The plan and commission pre-meeting for March 11th, 2026 is now in session.

Welcome to our pre-meeting.

Thank you for taking part in the business of our city.

The first order of business is the agenda overview discussion.

We have a total of six applications, of which zero applications are for continuance or withdrawal.

The first item to discuss will be item number one, Scenic Heights PUD modification.

During this time, we will review these items and determine placement either on consent or regular agenda.

Item number one, Scenic Heights PUD modification.

Mr.

Hannigan.

Sorry about that.

Hey, good evening, Commissioners.

As you recall, this was continued from the last planning commission agenda.

There have been no updates since then.

Just as a reminder, it was deferred at that time because the ownership had changed here, so we just need to get some updated legal docs.

But other than that, nothing with this application has changed.

But we've got no official letters of opposition or support.

Thank you.

Do any commissioners have any conflicts with this application?

Do any commissioners have any questions for staff?

Is there any discussion?

Hearing none, is there any objection to placing this item on the consent agenda?

All right.

Our next item is item number two, take five battlefield bullet uh billboard.

Mr.

Bell, do you have any updates regarding this item?

Good evening, Commissioner.

Staff has no updates, and we do not receive any um citizen comments on this one.

Thank you.

Do any commissioners have any conflicts with this application?

Do any commissioners have any questions for staff?

I have one.

Did the staff provide any alternate locations to the applicant?

So this doesn't necessarily it's not like a process that the applicant works with the city.

They just proposed this particular location for the relocation of the sign.

So no, we we did not work with them on different locations or anything like that.

They just had, I guess, contacted the owner of this property, and they were amenable to the lease on this property.

Okay, thank you.

Uh is there any discussion?

All right, hearing none.

Uh this is actually up for denial, so this will go on to our regular agenda.

Uh the next item is item number three, still water.

Mr.

Hannigan, do you have any updates regarding this item?

Thank you, Commissioners.

I do not have any updates, and we have received no official comment.

Do any commissioners have any conflicts with this application?

Do any commissioners have any questions for staff?

Is there any discussion?

Mr.

Chairman, can we can we I request that we put this on the um normal agenda?

Sure.

Item number three will go to our regular agenda.

Thank you.

Staff has no updates and would not receive any citizen comments on this one as well.

Thank you.

Do any commissioners have any conflicts with this application?

Do any commissioners have any questions for staff?

Is there any discussion?

Here none, is there any objection to placing this item on the consent agenda?

All right.

Hearing none, we'll put that item on consent.

Next item is item number five.

Eastcom.

Ms.

Neal, do you have any updates regarding this item?

Good evening, Commissioners.

I have no updates on this item and we received no public comment.

Thank you.

Do any commissioners have any conflicts with this application?

Do any qu commissioners have any questions for staff?

Is there any discussion?

Hair none, is there any objection to placing this item on the consent agenda?

All right, then we will place it on consent.

Next item is item number six, civil enforcement.

Uh Ms.

Peebles, do you have any updates regarding this item?

Good evening, Commissioners.

I have no updates and have received no comments.

Thank you.

Do any commissioners have any conflicts with this application?

Do any commissioners have any questions for staff?

So I I do have a couple of questions, and I'm not sure if Mr.

Tate will answer these or who will answer it.

But I know this is where we're changing from a criminal offense over to a civil offense.

Correct.

So if somebody is charged criminally, is this uh unclassified misdemeanor with a max fine?

Is this a class four misdemeanor?

What is it currently?

Do you know?

Um it may be best for a representative from development and permanents to perhaps answer that question.

One moment.

Okay, I'll take you as far as I can get.

I'll go.

So so currently this is uh if we have this, this is right now considered a criminal offense.

So do we know if somebody uh has a violation and they're charged, they're going to go to the General District Criminal Court.

What is, do we know what the penalty is for violation of for a misdemeanor?

Yeah.

I don't know.

Um I don't know, Ben, if you know off the top of your head, there was a bunch of them that were like up to a thousand dollars and something like that, but they rarely ever got to that point.

Yeah, my understanding, and I've not worked with code enforcement or handled these dockets, but my understanding is that on the criminal side, these are lower level misdemeanors that would be punishable by a fine and no jail time, but would still be considered a criminal offense versus the civil, which is what we are uh asking to change it to.

So I I guess the question for me would be if it's changed to a civil uh violation, are the fine structures the same as if it was a criminal is just switching the or are we changing the fines?

Um the fines would be comparable between civil or criminal in this context.

Okay.

And I guess the preponderance of evidence is going to be less under the civil.

Do we do we see this benefit in uh the city rather than just changing something to change?

Do we really so maybe maybe better would be to tell you why we were doing this?

So the number one reason we were doing this on several offenses, we um we got into a situation where people who just failed to respond to notices and failed to show up in court or get notices that said, you know, report to jail, and many people on council thought, well, let's see the guy at an RV in his yard.

It seems like that's kind of um a little severe to you know be summoned to jail over something like that.

So what we did is primarily we wanted to set the punishment similar or consistent with the level of fine.

So most of these um offenses are very low-level violations that a civil summons is more um applicable.

I want to say off the top of my head they're like a hundred dollars.

So it's not enough to, you know, break you, but it's enough to maybe have you think twice.

Do I park my recreational vehicle in the front yard or is it in the back?

Now, keeping in mind when we do code enforcement, there's multiple notices for the most part.

We leave a door hanger.

If you don't correct the violation, then we send you a very official letter telling you that you are in violation, and after so many days, if it's not corrected, then we would issue you a summons.

If it was criminal, we would um we would issue the summons and have it served by the Sheriff's Department.

And that would take it a lengthy period of time because it's not their highest priority.

And if it's a civil summons, the individual inspectors can issue those.

And it's very quick.

And for the most part, people are very responsive.

If they didn't, if the letter wasn't enough, then progressive stepping up to whatever the hundred dollar fine it is gets them there.

On the on the few occasions where the civil fine would not work, you still have the ability to go criminal after you have tried these other lower level um violations or punishment.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Are there any other questions?

All right.

Is there any discussion?

Uh Harry Nunn, is there any objection of placing this item on the consent agenda?

All right.

So the consent agenda consists of items of the following items.

Item number one, four, five, and six.

The regular agenda consists of the following items, which will be items number two and three.

The next order of business is the Planning Commission committee report, old business.

Is there anything to report uh from these committees?

All right.

The next we have uh upcoming items.

Summary of new public hearing applications received.

Uh Mr.

Boswick.

Yes, good evening, Mr.

Chairman and Commissioners.

This month's summary of new applications in the pipeline includes one rezoning, one planned unit development, and three conditional use permits.

Thank you.

Um next up is initiated text amendments.

Ms.

