Greening Chesapeake

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

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

  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

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