Laura Burns President's Circle: February 2023

To show our community what the Civic League does, here is what we have been up to the past few months on behalf of our residents:

• Riverview Commercial Corridor Pilot Program: Riverview Village has been identified by the Department of Economic Development as one of two areas they are piloting a commercial corridor program. Funding will be provided for façade updates and placemaking. Pooya Mohit (VP) and I attended a meeting with the consulting group Anderson + Bohlander, the city hired to help drive this effort. Along with a few Riverview Village stakeholders, we helped the consultants understand what makes Riverview Village special, its history, and what improvements we would like to see in the area. The city will start accepting applications from business owners soon! More information 
• Councilwoman Courtney Doyle: Our Councilwoman Courtney Doyle spoke at our last civic league meeting. She told us about some updates in our area, and residents were able to ask questions. Courtney was asked what recourse residents have when they submit a request to Norfolk Cares with seemingly no response. Courtney asked that we copy her on those correspondences so she can follow up and resolve it. Her email address is courtney.doyle@norfolk.gov.
• Asphalt Art: Colonial Place resident Melissa Seek will present her proposal for asphalt art to be placed in both Colonial Place and Riverview as traffic calming measures. Be sure to join us in February to hear her ideas!
• LeGrand Kitchen: LeGrand Kitchen is moving from Colley Ave to Riverview! The restaurant plans to occupy the space where Crackers currently resides.
• Ignite 2023: Stephanie Clark (Crime Prevention), Artemis Stoll (Social Events), Shannon Bowman (Media), and I attend the Department of Neighborhood Services’ annual Leadership breakfast. We heard from several panelists about their passion for community service, and we learned about updates and initiatives the Department of Neighborhood Services provides to civic leagues. We look forward to making use of those resources.

The Civic League is here to serve the community. If there is anything we can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact me (president@cprv.net, 804-690-5047) and anyone from the Board (contact information is on the back of the newsletter).