Neal.

We have no new initiated text amendments to report this month.

Thank you.

All right.

And then finally, we have some discussion uh just on the bylaws.

We talked about this last time, uh, Mr.

Titter.

I know we put sent out, I think a few uh we sent out the proposed changes so everybody could see those.

And then likewise that was submitted up to City Council.

Can you provide us an update with with that?

Certainly can, Mr.

Chairman.

Uh based on the Planning Commission's discussion last month about proposed changes to the bylaws.

I prepared those changes, provided them to the City Clerk's office who routed those to City Council.

Council has reviewed them, has no concerns or objections, and has authorized the Commission to proceed with those amendments if that is the Commission's desire.

Unfortunately, the timing doesn't work out for the Commission to be able to vote on that tonight because we did not uh provide those changes to you at least two weeks in advance of tonight's meeting.

But you are free to have a discussion about that, see if there's any objection to it, any further changes you might want to consider.

And if not, then the commission would be in a position at the pre-meeting next month to vote on those changes, which still puts us ahead of the May 1st deadline to review and reendorse the bylaws annually.

Thank you.

So there were two changes that we proposed.

One was a tie vote, and what happens if that occurs, and there was some modifications that it then goes to uh potential motion either to retain it and to bring it back or potentially send it to City Council, I think was the procedural method we put in.

Uh the other thing we addressed was the inconsistency on time uh for speakers.

It was five minutes here, three minutes here, so we're going to a consistent three minutes across the board.

So um those were the two proposed.

Is there anything else that anybody would like to discuss?

And if not, we'll we'll bring those back at the next uh meeting in April.

During the pre-meeting, we will vote on them, and then once we vote on them, they will take effect.

So we will go to those actually in the April 7, 7 p.m.

meeting, they will be in effect.

There's no other discussion.

Uh at this time I will turn it over to Mr.

McNamara.

It's good evening, Chair and uh the planning commissioners.

Appreciate your time this evening.

Uh we've got two presentations for you.

The first one, uh, which we're really excited to present to you this evening is uh the transferable development rights.

This has been a program that we have uh been working on for over a year at this point, and we're gonna kind of go on a history lesson here to talk about how we arrived here first, uh, and then we're gonna go through the mechanics of the program.

I would like to take a moment to introduce everyone to Dr.

Tom Daniels, who is our consultant uh with our transferable development rights program.

Dr.

Daniels has extensive uh uh uh extensive experience with both creation of transferable development rights programs and administration of these programs.

Uh as always, when we we develop a program like this, we want to make sure that we're getting off on the best foot.

So we wanted to make sure that we had an expert in-house to help us and consult with us as we as we develop the program.

Uh so he will be co-presenting with me this evening, but really excited to to share this with you.

So first, let's go back.

A couple of years ago, we took a bold step and closed the agricultural subdivision loophole.

This was a loophole within our subdivision and zoning ordinance that allowed for the subdivision of property by right without uh any rezoning, which resulted in a great number of three-acre lots that were being developed across Southern Chesapeake.

It was identified as a problem, and there was an initiating resolution to close this loophole, but that took quite some time and a lot of conversation.

Balancing property rights with uh comprehensive plan goals was was certainly a challenge.

And at that time, uh when they when finally this loophole was closed, uh, you know, we made a promise to the property owners to come back to them with a with a tool that uh would would uh in essence provide them an extra option on what they could do with their property.

So we're back tonight to to talk uh more about that tool.

Now, there are existing tools that we do have for uh land conservation uh within the City of Chesapeake right now, and these are mostly purchase of development right programs.

Uh we have our open space and agricultural protection program, OSEP, we have our Fentris Encroachment Protection Acquisition Program, our FEPAP, and then we have our Navy Multi-year agreement readiness and environmental protection initiative, REPI and MYA.

And these programs are voluntary programs where uh where folks who own property uh within these areas can apply, and we will then purchase their development rights.

And once we purchase those development rights, an easement is placed on their property, which restricts the use.

And in essence, what we are doing is retiring uh the ability for property owners to use that for residential purposes.

So once this easement is placed on the property, it can no longer be used for residential purposes.

We know that there is no silver bullet when we talk about land conservation.

It's going to take a comprehensive approach.

Uh you know, we we use this as kind of as an exhibit, we know to say, you know, a PDR program like OSAP, perhaps some limited development like a farming village, a minor subdivision uh that that subdivides off of the homestead property, perhaps some agritourism type activities.

Uh we have preservation divisions in place.

And then the last tool that we see here in the bottom right is our transferable development rights program.

So in order to accomplish the goals that we talk about within the conference of plan for for land conservation, it's going to take a comprehensive approach.

So this is just one more tool that we're adding to our toolbox.

When we talk about the comprehensive plan, uh, you know, we when we began work on this uh multiple years ago, the first thing we did was we we we did some background research and took a look at who we are now and where we are going forward, and then we looked at different growth scenarios uh that were possible.

Uh you know, there was uh in essence the the reinvest and preserve strategy, there was a grow and and expand strategy, and what these did is it looked at you know what type of growth rate were we looking at and what type of development were we looking to do.

Ultimately, uh what was decided was to go with this one, which was in a reinvest in preserve.

And in this case, uh we are looking at a growth rate similar to uh what we see right now, which is a 0.7 percent, and then uh looking at uh when we're looking at future development to accommodate the additional growth, looking at reinvesting and preserving within.

So, in other words, keeping the suburban boundary where it is right now, not growing out, but rather growing up.

And it's really important that we say, you know, that when we talk about urban mixed use as a designation, we use it sparingly, but where we do use it, it's reserved for areas of the city that are prime for increased population and activity, and that it's critical that these are developed with the appropriate density and intensity of uses.

We designated these areas to accommodate much of our additional growth going forward, and it's important that we put the tools in place that we can capture this growth within these areas and provide adequate infrastructure to support that growth moving forward.

Specific policies within the comp plan.

Uh the first policy under our growth management and rural areas chapter, prioritize and protect the protection of agricultural and environmentally sensitive land by limiting development in those areas.

We also have policy number two, which says that we need to support and focus density in a few strategic areas of the city.

Number three, which says that we should ensure development follows the pattern established by the overlay districts, which again are our urban, suburban, and rural overlay.

And then number five specifically talks about what we are here to talk about tonight, which is developing a transferable development rights program to ensure density occurs in parts of the city where it is most appropriate, and rural landowners are compensated for preventing development of their own land.

Now in a couple of minutes, we're going to talk more about smart growth, but our smart growth principles when we talk about this, TDR directly relates to two of them, which are directing growth to target areas and then preservation of farmland and natural resources.

By doing these two, and in essence, what we do is we link in the rest of the smart growth principles as well.

