November Newsletter

In this edition ● Elections 2026  ●  Legislative Priorities ●  Data Center Ordinance and Policy  ● Chesapeake Sustainability Network ● Environmental Justice ●  Upcoming Events ●  Planning Commission ● City Council ● Green Drinks ● Action Alerts ● Volunteer Opportunities ● In the News ● Follow us on Facebook

Elections 2026

Early voting wraps up on Saturday, October 31 and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.  If you haven't voted already, have you made your plan for where and when to vote?  Get more info on how and where to vote from the Voter Registrar's Office at  https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/1155/In-Person-Early-Voting-Absentee-By-Mail-.

This election will decide control of the US Congress and how it holds the administration accountable.  Locally, the majority of the City Council and School Board are up for election.   Also on the ballot are three Virginia Constitution Amendments regarding core rights for Virginians.  The Chesapeake Sustainability Network Steering Committee, in alignment with the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, supports voting Yes on Question 3, restoring the right to vote to people convicted of felonies upon their release from incarceration.

The outcome may decide how Chesapeake regulates data centers and whether we take new steps to protect our city's tree canopy and natural areas.   The Chesapeake Sustainability Network sent a survey to each of the asking candidates about their positions on key environmental issues important to citizens of Chesapeake. You can see their responses to our questions at https://www.greeningchesapeake.com/2026/08/city-council-candidate-questionaire-2026.html.  

You can find the sample ballot at https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/1055/Sample-Ballot

Go Vote!   

Legislative Priorities

The Chesapeake Sustainability Network has drafted our Legislative Priorities for the 2027 General Assembly.  We've shared these recommendations with the City Council and City Manager.  We will also share this with our State Delegates and Senators after the election!  Positions include

1. Support legislation to give localities the option to set stronger standards to preserve and expand tree canopy.

2. Support staffing and funding for the Virginia Department of Forestry's Urban and Community Forestry programs. The Urban and Community Forestry program directly supports local efforts to preserve and expand tree canopy through programs such as Virginia Trees for Clean Water, Community Forest Revitalization, Urban and Community Forestry Grant, invasive species management programs, and others.  

3. Support increased funding for the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP), Virginia Agricultural Cost-Share (VACS), as well as sufficient staffing in Soil and Water Conservation Districts to implement these programs. 

4. Support legislative initiatives that protect non-data center customers from rising electricity costs caused by the need to expand electricity infrastructure to support large data centers.

5. Support funding to have the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) establish regulations on PFAS and PFOA "Forever Chemicals” to protect residents from water and soil pollution.

6. Support legislation to enable localities to prohibit hunting from state waters adjacent to any subdivisions of a city that, in the opinion of the governing body, are so heavily populated as to make such hunting dangerous to the residents.

7. Support legislation to cap harvest of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.  

8. Support implementing a Virginia Bottle Bill. This program would place a refundable deposit on beverage containers to reduce litter, increase recycling, improve environmental and human health, and address the growing impacts of plastic and beverage container pollution across the Commonwealth.  

9. Support legislation that allows individual homeowners that are part of Homeowner Associations (HOAs) to implement conservation landscaping best practices, such as those funded by the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP).   Also support legislation to allow individual homeowners that are part of HOAs to install renewable energy systems, such as solar, without unreasonable restrictions.

Get more information on these positions in our post on Greening Chesapeake: Legislative Priorities for 2027 General Assembly.

Data Center Ordinance and Policy

Please sign on to our letter detailing key recommendations that we plan to send to the City Council, Planning Commission, and City Manager to Keep Chesapeake Communities Safe from Data Centers.  

Suffolk has now joined Chesapeake and Virginia Beach in adopt a temporary moratorium on data centers.  But the Chesapeake moratorium is set to expire in March.  The final regulations on setbacks, noise, water and power usage, landscaping, and lighting will ultimately decide where and how data centers can be built in the City.  Strong setback and noise restrictions will help keep data centers away from communities.  These regulations will also set key rules, such as noise, water and sewer connections, backup generator usage, decommissioning, and enforcement.  These also need to cover the Coastal Virginia Commerce Park, where data centers are still permitted "By-Right" by the previously approved PUD zoning.  

The Planning Department is planning to report back what it heard from the public at a City Council Work Session, which we expect in November.  A revised ordinance could come back to the City Council as early as December, so we need to be ready to act.  Sign on to our Keep Chesapeake Communities Safe from Data Centers letter, and we will keep you informed of next steps!

Chesapeake Sustainability Network

The next Chesapeake Sustainability Network planning call will be on Thursday, November 5, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm, to discuss our local efforts.  We'll use Google Meet - see the e-mailed newsletter for the link or reach out to us at greeningchesapeake@gmail.com

The agenda will include Election recap, Data Center next steps, and Legislative priorities.

Environmental Justice Talk

The Friends of Indian River will be hosting a discussion on Environmental Justice with guest speaker  Kim Sudderth on Thursday, November 19, at 7 pm.  Ms. Sudderth is Policy Director for Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, CEO for Grass Roots Organizers (gRo), and the current chair of the Norfolk Planning Commission.  

The Friends of Indian River meeting will be at the Oaklette United Methodist Church, 520 Oaklette Drive, Chesapeake, 23325.  This is immediately off Indian River Road.  

Upcoming Events
  • VOTE!  Now through November 3 for US Congress, Chesapeake City Council, Chesapeake School Board, and 3 Virginia Constitutional Amendments.    See details above.
  • Saturday, November 7 - Chesapeake Recycles Day @ Tidewater Community College - Chesapeake Campus, 9 am - Noon - 
  • Wednesday, November 11 - CBF Learning Series: Powering Virginia's Clean Energy Future - Chesapeake Bay Foundation @ Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach, 6 pm
  • Thursday, November 12 -  Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is hosting a combined Annual Virginia Flood Resilience Stakeholder Coordination Meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m; live in Richmond and online - Flood Resilience Advisory Committee & Annual Stakeholder Coordination Meeting
Planning Commission

Some agenda items of interest for the Planning Commission on  November 12 include:
  • PLN-REZ-2025-001 in Rivercrest at the southwest corner of the intersection of Great Bridge Boulevard and Fernwood Farms Road. Rezoning to Multifamily Residential, Neighborhood Business, and Conservation on 91.6 acres.  Current tree canopy is about 91 acres.  Loss of about 20 to 25 acres of trees.  61.5 acres of forested wetlands placed in conservation district.   Includes a 10' multiuse path along Great Bridge Boulevard.
  • PLN-REZ-2025-018 in Deep Creek at  3133, 3113, 3041 Old Mill Road & 3225 Weiss Lane (White’s Nursery).  Rezoning to Multifamily Residential on 75.2 acres.  Current tree canopy is about 18.5 acres.  Loss of 0 to 6 acres of tree canopy.  6 acres is dedicated to a public park.  Site plan attempts to preserve much of the existing tree line along the southeast perimeter.  Includes a 10' multiuse path along Old Mill Road and Weiss Lane.
  • PLN-REZ-2026-002 in Greenbrier,  North of Clearfield Avenue, between Jo Pearl Court and Marjorie Lane Residential on 20.2 acres.  Current tree canopy is 20.2 acres.  Would lose about 14 to 16 acres of trees.  
  • PLN-PUDC-2025-001 in Great Bridge at 1927 Battlefield Blvd S (just north of Hickory schools complex).  Rezone as Planned Unit Development on 107 acres.  Current tree canopy is about 100 acres.  Loss of about 13 acres of trees.  Includes an 8' to 10' multiuse path along Battlefield Blvd.
  • PLN-PUDC-2026-001 in Grassfield on the east and west sides of Shillelagh Road, approximately 1 mile south of Vincek Road. Rezone as Planned Unit Development on 358 acres.  Current tree canopy: about 13 acres.  Adds about +45 acres or more of tree canopy.  Extends Scenic Parkway southeast to just short of Washington Drive and includes a 10' multiuse path along the parkway.
  • PLN-USE-2026-018 in Grassfield at 1601 Cahoon Parkway. Conditional Use for Automotive Repair on 1.2acres.  Approximately 1.2 acres of shrub cover.  Canopy loss of about 1 acre.

Find the full agenda at Planning Commission Agenda


To submit comments to the Planning Commission online, visit https://cityofchesapeake.jotform.com/210536857544057


City Council


Some agenda items of interest at the City Council in November:

