VIRGINIA BEACH — The city is in the process of updating its land use guide and wants residents to weigh in this month. The draft comprehensive plan is dubbed “imagineVB,” and it serves as Virginia Beach’s guide for growth through 2040.
The plan is a 20-to-25-year policy document that guides the city’s investments and its zoning ordinances, which regulate how land and buildings can be used within specific areas. Virginia Beach is running out of land for new development projects since the last plan was completed nine years ago, so the updated comprehensive plan will focus on maximizing existing vacant, aging and underutilized properties.
“Our previous plan assumed that Virginia Beach was on a perpetual growth pattern and there would always be land available for us to grow in,” City Manager Patrick Duhaney said during a City Council briefing on the draft plan Tuesday. “This comprehensive plan is really pivoting us to focus more on infill and redevelopment.”
All Virginia cities, counties and towns are required by state law to have a comprehensive plan that is reviewed every five years. The Virginia Beach City Council adopted its current plan in 2016. The latest update was put on hold during the pandemic. Starting in 2023, the city held surveys, focus groups, Planning Commission hearings, and in-person and virtual community meetings to gather feedback for the 2040 plan.
Among the key points in the draft plan are environmental sustainability, protecting open space, flooding impacts and water quality. Providing a mix of housing types and safe access to schools, shops and parks are also priorities.
One of the policies carrying over from the 2016 plan is protect rural land south of the Green Line, an urban development boundary that runs primarily along Princess Anne Road.
The draft plan organizes the city into four context areas: coastal, inland, Green Line and rural. Several council members said those distinctions need to be reevaluated.
“Green Line really just seems to me like build a wall, and I don’t think that’s what we want it to mean,” Councilman Joash Schulman said. “I think it oversimplifies things and sets the community up for confrontation.”
Councilman Michael Berlucchi wasn’t keen on grouping all of the city’s diverse inland neighborhoods into one category.
Duhaney said changes to the draft can still be made based on feedback from council members and additional community engagement.
“This is not poured in concrete,” he said.
The draft document is available on the city’s website at planning.virginiabeach.gov/comp-plan. Comments or questions can be emailed through Oct. 30 to JMorrison@vbgov.com.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