Now, work to date as that's led us here.

Number one, we needed to develop an area where we wanted to see additional density within our city, and we did that with the adoption of the Green Bar Area Plan.

We looked to set uh additional opportunities for for how we want to grow and to establish policies that go across the city.

And we adopted our our comprehensive plan uh earlier this year in in January, which has really set us on a great footing.

Uh we're working on our transferable development rights program right now, and in concert with this, what we will need is an overlay district to set up these areas where we do see the this in this uh increase in density where uh which we'll talk about in a minute and how that works.

But again, the the areas that uh we've really set up for this increased density are these areas of urban mixed use, and we have identified several areas, and we'll talk more about these in just a moment.

But I'd like to turn things over to Dr.

Daniels now who is going to talk about uh the the transferable development rights program and the components of it.

Thank you, Jimmy, and I'd like to thank the commissioners for the opportunity to meet with you here this evening.

What I would like to do is uh three things.

First, explain to you what a transferable development right is, second, how transferable development rights programs work, and then third, how a transferable development rights program could work here in the city of Chesapeake.

When you own property in the United States, what you own is a bundle of rights to that property air rights, water rights, mineral rights, the right to use the land, the right to sell the land, the right to lease it, the right to pass it on to heirs, and you also have a right to develop that land, which of course can be modified by zoning.

So, for example, in the rural overlay district, landowners are allowed up to five subdividable lots.

A transferable development right is a right that is not included in the normal bundle of property rights.

A transferable development right is a right that is created by local government and is given to landowners in an area where the local government would like to see the land preserved.

It could be farmland, forest land, natural area, for example.

And the landowners in that rural area, it's called a TDR sending area.

So the landowners are given TDRs that they can then sell to developers who then are allowed to build at a higher density in TDR receiving areas, such as what is being designed for the greenbrier area here in Chesapeake.

So this sets up really uh a win-win-win kind of situation.

Landowners in the sending area have the right to sell their TDRs and get cash out of their land without actually having to sell land for development.

Developers who buy and use TDRs are allowed to build at a higher density and therefore can earn a higher profit on their development projects.

And the community gets what the community wants.

They get land preservation in the rural area and they get growth in the developed area in the TDR receiving area where they want the growth to go.

A TDR program is strictly voluntary.

No one is going to make a landowner sell his or her TDRs.

No one is going to compel a developer to buy TDRs either.

The real beauty of TDRs is it's a way to move development potential from one area to another.

It's really important to uh understand that TDRs are mainly developer-driven.

So there has to be value in those TDRs for the developers because if they're not interested in buying TDRs, no land is going to get preserved.

Prices for TDRs are determined through negotiations by buyers and sellers, just like in any real estate transaction.

One thing to consider for landowners in the TDR sending area is when they sell their TDRs, a perpetual conservation easement is then placed on their property.

That conservation easement restricts the use of the land to agriculture, forestry, and open space, and the conservation easement runs with the land.

So if the land is sold or passed on to airs, the terms of the conservation easement, those restrictions apply to all future landowners.

TDR programs really began in the late 1960s, and across the United States, there are now over 200 TDR programs.

Two of the leading programs in the United States, one is in Montgomery County, Maryland, where they've preserved about 50,000 acres with TDRs.

Another, a more rural TDR program in the Pinelands of Southern New Jersey is preserved about 55,000 acres.

In 2006, the Virginia legislature approved the use of TDRs in the Commonwealth, and Frederick County became the first county to adopt a TDR program in 2010 and has since preserved a little over 5,000 acres with their TDR program.

So we have been discussing where exactly the sending area would go for TDRs and also what the minimum eligibility requirements would be for landowners in the rural overlay district to participate in the TDR program.

We decided that this point a minimum of 50 acres because, on the one hand, we're trying to preserve agricultural land in large blocks if we can.

And second, the other land preservation programs, the OSAP and the Fentris and the MYA program can buy development rights down to 10 acres or even less in some cases.

So if you have way too many TDRs, the value of those TDRs won't be worth all that much.

So we don't want to really have a big oversupply of TDRs.

There would have to be at least one additional remaining right to subdivide a lot in order to participate in the TDR program.

And we would not have a property that's a solar farm participate in the TDR program either or a property that's owned by a state or local government.

What's very important is to figure out how many TDRs to give to landowners.

And what we've been proposing is that each landowner can have up to five subdivision rights, and we would allocate three TDRs for each subdivision right.

So each property of 50 or more acres, if they have the full complement of five subdividable lots, would get 15 TDRs for those subdividable lots, and then they would get another amount of TDRs based on one TDR per three acres, which reflects the A1 agricultural zoning in the rural overlay of one house per three acres.

So you can see here in the graphic on the screen, for example, for 50 acres, you have five lots, 15 TDRs, and 16 should be 16 rather than 17 TDRs for 50 acres.

Um so they would have actually a total of 31 TDRs.

So based on that 50 acre standard, what we've identified is almost 200 eligible parcels covering about 26,000 acres in the rural overlay district containing a little less than 12,000 TDRs, and you could see those properties that would be eligible to participate in the yellow area on the screen.

So landowners in the sending area really have four options.

One they don't have to do anything because it's a voluntary program.

They don't have to sell TDRs, they don't have to subdivide lots, they don't have to do anything if they don't want to.

Another option would be they could sever and sell all of their TDRs and preserve their land under a conservation easement.

Number three, they could take advantage of the existing zoning and create up to five lots through subdivision as they're allowed.

Or fourth, they can decide how many lots to subdivide and how many TDRs to settle, excuse me, sever for eventual sale.

And this is where landowners I think really need to be careful because when you sever the TDRs, that triggers the conservation easement.

So on Monday night, when we had a very good meeting with landowners and developers, I was very careful to tell the landowners that if you want to sell TDRs and you want to subdivide lots, subdivide the lots first, if you do the TDRs first, again, you're limiting yourself because you're putting a conservation easement on your property.

So that's that's very important for them to understand.

So here's an example of a 75-acre parcel with five development rights and a total of 40 TDRs, and the landowner decides to subdivide and sell three lots of three acres each, a total of nine acres, and sixty-six acres remain.

So each of those four three lots, excuse me, each of the three lots would use up four TDRs, and the landowner would have twenty-eight TDRs remaining to sell.

Landowners who have subdivided off three-acre lots have been able to gross somewhere between 200,000 and 250,000 per lot.

And the most recent sale of development rights through uh the Fentrest program and the Navy MYA program is between 15 and 18,000 dollars an acre.

So what are the mechanics of this program?

And this is something that landowners would probably need to be educated about.

It's a little bit tricky, but I think if you stick with this uh approach, I think it can work well.

First, uh a landowner in the sending area would contact the city of Chesapeake asking for a determination of how many TDRs do I have on my property.

And the City of Chesapeake is going to have to do a lot of record keeping here, as you can imagine, reminding landowners, you know, how many remaining lots they have, how many how many TDRs they have on their property.

The city would certify to the landowner how many TDRs are on the property, and then third, the landowner would need to decide if they want to sever off and sell TDRs.

And let's say the landowner decides, okay, I'm going to sever TDRs and sell them.

It's a good idea for the landowner to meet with a buyer, a developer, and negotiate a price for those TDRs.

And once the TDRs are severed, there is a deed of TDR severance, and that's when the conservation easement goes on the property at the time the TDRs are severed from the property.

There may be some adjustment to property taxes based on preserving the land.

We met with Greg Daniels on Tuesday to discuss that.

And the buyer, when the buyer is ready to use the TDRs to develop in the TDR receiving area, there would be a deed of TDR transfer attached to the receiving area property.

So now I'm going to turn things back to Jimmy who will talk about the TDR receiving area.

So it's really important that we have two components here.

So we've spent a lot of time on the sending areas, but now let's talk about the receiving areas.

So the initial areas that we're proposing to be part for to be in place for our receiving areas is uh first off the green bar areas of transformation, which can be seen in red here.

So those are the regional hub, uh the central Greenbrier District and the Greenbar Recreation District in particular.

We do know that there are areas that you know could potentially develop outside of uh of these uh transformation areas as well.

And uh we would look at including TDRs in the areas of enhancement as well.

So let me talk a little bit about how this works.

So in areas of transformation, what we would see is that uh there would need to be an overlay in place.

And this overlay would set the standards for how properties to develop within these areas.

The overlay district, the the formation of that would require a public hearing, would require approval by both Planning Commission and City Council.

So there is certainly a lot of work to con that is uh is still to be done with with uh the formation of this overlay district.

But again, it sets the standards for how development is to occur here.

It also establishes the fact that TDRs are a requirement uh to develop with residential.

Now, the third component of this, and we're gonna talk more about this in just a minute, is that we have to understand, you know, how do we deal with adequate infrastructure to accommodate this additional growth?

That's a very important uh question.

Normally uh the way we deal with this is through a negotiated proffer agreement uh that comes about with a rezoning.

When we're talking about buy right development here, that rezoning process is no longer in place.

Instead, what would what we're proposing would take its place is a developer uh development agreement.

Uh this is our top legislative uh uh priority with the city this year, and we've we've uh worked with our with the General Assembly and our delegation uh to push this legislation through.

It's on good footing.

We're hoping knock on wood that it continues on its way.

Uh we believe that it's making its way out of the Senate and on its way to the governor here shortly.

Um but if that were the case, if it were to go through, this would allow us in essence to uh identify uh the infrastructure needs of this area and the impacts are anticipated, come to terms with the developer through a development agreement, and get us in essence the same things that we would normally get through proffers but through a development agreement at that time to accommodate the additional growth.

Now that's there is a transformation.

The areas of enhancement, we know that these areas are a little more sensitive uh when we're talking about the type of growth that would go here.

So in this in this area, we would still you know uh uh look at uh at uh recommending rezonings for these properties.

Um but with these TDRs we'd be looking at allowing additional density with the purchase of these TDRs.

So let's say at a baseline here that the baseline density though that's allowed is 10 units to the acre, and a rezoning comes in and says, yep, we'd like to rezone for 10 units to the acre.

The comprehensive plan, you know, certainly costs for more density in this area.

So if we had a baseline of 10 and we say, you know, to be consistent with the comprehensive plan, we're looking at needing at least 20 units to the acre.

That tells the developer there that we have a deficiency of 10 units to the acre and would allow them to go out and to purchase those development rights so that when the rezoning was considered, they could come in and say we are consistent with the comprehensive plan.

We have the development rights in hand to get us to the to the required density, and then city council and plan commission can consider this and make recommendation on it uh as we move forward.

Now next month, uh City Council will consider the Deep Creek area plan.

And we do see that there's some additional potential within these areas that could be receiving areas as well.

In particular, we're looking at areas like the South Military Highway Corridor and areas like North George Washington Highway that's north of uh of uh military highway.

So we see that these are potential future areas, but at this time our initial recommendation is the green bar area with the tools that we have in place.

We think that we can certainly accommodate that growth.

Um but we we certainly want to put these uh at the forefront as well as uh future potential areas.

Also, the Western branch urban overlay, uh we we expanded the urban overlay as part of the comprehensive plan, and we are getting ready to begin the Western branch area plan, so we would certainly look for potential areas within Western branch that might be applicable for this program as well.

Now, we we said earlier that these programs are mainly developer-driven.

There has to be value to the developer, or else there's no purchase of development right or of these TDRs.

And one of the ways that we create value is through uh transfer ratios.

So the TDR transfer ratio, it's a type of development a developer can acquire, they can build acquiring one TDR.

So in essence, what this means is if you acquire TDR, let's look at the multifamily example.

One TDR is equal to five dwelling units in these receiving areas.

So by creating this value, we think that there is going to be a market for these types of of uh of units.

So we talked about options for the the sending areas.

The owners of the receiving area properties also have options as well.

Uh option number one is to basically do nothing and to develop with the current zoning.

No one is taking your zoning away.

You still have the rights there with the underlying zoning, and it's certainly uh a right that you can continue to use.

Option number two is what we just talked about.

Use TDRs to transfer residential in.

You'd be looking at needing to be consistent with the design guidelines, purchasing the requisite uh TDRs to to accommodate for the units that you are proposing, and then enter into a development agreement which would allow us to offset any infrastructure needs within these areas.

And then option number three, if those don't work out, there's always the option to rezone the property and to request uh whatever development that is that you are proposing uh within within that area.

So to reiterate, you know, again, if you're in Greenbrier, if you're using the TDR option, you must comply with the design guidelines, which have been adopted as part of the comprehensive plan, and you must have the adequate infrastructure, which leads us to the development agreements uh that we have that we've been talking about.

And again, this would allow uh the city to negotiate uh land dedications, cash payments, or any other public improvements that were necessary for this additional uh development.

When we talk about the details of uh receiving areas in Deep Creek and Western Branch, we certainly uh wanted to uh highlight that these are potential, but the the details are yet to be determined and certainly are required uh for council to adopt the the Deep Creek area plan before we move forward with any type of recommendation uh for those.

And those could follow uh you know the baseline density with a rezoning uh like the areas of of enhancement, or it could follow a green bar model where of for the areas of transformation.

But again, that would require an overlay district and the creation of TIFF districts to support that growth.

So we're talking about next steps we're here tonight uh for planning commission.

Uh we would need an adopted initiating resolution to begin work on creating a TDR ordinance and a green bar overlay district, and these would need to come essentially at the same time.

We can't create a TDR ordinance and not have a receiving area.

So having these two go at the same time is is uh pivotal.

And then we would need to amend the comprehensive plan to designate sending and receiving areas for the TDR program, finalize all ordinance updates, and then begin the public hearing process.

So again, this is uh a chance where folks have the opportunity to engage and to uh talk about where these the appropriate sending and receiving areas are and any other criteria as it is related to the TDR program.

So that concludes the presentation and be glad to answer any questions that you have at this time.

Thank you.

Uh this town, any commissioners have any any questions?

I have one.

Secretary Malone.

This might be a simple question, maybe not.

Um can a sending area TDR be modified with a future zoning change.

So if I heard you right, can a sending area be modified with a future zoning change?

Yes.

Certainly, if there was a desire on a future council's behalf to amend the areas, that is certainly within their purview to amend the areas and to designate new areas.

So this fee is really just a it's like a rental fee.

I am not sure I understand the question.

That the developer would pay to establish the TDR.

Those funds, if I understand it right, I may maybe I've missed the boat here.

Um those funds are going to the property owner in the sending area, right?

Yes.

That's basically just a rental fee.

If you can then in the future go back and change the zoning on the sending area.

If that's not not a permanent change, so yeah, there's a component.

There is a component on that as well.

So once you sever the TDRs, there is a conservation easement that is placed on the property.

And that regardless of the uh of the zoning, that concert a conservation easement remains in place unless it were to be uh unless it were to be extinguished, and that would require you know approval of the easement holder.

Okay.

Thank you.

Other questions.

Commissioner How uh Commissioner How you on um will there be a public database somewhere where people can look at final negotiated uh sales so we'll be able to determine value in certain areas?

A lot of times these these public clearing houses will connect uh folks who are looking to sell TDRs and they will they'll kind of list you know how many TDRs are available and information so that those who are looking to purchase TDRs uh could go to that to that uh that repository.

But usually the negotiated sale is a private agreement, uh, just like any other uh real estate transaction, so we wouldn't necessarily have the the details of uh you know the the cost and and such.

Understood, but in a regular real estate transaction, the final details are public info.

You can see what somebody paid and what somebody uh agreed to sell for.

I mean, how do you establish value?

Yes, the the value is established by the negotiation between the two parties, uh, whatever they need, you know, just like any other real estate transaction.

Okay, moving on.

Um is going to be occurred, you know, uh encouraged, meaning that somebody with less than 50 acres, if they get together with their several neighbors right there, can will an assemblage be a viable and the entity would be able to then sell the TDRs?

Excellent question.

And we got that question on Monday night as well.

And yes, the ordinance would allow for uh properties that were sa that were contiguous with each other to uh to uh you know aggregate enough acreage to get over the 50-acre minimum to sell those rights.

Okay, and then one final question.

Can we have a printout of what we just looked at right here somewhere?

Is this available other than what we just saw right here?

Certainly.

We could we could certainly email that out to you.

Any other questions?

I do.

Commissioner Bearfield?

So if I am understanding correctly, the sender is the owner.

And the developer is the receiver.

Is there a um limit on the amount of time that that easement can be placed before it is null and void?

Or you know, what happens if a sender sells it at this time and then 15 years later there's still that easement and nothing has been done.

If they have sold the TDRs to a developer, then the conservation easement still remains on the property in the sending area because those TDRs have been sold.

It's really up to the buyer of the TDRs at that point to exercise those TDRs and use them in a development.

But there's no there's no time limit, which I think is your your main question.

There is no time limit as long as the city of Chesapeake said, you know, the TDR program is in existence.

Yeah.

And I guess my other question is I'm sure values will change from the time the initial payment until the easement is activated or the uh property is actually developed.

Um that's why you said it is important for the seller to negotiate a price, I guess, for future correct?

Yeah, so you know.

So you know there's the act of actually severing the TDRs on behalf of the sending property, that is a final action.

Which means whatever negotiate price that you have negotiated, that is that those are the terms of the deal.

And then at that point, the the easement is placed on the property.

Um, you know, as far as when is advantageous to sell or not sell, uh, that is up to the the owner of the property.

Uh Commissioner Williams.

Uh yes, sir.

Um just so I can understand the TDR sales from a sender to the receiver, that sale goes through perpetuity, potentially.

Yes?

The easement that's placed on the property is in perpetuity.

But the the actual commodity, the the TDRs themselves.

If uh if a if a purchaser purchases TDRs and then at some point in the future decides, you know what, I want to get out, I don't want these TDRs anymore.

They they have the ability to sell those TDRs to someone else.

But the the sending property is out of the deal at that point in time.

Once the TDRs are severed, they now are the property of the purchaser.

And is there my ignorance to this?

Does the city establish some type of market place to manage this process?

Or is it all left and then it's all done between between individuals?

I got that from earlier, but it has to be registered somewhere, and I'm like one of our commissioners mentioned about a database.

If I 50 years from now have got this easement placed upon my property or my grandfather's property, and then now I own it, and a situation is completely changed from the way he had it, I am not able to develop or do anything with that because Granddaddy sold the TR TRL or yeah, TR sold it 50 years ago.

Is that right?

That is correct.

Similar to our OSAP program today.

Once those easements are placed on the property, whoever inherits the property inherits the easements that go with that property.

And but if I went to if I went to sell my granddaddy's property that he sold those 50 years ago to to this nice gentleman who is going to buy it from me, it's up to my good knowledge.

It's on my good part to share with him that that's there under a title search.

Or is that some somewhere it has to be registered somewhere, right?

Yes, that would that would show up on a title search.

Um I think actually the best way to do this is if you place a conservation easement on a property in the sending area that the conservation easement be recited verbatim in the property deed.

That's what we have done in Lancaster County, so that way it's literally virtually impossible to miss it in a title search.

Okay.

Fair enough.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

I have one.

All right.

Um just to piggyback off what Commissioner Bearfield asked about the about the time limits on things.

Um Mr.

Sterr, this may be for you.

Would it be legal to set a time limit to say the developer has five years to use these TDRs or I'm making things up at this point?

Yeah, there's nothing in the State Code that enables a program like this that would authorize the locality to impose such a time limit.

And so under a Dillon's rule analysis where our authority as a local government is limited by the powers that the State government gives us, I would be hesitant to advise off the top of my head that we could do something like that.

I think also there's an element of prudence in that we don't know what market factors are going to be in place, whether a developer thinks that you know it's wise for them personally, financially to hold on to those TDRs.

Maybe they are trying to use them and just have not been able to find the right property.

