents reported by your neighbors. In the event of an emergency, please call the Richmond Police first at 911 and report the incident to the Patrol thereafter.
In the February newsletter we requested assistance from individuals monitoring scanners. We have since been informed that the new radio system utilized by police in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield cannot be monitored with a scanner. We wish to thank those of you otherwise willing to help in this way.
Current Patrol Members:
If you will be unable to complete a scheduled patrol due to vacation or other conflict, please let your team captain know as soon as possible.If you have an electronic mail address, please provide this to your team captain at your earliest opportunity. We hope to utilize electronic mail to remind members of upcoming patrols, provide patrol schedules, and provide notice of incidents and other matters of interest to the Patrol. If you prefer, you can provide your e-mail address by sending a message to the Bellevue Security Patrol electronic mail address below, providing your full name in the subject line or message:
bellevue.patrol@richmond.comNew patrol schedules will be distributed after June 1st.
Come Ride With Us:
If you can commit 1 1/2 hours per month either driving or riding, please consider becoming a Patrol member. We will hold a Patrol Training Session for potential new members on June 28, 2001 at Battery Park Christian Church, 4201 Brook Road. Training will begin at 7 p.m. and will be led by officers with the Richmond Police Department. Please call Chris Sterling (266-7496) or Winnie Cobb (264-0959) if you are interested, or e-mail the Patrol at bellevue.patrol@richmond.com.
If you cannot commit time to patrolling, you still may be able to help the Patrol. If you would like to help offset some of the Patrol's nominal equipment costs, we would welcome your donation. If you have some other special knowledge or skill that you think might be useful to the Patrol, please let us know.
We would like to extend our thanks to Bellevue resident Clay Whitehead for printing the magnetic signs used during patrols. Clay owns ARTEFFECTS, a screenprinting company located on 3rd Street across from the new Convention Center downtown. You can reach Clay at 783-2712.
Bellevue Gardeners
Like to Give . . .
And Receive!
Bellevue held its fourth Plant Swap on Saturday, May 5. Between noon and 1:00 pm, 134 plants were "swapped" by Bellevue residents. The idea behind the plant swap is that gardeners have plants that need to be thinned out and don't always have a "friend in need" of these same plants. So the idea was developed to provide Bellevue residents with a time and place to bring their overabundant plants and also give them the opportunity to swap for plants that they did want in their yard. Some gardeners came to the plant swap because it provides a way to buy a wide variety of plants at a dollar each. Gardeners also like a deal! Participants who purchased plants enabled us to collect $27 to contribute to the Bellevue Civic Association.Jan Brown and Kath Sadler continue to organize the event; Jill Brown and Margaret Hutchinson again volunteered their time and expertise to help during the swap. There are definite plans to have another plant swap next spring. Come join us next time! It's a fun way to meet some new neighbors, get some new plants, find a home for your crowded plants, meet other gardeners and contribute to our neighborhood association.
Last updated 02/24/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher