Green Drinks Chesapeake - Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Our guest speaker will be Cameron Kania from Tidewater Compost. Tidewater Compost is the area’s first residential and commercial organic waste diversion and compost company. For those who don't have the time, space, or energy to manage their own composting, Tidewater Compost offers at-home pick-up and local drop-off services to do the composting for you, while facilitating educational programs to help grow the community composting movement.
What is Green Drinks? Green Drinks is mostly for people working on environmental issues, but anyone can come -- people from environmental groups, businesses, 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.
Greenbrier Area Plan
Mark your calendars for the Planning Commission on Wednesday, May 14, 7 pm. The Greenbrier Area Plan will be on the agenda. Extensive comments on the draft plan were submitted regarding environmental concerns. As of this writing, we've not yet gotten any feedback on the comments, so we don't know if any of these comments have been incorporated into a revised draft. If these are topics of concern to you, please come out to the Planning Commission meeting to let them know that you care.
Concerns included:
- The continued loss of tree canopy in the Greenbrier area without any significant mitigation strategies. Business as usual will result in the loss of another 300 acres of tree canopy when vacant parcels are developed. Strategies that we recommended adding to the plan included:
- Expand Oak Grove Lake Park to preserve 94 to 110 acres of City and State-owned forested wetlands adjacent to Oak Grove Lake Park. Although owned by City and State, the land is currently zoned for residential development.
- Add new project: Implement a street tree planting program in medians along Battlefield Blvd, Knell's Ridge Blvd, Volvo Parkway, Greenbrier Parkway, Military Highway, and Kempsville Road. Planting 500 trees creates about 5 acres of tree canopy which will help mitigate urban heat island effects, calm traffic, reduce runoff, improve air quality, and beautify the area.
- Add new project: Work with VDOT to reforest interchanges at I-64 and Battlefield Blvd, I-64 and Greenbrier Parkway. Creates about 15 acres of tree canopy.
- Add new project: Reforest areas of City Park along the railroad line and along Greenbrier Parkway next to Executive Blvd. Creates about 3 acres of tree canopy.
- Identify incentives to encourage development projects in Areas of Transformation and Areas of Enhancement to a) preserve mature trees during development and b) voluntarily plant tree canopy at coverage percentages higher than the 10% to 20% required by ordinance.
- Identify incentives to encourage retrofits of existing parking lots to plant new trees and implement stormwater management best practices.
- In Areas of Enhancement, set Policy to " Preserve the existing tree canopy in already developed areas."
- The Cape Henry Audubon Society submitted comments on the need to adopt Design Guidelines that reduce bird deaths due to building and window collisions. Their recommendations were to adopt best practices to make windows, including street-level windows, more visible to birds and reduce unnecessary nighttime illumination, specifically to:
- Adopt Dark Sky principles like the City did for the Virginia Commerce Park Design Guidelines (at the former FT Williams site on Rt 17) .
- Require or recommend that new buildings incorporate bird-safe window treatments which range from decals to films applied to glass to screens or nettings to specially designed glass.
- Require street and parking lot lighting to follow American Medical Association recommendations that "encourages the use of 3000K or lower [color temperature] lighting for outdoor installations such as roadways. All LED lighting should be properly shielded to minimize glare and detrimental human and environmental effects, and consideration should be given to utilize the ability of LED lighting to be dimmed for off-peak time periods."
The City's Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee submitted comments on the Plan. Overall they were pleased with the Plan's strong emphasis on creating human-scaled neighborhoods and retail areas that are walkable, safe, and welcoming to all that prioritizes the pedestrian experience while accommodating vehicles. Street designs all included both pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The Committee's comments focused on- aligning the Greenbrier Area Plan with the Trails and Connectivity Plan adopted last November including incorporating key bike routes and paths.
- Design Guidelines should include requirement for bicycle parking at businesses and facilities.
- Roadway intersection changes, such as at Jarman and Greenbrier, Battlefield and Volvo, and Greenbrier and Kempsville, must include accommodations for both pedestrian and bicycle crossings.
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Also at the Planning Commission in May are two zoning/conditional use applications of interest:
- PLN-REZ-2024-019 is a rezoning to let Virginia Natural Gas build a Compressor Station off Military Highway just north of Eva Gardens/Newton Creek neighborhoods. This is in support of the Virginia Reliability Project which is building a replacement gas pipeline into the region. Net tree canopy loss is about 1.6 acres. Find more info on the project at
- PLN-REZ-2025-002 to build a Data Center at the corner of Centerville Turnpike and Etheridge Manor Boulevard. Net tree canopy loss about 3.9 acres.
City Council
On May 13, the City Council will vote on the City Budget. See a summary of environment-related items in the Capital Improvement Budget at our post on the 2025 City Budget
Also, at the May 13 City Council Work Session before the main meeting (check for meeting time), Hampton Roads Transit plans to brief the City Council on their recommendations on Connecting Chesapeake - A Study of High-Capacity Transit
In April the City Council approved:
- PLN-REZ-2024-003 Southern Chesapeake, Single Family Home, loss of about 0.8 acres
- PLN-REZ-2024-016 Great Bridge, Multi-family Residential on 21 acres of 31 acre parcel. Preserves existing forested area. Adds landscape buffer. Plan drawings of 12/18/24 shows street trees; these are missing in 1/9/25 drawings, Net canopy gain of about 2 acres with street trees (?)
- PLN-USE-2024-033 South Norfolk, southeast corner of the Battlefield Boulevard North and Robert Hall Boulevard intersection. Fueling Station (“gas station”), loss of about 2.5 acres tree canopy
- PLN-USE-2024-052 Great Bridge, 1217 Cedar Road, Oil Change Facility. Add more landscaping, for about 0.2 acre gain in canopy
- PLN-USE-2024-056 Southern Chesapeake, 657 Johnson St., Contractor Office and Gravel Storage. Preserves existing woods. Add more landscaping, for about 0.1 acre gain in canopy
May is Bike Month
Chesapeake is planning 3 events for Bike Month:
- BikeFest on Sunday, May 4 at the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail
- Historic Bike Ride on Saturday, May 10 at the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail
- New this year, the Ride of Silence to honor those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways on Wednesday evening, May 21.
LS Greenlinks Tower
Chesapeake is along the Atlantic Migratory Flyway. Birds primarily migrate at night and urban lights, especially lights high in the sky cause migratory bird flocks to veer off course and circle the illuminated structure, exhausting themselves and crashing into the structure. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology estimates that hundreds of millions of birds die every year in building collisions, and tall building lights are a major contributing factor. The Cape Henry Audubon asked to be included in discussions on this proposed ordinance change so safeguards can be incorporated.
SPSA Alternative Waste Management Proposal
Regardless of this technology, we need to continue to look at reducing the amount of plastic that we produce and purchase. "AI" is not a substitute for source reduction.
Action Alerts
- As part of its Climate Pollution Reduction Grant study, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission is investigating strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Please take this short 5-minute survey on how active transportation like walking and biking can help! https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/dfce775f333c4229a22aaee85efd8bfb
- Chesapeake residents in the Elizabeth River watershed can receive a free native tree from the Elizabeth River Project. Limit one tree per home; homeowners are responsible for planting and providing proof of planting within 30 days. Free Tree Program - Elizabeth River Project
Upcoming Events
- CBF’s Climate Lecture Series "Solar Energy: Challenges and Opportunities" - Wed., May 14th - 6:30 PM - CBF’s Brock Environmental Center (Virginia Beach). Arrive at 6:00 for a light reception. Speakers include Angela Navarro, Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Quan McLaurin, Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, and Jay Ford, Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Planetary and CMA CGM sponsor this series. Free and open to the public. Register at https://events.cbf.org/energy
Volunteer Opportunities
In the News
- NOAA cuts could be an 'incredible blow' for Chesapeake Bay, storm reporting - Virginian Pilot
- Destroying endangered species' habitat wouldn't count as 'harm' under proposed Trump rule - WHRO
- Trump executive order targets state-level climate policies - WHRO
Stay on top of the latest news and join the conversation in our Facebook group at Greening Chesapeake.
