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October Newsletter

Green Drinks Chesapeake - Wednesday, October 30

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 30 at YNot Italian in Greenbrier.  We'll be taking a look ahead to the General Assembly in January.  This will be our last meeting until the new year.  

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 interested. 

Trails and Connectivity Plan

I'm disappointed and frustrated to report we've had little success in getting the Planning Department to revise the draft Trails and Connectivity Plan to put an emphasis on making our roads safer.  The Planning Commission again Continued (deferred) the Plan to let the Planning Department consider all the comments being submitted.   Specific edits to the Priority and Next Steps section of the document were provided and these were discussed with the Planning Department representative at the Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee.  But when the revised draft came out this week, nearly all of the requested changes were rejected.  The Planning Department said they were outside the "scope of this planning effort, its goals and purpose, [and] industry best practices".  Apparently making our roads safer in the near term is not in scope.  

The document goes back to the Planning Commission next week on Wednesday, October 9.  Regardless of their vote, they are required to send document on to the City Council, which will likely vote on the document in November.  

The latest draft of the Trails and Connectivity Plan is now available at https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/3233/Chesapeake-Trails-and-Connectivity-Plan 

The latest draft does address some concerns raised earlier, although not necessarily in a clear and definitive manner, regarding 
  • building the already funded projects like the Western Branch Rail Trail and India River Road bike lanes 
  • creating connections along low stress corridors with bike boulevards at minimal cost
  • providing online maps of existing routes

But other key recommendations not included are steps 

  • creating a framework for how to prioritize projects
  • making safety a key consideration for prioritization
  • defining tools to use for prioritization such as the VDOT Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan (PBSAP)
  • making near term safety improvements such as crosswalks, sidewalk maintenance, wayfinding, etc.
  • adding an Action Step to Develop Short-Term Priorities - the current plan only says 114 miles of primary routes are priority, which at our current pace would take many decades to complete
  • adding an Action Step to develop a driver and bicycle safety education program (beyond just "establishing a page on the City website dedicated to bike/ ped education, driver/bike/ped safety, and project updates")
Please make your voice heard at the Planning Commission and City Council.  

More Comp Plan Open Houses

The next round of Comp Plan Open Houses has been scheduled: 

Western Branch Community Center
October 3, 2024 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. 
4437 Portsmouth Boulevard

South Norfolk Community Center
October 7, 2024 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. 
1217 Godwin Avenue

Great Bridge Primary School 
October 16, 2024 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. 
408 Cedar Road

Fire Station #7                                  
October 24, 2024 from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. 
3444 S Battlefield Boulevard


Vote!

Early Voting is underway.  Satellite voting sites start to open on October 7. See the full list of Chesapeake voting locations and sample ballots at https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=357
  • "Any registered voter can vote early in person without needing to apply to do so. If you decide to vote early, you can vote at any of the locations below (you don’t have to stay in your precinct).
  • Voter Registrar’s Office (411 Cedar Rd.)
    September 20 – November 2, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
    Saturday, October 26 and Saturday, November 2, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
    Sunday, October 6, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
  • Satellite Locations - Central Library, Indian River Library, Major Hillard Library, Cuffee Community Center
    October 7 - November 2,
    Monday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
    Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
    Saturday, October 26 and Saturday, November 2, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
  • *All satellite locations will be closed on Monday, October 14.
  • Western Branch Community Center
    October 21 – November 2
    Monday – Thursday from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
    Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
    Saturday, October 26 and Saturday, November 2 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m."
The deadline to register to vote, or update an existing registration is October 15, 2024. (Voters may register after this date, through Election Day, and vote using a provisional ballot).  Election Day - the last day to vote - will be Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Need to register to vote, check your status, or update your voter registration?  Visit https://vote.virginia.gov/ today.

Planning Commission Updates 

One project of interest at Planning Commission in September were recommended for approval:

  • GreenLink power transmission cable manufacturing ("tallest building in Virginia") 
None of the zoning items on the October agenda appear to have significant environmental impact.

City Council Updates

In September, the City Council also approved a development project of interest:

  • Long Ridge Road Solar (5 MW) Farm
In October, a project of interest going before the City Council is:
  • GreenLink power transmission cable manufacturing ("tallest building in Virginia") 


Virginia Conservation Network - Common Agenda

The Virginia Conservation Network (VCN) has published the 2025 Common Agenda, a collection of papers written by, vetted through, and voted on by VCN’s 170+ Network Partners.  This briefing book explains the Commonwealth’s environmental policy background and potential opportunities for the 2025 Virginia General Assembly (GA) in Richmond.   Briefing papers cover a broad spectrum of topics including clean water & flood resilience, land & wildlife conservation, land use & transportation, climate & energy, and good governance, and provide the basis for proposed environmental legislation at the state level for GA session starting in January.  

Nearly every briefing in the agenda has relevance for Chesapeake, but some key ones near and dear to us include

  • Maximizing Tree Canopy
  • Preventing Polluted Stormwater Runoff
  • Ensuring Long-Term Flood Resilience
  • Walkable, Bikeable Communities
  • Building Coastal Resiliency
  • Sustainable Housing Growth
  • Implementing Environmental Justice
  • Preserving Working Farms & Forests

Find the full document at Our Common Agenda - Virginia Conservation Network (vcnva.org).  

VCN will be hosting a weekly webinar series over the next month featuring environmental experts from across the state to discuss the key and emerging issues included in the Common Agenda. The series kicks off next with Clean Water & Flood Resilience issues on Wednesday, October 9 from 12:00 - 1:30 pm. You can learn more and register here. 

Data Centers

The September meeting of the Chesapeake Economic Advisory Committee (EDAC) featured a panel discussion of leaders from 4 Hampton Roads regional organizations - the Planning District Commission (HRPDC), HR Transit, HR Chamber, and HR Alliance.  The HR Alliance, in particular, expressed enthusiasm for attracting Data Center development to the Hampton Roads region.  While Data Center provide some attractive economic opportunities and possibilities to build municipal tax base, they are also major consumers of power and water to cool the massive farms of computer servers, especially for those running AI systems.  The siting and infrastructure needs for such data centers are something to keep a close eye on.  An, hopefully extreme, example of poor planning was the opening of a data center by xAI in Memphis that seemingly skirted several permitting steps.   

Action Alerts
  • The Planning Department is starting work on the Deep Creek Area Plan. Take the first Community Survey at Deep Creek Area Plan | Chesapeake, VA (cityofchesapeake.net)
  • It's time to start following "Lights Out" for the fall migration in Hampton Roads. As part of this voluntary program, property managers, businesses, tenants, government agencies, and residents are urged to help to prevent night-time bird collisions with building by turning off and/or blocking as many external and internal building lights at workplaces as possible at night to help prevent injury and death of migrating birds, especially from 11 pm to sunrise. Learn more at https://www.birdsafehr.org/

Volunteer Opportunities

In the News

Stay on top of the latest news and join the conversation in our Facebook group at Greening Chesapeake (link corrected).



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