So trying to gauge what an appropriate time limit would be even if we had that authority could be a little tricky.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh we've got just a couple minutes before our regular are there any other questions?

All right.

Mr.

McNamara and Dr.

Daniels, right?

I mean you had that straight.

Thank you for your time.

We we appreciate it.

Mr.

Chair, in the interest of time, I think we're going to pass on our next uh presentation for a later date.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh if there is no further business to consider, this meeting will stand adjourned at six fifty-four.

Grab your grab your name tag.

Oh.

Now we're good.

We're just putting it down.

We just want to make sure we don't have the name tag.

Let me make this announcement.

Speaker cards are available on the table outside of the council papers.

We ask that you print your name and address legibly on the space provided on the cards, as well as on the agenda.

Item that you wish to come in on the submit your completed speaker card to the planning commission secretary before the being is called.

The planning commission commission hearing for March 11, 2026 is now in session.

If you would please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance for those who wish to participate, you're invited to remain standing for the invocation.

Commissioner Howard will lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and the invocation will be offered by Commissioner Bearfield.

What we would ask is after the invocation, if you would stand for a few minutes.

There's a lot happening in this world, and of course, this area.

And so we've got a lot of people serving abroad as well as here, so we would ask that as well as a few that have lost their lives.

So we would ask that you remain standing just to remember and to think about them as well as their families.

This is the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic, which is hands one under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all of the moment to reflect on the purpose of our work together.

Together, may we help build a future that is sustainable, inclusive, and beneficial to all.

Commissioner Bearfield.

Present.

Commissioner Gilman.

Present.

Commissioner Halliard.

Commissioner Malone.

Here.

Commissioner Squelia.

Here.

Commissioner Spruel.

Here.

Commissioner Taylor.

Here.

Commissioner Williams.

Present.

Chairman Hackworth.

Here.

The minutes for the February 11th, 2026 public hearing are being considered for approval.

Do the Commissioners have any corrections or revisions?

If there are no corrections, the minutes are approved by unanimous consent.

The Commission rules and procedures are available at the table in front of the chambers on the screen in the chambers, and they are also available online at our website.

Upon planning commission action of either approval or denial, the remainder of the item shall be heard by City Council next month on either the third or fourth Tuesday, beginning at three 6 30 p.m.

in this chamber unless otherwise denounced tonight.

Citizens may contact the City Clerk's office or the planning department the Friday after the planning commission meeting to find out which date the item will be heard by City Council.

The first order of business is the consideration of request to withdraw or continue an item.

Normally an item is withdrawn without further discussion.

In the case of continuances, it is the planning commission's policy to continue the item as requested by the applicant or staff.

Mr.

Boswick, are there any requests for withdrawal or continuance?

We have no items requesting continuance or withdrawal.

The next order of business is consideration of the consent agenda.

The consent agenda contains those items in the planning that the planning staff believes are unopposed and have a favorable staff recommendation.

Speakers on items placed on the consent agenda will be given a total of five minutes to address the commission.

If you have an objection to an item being placed on the consent agenda, please note your objection when you address the commission.

Secretary Malone, are there any items on the consent agenda in which there are three or more speakers in opposition?

There are not.

So at this point, uh the consent agenda is as follows.

Items one, four, five, and six.

Mr.

Boswick, please read the consent agenda into the record.

First item is item number one, PLN dash PUDM-2025-001.

The project is scenic heights put modification.

The applicant is NVR Incorporated.

The owner is NVR Incorporated and JCBLLC.

Agency is William Smallin.

The proposal is a modification to the scenic heights PUD to alter the development timeline of the for the required right-of-way and infrastructure improvements and to amend the previously approved walking trails to a multi-use path around the development.

The location is 666, 668, Shalila Road, 722, Shalila Road, 732, Shalila Road, 808 Shalila Road, 816, Shalela Road, 844, Shalila Road, 856, Shalila Road, 912, Shalila Road, all in the grass field planning area.

Based on the findings contained in the staff report, staff recommends that PLN-PUDM-2025-001 be approved with development criteria dated February 18, 2026, and Master Development Plan dated May 29, 2025, as listed in the official agenda.

The next item is item number four.

It is PLN-USC-2025-046.

The project is South Military Container Stacking.

The applicant owner is 1828 South Military Highway LLC.

The agency is William Smolen.

The proposal is a conditional use permit to allow container stacking.

The location is 1814 and 1828 South Military Highway in the Greenbrier Planning Area.

Based on the findings contained in the staff report, staff recommend that PLN-USC-2025-046 be approved with stipulations as listed in the official agenda.

Next is item number five.

Agency is civil engineering and construction services.

The proposal is a conditional use permit to construct a general contractor warehouse with outside storage.

The applicant also seeks approval of an alternative parking service.

The location is 1713 PoCD Road in the Southern Chesapeake Planning Area.

Based on the findings contained in the staff report, staff recommend that PLN-USC-2025-056 be approved with stipulations as listed in the official agenda.

Finally, we have item number six.

PLN dash TXT-2025-010.

The project is civil enforcement.

The proposal is an ordinance amending appendix A of the Chesapeake City Code entitled Zoning.

Article 20, Section 20-202 to provide general updates to change criminal zoning enforcement to civil enforcement.

Based on the findings contained in the staff report, staff recommends that PLN dash TXT-2025-010, version dated February 20, 2026, be approved as listed in the official agenda.

That concludes the consent agenda.

Secretary Malone, do we have any speakers for items on the consent agenda?

Mr.

Chair.

We do.

Point of order.

I think we we want to talk about one of the items.

Mr.

Mr.

Hanagan, could you uh report the uh the item that we just discussed?

Yes, for item one PLN PUDM 202501, which is the modification to the scenic heights PUD to alter the development timeline for the requested right of way and infrastructure approvements and to remove the previously approved walking trails and to clarify the details of the scenic loop.

Uh the applicant on that project is C Christ Scenic LLC, and the owners of the properties in question are C Christ Scenic LLC and JCB LLC.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh do we have any speakers uh for the items on the consent agenda?

We do.

Secretary Malone, please call the speakers for items on the consent agenda.

Speaking in opposition of agenda item number one, Ms.

Linda Tyndall.

Good evening.

Linda Tyndall, 1045 West Road.

How many times has Scenic Heights come before the Planning Commission and City Council?

There should be a limit set for continuances and proffer modifications.

They have an approved plan.

By the time the project is completed, it will not look like what was approved.

It will be closer to what they originally wanted.

Grassfield was named for the low-lying farmland that comprised the rural area next to the Great Dismal Swamp.

Our drainage cannot keep up with the runoff from these large projects.

Grassfield High had over $14 million in damage caused by the drainage design for Dominion Commerce Park.

