Greening Chesapeake

The Industrial Waterfront Study will receive a Public Hearing at the Planning Commission meeting this week on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.  The goal of this document is to  understand the current conditions along the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River and  determine preferred future land uses based and  identify the range of adaptation strategies that can increase the resilience of coastal and riverine areas and increase opportunities for economic development.   In my review, I think the Planning Department did an excellent job of presenting a  balanced approach that prioritizes space for industrial businesses critical to the local economy and tax base   while identifying   a range of adaptation strategies that can increase the resilience of coastal and riverine areas  to address   sea level rise, increasing stormwater flooding, and recurrent tidal inundation.  (The text in bold is taken directly from the Draft Study which...

As Chesapeake continues to be an attractive place to live, more and more people will move into our City. The City population, currently at 255,000, is projected to grow to just shy of 300,000 by 2045. The number of households will grow from about 95,000 to over 113,000. How do we build homes for another 18,000 families while planting more trees? How do we connect 45,000 more people with the commercial, institutional, and recreational facilities they’ll use without creating traffic choked streets? How do we improve the quality of life for all residents while dealing with the effects of hotter summers, more intense storms, and worsening flood risks? These are answers we need to see incorporated into the City's updated Comprehensive Plan. Building more compactly rather than creating sprawl needs to be part of the answer. Take this survey to give your feedback on how the density of housing fits into the picture -   https://arcg.is/0Hm59b0

The Chesapeake Planning Department will be hosting a second community meeting to share their progress on the planning effort for the new Trails and Connectivity Plan and receive feedback on our proposed network. Come out and advocate for creating a backbone network of multiuse trails, bikeways, and sidewalks to connect different parts of Chesapeake. This event will be held on Wednesday, January 31st at Grassfield High School from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Please see the attached flyer or visit our website for more information: CityofChesapeake.net/TCONN

While trees alone won't solve all the woes of a modern city, they go a long way to making a City a more livable place.    Some key benefits: Flood Mitigation – Urban Trees “Flatten the Curve” by intercepting rainfall, increasing infiltration, and absorbing water.  Peak runoff rates are reduced and delayed.  And trees are significantly less expensive than engineered "BMPs" - Best Management Practices like retention ponds.   https://www.chesapeakequarterly.net/V07N2/side1/index.html Water Quality Improvement – Reducing stormwater runoff also directly improves water quality.  Reduced runoff carries less nutrients, fertilizers, sediment, and other pollutants helping us meet TMDL goals and improving health of our waterways. https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/nps_urban-facts_final.pdf Increased Economic Activity - Tree lined Streetscapes improve the appeal of a business district and positively impact visitors’ buying behavior.  More and more, in-store shop...

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.