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Draft Chesapeake Trails and Connectivity Plan

 The draft Chesapeake Trails and Connectivity Plan offers a great opportunity to layout a figurative and literal roadmap on improving walkability and connectivity in the City of Chesapeake, but it needs to go into more detail on how to realistically implement the proposed trail network and provide residents and visitors with tangible improvements in the near term, i.e. in the next 1 to 3 years, not just a vision for an undefined future date.   The draft Plan finds that today in Chesapeake, “the active transportation network is disjointed and lacks accessibility. With public transit available exclusively in the north of the City, transportation options are often limited for residents and visitors traveling to different parts of the City. The many open spaces can be difficult to reach and in many cases are not easily accessible on foot or by bike.”  This also extends to being able to reach schools, libraries, community centers, places of worship, doctor’s offices, restaurants, shopping c
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July Newsletter

 View this newsletter online at  http://www.greeningchesapeake.com/ Green Drinks Chesapeake - Wednesday, July 31 Our next meeting will be Wednesday, July 31 from 6 pm to 8 pm .  Location and guest speaker to be announced;  we may or may not be at YNot Pizza.   Among other to pics we'll discuss the  Trails and Connectivity Plan (greeningchesapeake.com)  and we also hope to have a related letter with comments to the Planning Commission ready for folks to sign on to.  What is Green Drinks?  Green Drinks is mostly for people working on environmental issues, but anyone can come -- people from environment groups, business, government, academia, and as individuals. There is no 'us and them'. Green Drinks is a chance to mingle, share insights, inspire and delight each other. Come out and order some food or a drink (each participant pays for their own drinks and food; if drinking, please do so responsibly!) and join the conversation. Please do share the invite with others who may be
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Greenbrier Area Plan

The stated purpose of the Greenbrier Area Plan is to "develop strategies to guide future development, maintain Greenbrier’s economic advantage in the marketplace and attract new businesses and residents by improving the qualities that make Greenbrier a unique place in the city." The plan envisions significantly increasing the density of the area with considerable new urban mixed-use development, new neighbor scale and age-targeted housing, adding a large capacity regional multi-purpose athletic/entertainment facility, all while enhancing the commercial retail environment and serving a major urban employment center.    One stated goal is to improve the Quality of Life for residents and workers in the Greenbrier area "by strengthening the appeal and livability of the built environment and the availability and quality of services provided."  Some of the specific components to be studied include steps to improve existing open spaces, create new open spaces, integrate ex
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Trails and Connectivity Plan

The City is working on wrapping up its work on a Trails and Connectivity Plan.  A draft document is expected in mid-July with a tentative date for the Planning Commission in August, and then on to the City Council for final approval a few months later.  At the last Open House, the City shared a detailed draft Network Map and conceptual drawing of Separated Mulit-use Paths, on-road Buffer Bike Lanes, Bike Boulevards, etc.    The Open House material can be viewed at  Chesapeake Trails and Connectivity Plan | Chesapeake, VA (cityofchesapeake.net) But even the more modest implementation of such plans along existing rights-of-way can take many years, and sometimes decades, to become reality.  These projects almost always require years of planning, right-of-way and easement acquisition, application for grants and appropriation of substantial funding, bidding out of projects, design, and finally construction.   The Western Branch Rail to Trail project is a noteworthy example; this 2.5 mile tr
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2024 Conservation Scorecard

The Virginia League of Conservation Voters has released their 2024 Conservation Scorecard for this year's General Assembly.  It reviews various environment related bills that were considered in Richmond this year and how legislators voted on them - and whether they were signed into law by the Governor.  You can see the full scorecard at  2024-Conservation-Scorecard_Revised.pdf (valcv.org) Bill that passed that would affect us locally - and were signed by the Governor include: HB1458 Establishing an Office of Resiliency HB746/SB565 Savings Achieved via Efficiency (SAVE) Act - ensuring electric utilities continue to provide energy efficiency programs to customers HB106/SB253 Expanding Shared Solar Programs - expanding Dominion's shared solar program from 200 MW to 350 MW SB25/HB199 - State Funding for Brownfield Renewable Energy Grant Fund - however no state funds were appropriated in the budget to help get this program going SB508 - Accelerating Geothermal Energy Development HB8
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June Newsletter

  In this edition - Green Drinks Chesapeake - Wednesday, June 26 - Proposed changes to Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area in Chesapeake - Comp Plan Open Houses - City Council Meeting - June 11 (Single Member Voting Districts & Recycling Referendums) - June Planning Commission Meeting - June 12 - Agricultural Subdivision Ordinance - Action Alerts - More Upcoming Events - In the News Green Drinks Chesapeake - Wednesday, June 26 Our next meeting will be Wednesday, June 26, 2024 from 6 pm to 8 pm at YNot Italian in Greenbrier, 1036 Volvo Parkway, Suite 7 Chesapeake, VA, 23320. Among other topics we'll discuss drafting a sign-on letter to the City Council about Planning Documents that are being prepared, including the Greenbrier Area Plan and the Trails and Connectivity Plan. Please note the day change to Wednesday. The City Council meeting on Tuesday the 25th will be considering the proposed CBPA changes, so we wanted to keep that day clear to attend the City Council meeting. There h
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CBPA Update

On Friday, May 31st, several of us met with the Planning Department to discuss the proposed CBPA District boundary changes in Chesapeake  proposed CBPA District boundary changes in Chesapeake .  In attendance were representatives from the Friends of Indian River, Fernwood Farms Civic League, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.   Representatives from Wetlands Watch wanted to attend the meeting but were unavoidably unavailable that day.   The Planning Department provided an informative briefing on the process they followed for the CBPA changes.  They shared the presentation they gave to the City Council at a work session on April 16th, which can be reviewed at  https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/DocumentCenter/View/18179/04-16-24-CBPA_IDA-District-Boundary-Revisions-Presentation- We discussed multiple areas of concern at the meeting.   The Planning Department said they would  request some info from the Public Works Department and put together a response that addresses these areas. They said
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