The scenic parkway runoff that was directed under the athletic fields has now been sent west towards the ponds at Scenic Heights.

I assume this is the reasoning behind the design changes before you tonight.

Are you aware of the ongoing drainage concerns in Cardinal Meadows on Shillalee at Ward Road?

Pump trucks are frequently on site and sinkholes are developing within the project.

This will only get worse as the site prep for scenic heights proceeds.

I'm also concerned about the next proffer modification.

The agent will humbly request your consideration to change the required commercial component into more high density apartments or into low-income housing tax credit properties because the market no longer supports the required commercial space that was saved until last to be built that was part of the original approved and modified plan.

We learned this week that developers will soon have the option to utilize transferable development rights to accomplish their goal of increasing density without public notice or input or the need to come before the planning commission or city council.

This worries me greatly.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Speaking in support of agenda item number five, Mr.

Sam Baraki.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Mr.

Jason and Kelly Wright are available for questions.

Thank you.

That's it.

Next speaker.

That's all.

All right.

Is there any discussion on these items?

Hearing none, a motion is ordered for the approval of the consent agenda with the applicable stipulations or proffers as read into the record by Mr.

Boswick.

Chair, I move that the consent agenda be approved as read into the record by Mr.

Buss.

Second.

All right.

We have a motion by Secretary Malone and a second by Commissioner Williams.

Commission uh Commissioners, please prepare to vote.

Please vote.

Mr.

Boswick, please record the vote.

By a vote of nine to zero, the motion carries.

The next order of business is the regular public hearing agenda.

When there are three or fewer speakers, each speaker will have five minutes to present comments to the commission.

If there are four more speakers, each speaker will have three minutes to present comments to the Commission.

Mr.

Boswick, please present the first public hearing item.

This will be item number two, PLN-USC-2024-040.

The project is Take Five Battlefield Billboard.

Applicant is Adams Outdoor Advertising.

The owners, Stanley G.

Bryan Trustee, Matthew and Salve Smith, and the William Lee Tolson and Francis Faye Tolson Trust.

The proposal is a conditional use permit to construct a billboard sign with a request for a reduction in setbacks and distance from residential property.

The location is 1440 Battlefield Boulevard North in the Rivercrest planning area.

Mr.

Bell will now present staff's findings.

Staff provides the following findings.

The proposed billboard sign with requested reductions and setbacks and distance from residential property are not compatible with adjacent uses, would be detrimental to the visual environment and could negatively affect the economic viability of the property.

The proposed billboard sign is not consistent with the Greenbrier Area Plan's designation of this area to be a regional gateway into the Greenbrier Core Commercial Area, and the property supports a viable economic use under its current use.

Based on these findings, staff recommends that PLN use 2024 040 be denied.

Secretary Malone, do we have four or more speakers for the items to be read into the record?

We do not.

I mean two, two.

Since we have two speakers for the item, each speaker will be allotted five minutes to speak.

Secretary Malone, please call the first speaker for the item on the regular agenda.

Speaking in support of agenda item number two, Mr.

Steve Roman.

Or Ramin.

Good evening, uh Chairman Hackworth, members of the Planning Commission for the record, I'm Steve Romine, uh local attorney representing Adams Outdoor Advertising in this conditional use permit to construct a replacement billboard at 1440 Battlefield Boulevard.

I have with me tonight uh Jim Balastino, the general manager for Adams Outdoor as well, in case there's questions you might have that I may not be able to answer.

Um appreciate uh the fact that in your packet is a complete report and and uh staff analysis.

I'm gonna highlight a few things and try to address uh some of the places where we may have a difference in opinion.

As noted in the staff report on page four, City Council adopted a revised ordinance in January this year, just two months ago, CZO Section 14706 B3.

This ordinance allows the replacement of involuntarily removed billboards to lots with existing development with the issuance of a use permit.

It also gave the City Council the discretion to approve various modifications to the design standards.

I believe this application tonight may be the first application under the new ordinance.

We spent probably well over a year working on that ordinance.

Um just to give you a little background.

And so the idea is that we don't want to put the business and the industry out of business.

We want to help them to keep and maintain what they currently have.

They're not adding or expanding to what you already have in the City of Chesapeake.

We're just maintaining.

So when we lose a site involuntarily, which we did on Indian River Road, we have to go find another site.

The new ordinance, like I said, was considered and was intended to address the loss of signage in the city.

The use permit meets the standards of the ordinance and is consistent with the comprehensive plan because it supports economic development across the city.

Over 80 percent of advertising on billboards is directly from local businesses in the market.

We also have since the filing of this application lost another billboard in this exact corridor on Battlefield Boulevard.

And so we'll have the an ability to come before you with another use permit to try to find a site to replace that.

Now the problem with finding a new site, and I think there was a comment at the earlier session in the informal was did we search for other replacement sites?

We spent an exhaustive amount of time trying to find a new site.

You need three things to have a site that works.

You need a willing landlord.

You need the appropriate zoning, because we're limited in four zoning districts, and you have to have access and somewhat a good visible site that's well screened.

And it's very hard to find the intersection of those three or four things in these corridors.

So yes, we looked a lot of places, and this is one of the few places uh that it can work.

Um Adams Outdoor Advertising has further agreed to limit the LED signage to the right side of the sign in order to reduce any type of visual impact to the hotel behind it.

So the face that's facing take five will have the LED.

You'll be able to see from battlefield.

The opposite side will be a static sign.

It won't have any lights or or uh LED on it.

So that's something we're offering tonight as well into the record.

I know it's not one of the conditions, but that's something we had considered after getting some feedback.

The six conditions in your uh package are acceptable to the client, to the applicant.

The reductions in setback are reasonable for access and minimal with respect to the increase in visibility to neighbors.

The reduction to the setback was required or was really actually suggested by staff because of the ingress egress would conflict with the monopole standard if we set it all the way back twenty-five feet.

So that request to go to 13 is just in order to accommodate the access.

The other um request is to reduce the setback from the residential behind us, the apartments, which are well screened by heavy trees already.

Um staff's position for denial is subjective.

It's based on its opinion that a billboard should not be placed within a gateway.

The gateway argument is very speculative and debatable.

A very strong contrary argument can be made that this location with business traffic in a highly traveled corridor is precisely where you want and need advertising.

As I indicated earlier, we have already lost two sites, and these billboards service local industry.

Eighty to ninety percent are local businesses.

Let me add one other thing, and I hear my thing, real quick, safety.

Uh Amber alerts and FBI um bulletins can be pushed out on the LED very quickly, like in the case of Nancy Guthrie in Texas, they got put out early.

And the problem is you don't have a network and you don't have the LED, you can't get those those uh uh amber alerts and the FBI alerts out there.