  • PLN-REZ-2025-020 in Great Bridge on the east side of Battlefield Boulevard South, between Hessian Loop and Henry Jefferson Way.  Rezoning to build Single Family Residential on 8.4 acres.  Current tree canopy is about 0.5 acres.  Potential tree canopy increase of about 1 acre. Planning Commission recommended Approval.
  • PLN-REZ-2025-022 in Great Bridge at 1412 Mount Pleasant Rd.  Rezoning to build Single Family Residential on 16.4 acres.  Current tree canopy is 3.2 acres.  Potential tree canopy gain after tree planting is about 0.3 acres. Planning Commission recommended Approval.
  • PLN-REZ-2025-023 in  Deep Creek at 4168 S. Military Hwy for a Towing and Storage facility on a 42-acre property.  About 20 acres is forested wetland with additional trees in upland areas.  Wetland areas are not being developed; about 16 acres are being rezoned C-1 Conservation; the remaining area would be zoned M-2 Industrial.  The plan does include new perimeter plantings.   Overall, there appears to be minimal tree canopy impact. Planning Commission recommended Approval.
  • PLN-PUDC-2025-001 in Great Bridge at 1927 Battlefield Blvd S (just north of Hickory schools complex).  Rezone as Planned Unit Development on 107 acres.  Current tree canopy is about 100 acres.  Loss of about 13 acres of trees.  Concurrently advertised for the November Planning Commission meeting.
Some agenda items of interest at the City Council in October:

  • PLN-USE-2025-049 in Deep Creek at 1500 Steel Street, along waterfront.  A conditional use permit to allow container stacking on 54 acre parcel.  Current tree canopy is about  7 acres;  ~0 acres lost; site plan keeps existing buffers.      Approved by City Council 10/13/2026
  • PLN-REZ-2025-013 in Southern Chesapeake at 2728 Battlefield Blvd. S.  Rezone 13.6 acres to  Light Industrial for concrete company and associated equipment and storage.  Currently about 8 acres of trees.   No significant impact to tree canopy; add perimeter buffer. Approved by City Council 10/13/2026
  • PLN-REZ-2026-003 in South Norfolk at 1328 22nd St. & 906 B St.   Rezone 0.3 acres to Urban Business District for outdoor storage for a contractor business.  No significant tree canopy.  Site plan adds shrubs around perimeter.  Approved by City Council 10/13/2026
  • PLN-USE-2026-017 in Rivercrest at 1652 Debaun Ave. (at Battlefield/I-64 Interchange). Conditional Use for 4-story self storage facility on 6.2 acre property.  About 0.9 acres of tree canopy.  ~0 acre additional tree canopy loss; being built on already cleared land.  Approved by City Council 10/13/2026
  • PLN-USE-CT-2026-003 in Southern Chesapeake in Heritage Park, at 244 Saint Brides Rd. W.  A Conditional use permit to construct an approximately 199-foot tall communications tower on 140 acre property.  Existing tree canopy is 68 acres.  Loss of about 0.4 acres of tree canopy for access road to existing clearing in woods.    Approved by City Council 10/13/2026
  • PLN-TXT-2026-002 - Ordinance Change due to State Code Updates.  Modify requirements for wireless facilities including temporary support structures, by-right locations for manufactured housing, off-street parking requirements and administrative reductions of parking spaces, development of residential uses on property owned by certain tax-exempt organizations, and small lot residential districts.   Approved by City Council 10/13/2026
  • PLN-TXT-2026-003 - Ordinance Change due to Sate Code Updates.Modify local regulation of solar and battery energy storage facilities.   Approved by City Council 10/13/2026
  • PLN-COMP-2026-003 - Comp Plan Change due to Sate Code Updates.Modify local regulation of solar and battery energy storage. facilities.   Approved by City Council 10/13/2026

Not heard in October (deferred or withdrawn?)

  • PLN-USE-2025-009 in South Norfolk at 2651 S. Military Highway, along waterfront. A conditional use permit to utilize the site for concrete crushing and recycling and a request to allow a height exception for 170-foot-tall silos and tanks.  The parcel is 46 acres, including 20 acres of tree canopy; potential tree canopy loss of 8.0 acres.  Note: site is about 320' from Reunion townhouse community (on other side of railroad tracks).   Planning Commission recommended Approval.
  • PLN-USE-2026-015 in Southern Chesapeake at 1004 W. Saint Brides Rd. A conditional use permit to operate a meeting and banquet hall and an alternative parking surface on 88 acre property.  Current tree canopy is 6.4 acres.  0 acres of tree canopy are disturbed in the site plan. Planning Commission recommended Denial.

City Council meeting details are posted to the City Council agenda page.

Green Drinks Holiday Gathering

There will be no Green Drinks meeting in November.  We are planning a joint holiday gathering with the Friends of Indian River on Thursday, December, 17.  Mark your calendar and stay tuned for more information.  

Action Alerts

Volunteer Opportunities

In the News

Follow us on Facebook

We're working to increase our reach to improve our advocacy.   Please help by going to our Chesapeake Sustainability Network page, following us, and inviting your friends to follow us too. 


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