Reducing the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area protections

One day after Eartg Day, the City Council will be voting on changes to the boundaries of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area (CBPA) this Tuesday, April 23. There is little information on the proposed changes included in the public hearing package other than some low resolution maps. Only a high level explanation was given for the process used by the Staff to come to these decisions. This may be something to contact the City Council (council@cityofchesapeake.net) to ask them to Continue (defer) this decision until they can provide the public with more details on the changes and why the decisions were made for different parcels.

Overall, 1030 acres are being removed from the CPBA and 742 acres are being added, although most of the land being added is the already "Intensely Developed" St. Juliens Creek Navy Annex. Some of the areas being removed may make sense - removing parcels that were subdivided from larger parcels and that are no longer adjacent tidal areas of the Chesapeake Bat tributaries. But other areas seem less obvious.

One area being removed is 10 acres of woods at the head of the tide of the Indian River mostly owned by Chesapeake Public Schools. These woods most definitely seem to "have an intrinsic water quality value due to the ecological and biological processes they perform or are sensitive to impacts which may result in significant degradation to the quality of state waters" as defined by for a CBPA Resource Protection Area.

Another area slated for removal includes 50 acres or more of wooded wetlands in the Fernwood Farms section of Rivercrest. This is an area of significant flood risk with sea level rise. Will removing CBPA protections from this area open it up to development and/or tree removal causing more flood risks for Rivercrest?

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Support Tree Bills in General Assembly

Update 2: Urge Governor Youngkin to sign HB529 and HB1100 into law to ensure our community is able to conserve and plant more trees that will benefit the health of all Virginians! Contact him today - https://p2a.co/dT5K6jN Update: Both of these bills have been passed by the House and Senate and are now heading for the Governor's desk for signature. Stay tuned for any Action Alerts asking folks to contact the Governor to urge him to sign these bills. There are several bills in the General Assembly that would give the City of Chesapeake the option to do more to protect trees and restore tree canopy during development. Current state law limits how much Chesapeake can require of developers during construction. HB 1100 would enable all counties, cities, and towns in Virginia to adopt tree conservation ordinances to conserve healthy mature trees during construction projects. HB 529 would increase how much canopy must be replaced when trees are cut down during development. B

CBPA proposed change details

April 23 Public Hearing Package with rationale for the proposed changes - https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/DocumentCenter/View/18260/04-23-24-Item-7_PLANNING_CBPA Consideration of the change was Continued (deferred) to the end of June. Below the proposed CBPA changes provided by Chesapeake Planning Department were compared against National Wetlands Inventory maps - https://fwsprimary.wim.usgs.gov/wetlands/apps/wetlands-mapper/ 1. Fernwood Farms/Riverwalk Areas Proposed for removal (red), addition (dark green) National Wetlands Inventory City Drainage Map https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/DocumentCenter/View/4216/Figures-PDF Background on Interrupted and Disconnected Wetlands for CBPA Guidance Documents https://www.deq.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/22569/638430806129970000 Google Earth 4/8/1990 2. Great Bridge Blvd Areas proposed for removal (red) National Wetlands Inventory Close-up 3. Oakbrooke (East of Arboretum) Areas proposed for removal (red)/addition (dark green) Nat

Welcome to Greening Chesapeake

Kicking off this new blog for 2024 to work on the goal to green Chesapeake by increasing natural area - green spaces and blueways - across the City. Steps include protecting existing tree canopy, encouraging protection of natural areas, and planting trees and native plants across the City on public, institutional, commercial, and residential properties. Other key tenants to building a greener city include connectivity - enabling people to reach destinations safely by foot, bicycle, and public transit, not just automobiles - and adopting sustainable practices. Stay tuned for information about upcoming events, actions, and information related to Greening Chesapeake.

Greening Chesapeake

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