So this is a real positive for safety in the city as well.

And I apologize for running over and I'll stand by for questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, speaking in support of agenda item number two, Mr.

Jim Bellastino.

Yeah, he wants to stand by for questions, I think.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Next question.

Uh next speaker.

That concludes the speakers for agenda item two.

All right.

Commissioners, is there any uh discussion for this?

I have a question.

Commissioner Sproul.

Yes, sir.

Why just uh show an advertisement on one side and not on both sides?

And also um I took the liberty to go down battlefield coming east, coming towards that way.

Like, okay, once I'm gonna be blank, just um these straight lights.

Would that mess with the um say people coming back and forth at night?

And also I'm coming from one side.

I think if I'm gonna advertise, I want people to see it on both sides.

You know, and I'm that definitely, I'm not against it.

Yeah, but what I need to know is why not just why just one side.

Go ahead, come on, Jim.

Yeah, because I'm spoken before we start.

So uh he's got attorney uh Ramon if if he wants to call you up, he can he can bring you up in that particular point.

He's got he the commissioner needs to call me.

I would say I wanted to clarify something.

On is with the attorney first, and then I get to use the Okay, my name is Jim Ballast.

The attorney first.

Oh, Steve.

I'm sorry.

If you could just have a seat and we'll call you up afterwards.

Oh, okay, okay.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

So the question was why don't we keep the LED on both sides?

Yes.

And why not advertise on both sides other than one side?

I'm not against that.

Yeah.

What I'm I want to understand is it safety for the public.

Now I drew a path that way several times during the night and during the day, and for sure, I think you will get more attraction of more advertisement, marketing on both sides.

I also thought about uh the housing areas in the back.

Would it affect uh the waffle house, would it affect the hotel there?

I'm like, okay, maybe not.

So now, sir, can you please come up?

Okay.

Thank you, Clayton.

Appreciate it.

Mr.

Sprule.

Oh, Mr.

Spruell.

Oh, Mr.

Spruel, I'm sorry.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, members uh of the planning commission.

Let me clarify something.

I know Steve mentioned.

So at this point, it's it's questions.

So if you were going to speak, you would have spoken at the other part.

So at this point, he can ask you questions.

Why advertising on one side or on both sides?

And why at that particular location?

We're going to advertise on both sides.

He misspoke.

There's actually going to be the LED digital billboard on one side and a static billboard on the other side where the lights will go off at midnight.

We don't want the lights going all night because you have a hotel.

So we made that change.

That was my suggestion.

Because if you are at a hotel, you don't want lights going 24-7.

This particular site will go 24-7.

All of our all of our current uh electronic digital billboards in the city and throughout Hampton Roads go 24-7.

This one will shut off at midnight in consideration for the surroundings.

Thank you.

Did that help?

Is there another question, sir?

Yeah.

When you say LED on one side, you're going to start off at a certain time.

What time would that be?

Um the LED?

Yes, sir.

On one side.

Yeah, the LED on the side.

No, the hotel will go on at sun, will go, will turn on.

The lights will turn on at normal sundown sundown or sun sunset, and they'll go off at midnight.

On the other side, where the LED is, they run 24-7.

Okay.

And that's that's how they are, and that's under state regulations as well.

And we also have to have a state permit.

So this if we get approval from the city, we still have to get state approval on this project.

One more question.

The NSD guys talk to anyone, any citizens about how they feel about this within that area, the little apartments back there, even those are local businesses.

Do you talk to any of them to get their take on it?

We have talked to others.

We've also talked to members of council.

The overall consensus is that there is a large screen of trees that will screen uh the particular area.

And uh that was another consideration that we looked at.

So we have talked to uh members of the community, and we haven't seen any uh any opposition.

Thank you.

Thank you, gentlemen.

All right.

Any commissioners, uh other commissioners have questions?

Yes, I just uh just Commissioner Bearfield.

Yes, I just want to clarify.

This is a replacement.

It is not a new one, it is a replacement for yes.

Yeah, this is a replacement.

We've lost uh a location on Indian River Road right near the uh right near the border between Chesapeake and Norfolk.

And most recently we lost a location at 900 North Battlefield, just a few blocks or just a few miles from this location.

You would know it right now, it's being developed.

Uh and we lost that location, and you would know it because the city uh, as you know, the uh Chesapeake Hospital was on that location for many, many years.

So we're also trying to satisfy them with this location because they're looking for a replacement for the location they lost at 900 North Battlefield.

Any other questions?

Commissioner Bearfield.

Sorry.

Uh Commissioner Howard.

Thank you.

The um the summary analysis points out in the staff report that the uh the limitation is uh 64 cumulative square foot in a commercial area, and this sign here is uh 378 square feet, six times that maximum area.

Um can you talk about that a little bit?

What's the question?

The size of the sign.

I'm not sure I understand.

The summary analysis from the staff report, which I'm I'm sure you guys probably probably saw, indicates that there's a limit of 64 cumulative square feet.

And what you are it's an under summary analysis, the first paragraph.

The proposed billboard sign is almost six times the maximum area of a freestanding sign at 378 square feet.

Yeah, we we don't have any billboard 64 cumulative square feet anywhere in the city of Chesapeake.

So I'm so not sure.

Um I thought the code for Mr.

McNamara?

Yeah, I'd be glad to provide some context here.

So uh recent changes to the the code uh you know pre prior to some of these changes, uh billboards were not allowed on sites that had buildings.

So when we're talking about the the sign regulations that are in place, we're talking about freestanding signs and we're talking about wall signs, which are typically permitted with those buildings.

When we add a billboard to this, this is uh above and beyond you know what's normally permitted with the underlying zoning.

So in this case, when we're talking about the the the square footage amount, that that's what typically would be permitted on the site.

Uh and I I believe you know, Mr.

Bell, uh, you know, that was pointed out to show that you know, with with this use permit, you are basically uh exceeding that sign limitation uh you know multiple times over.

But that's not necessarily in the ordinance.

Does that answer?

Yes, thank you.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um other questions.

Yeah, one more, actually.

Now leave that picture there, please, if you would.

Looking at the and I can't put my finger on it immediately, but I think that you guys uh are relying upon some of the foilage that you just happened to mention, the screen from the trees.

I don't know what time of year that was taken, but there's going to be a time of the year where we can't rely upon any such uh canopy from the uh from the trees there to provide that shield to the apartment complex in the back.

Yeah, there is uh the um LED that we that we will purchase will have a the ability for us to louver the lighting, and I think that's also in the uh in the packet that shows that there is the ability to maneuver the lighting.

So um if in most cases the foot candles and the lighting is no greater than any of the lighting you would see on on-premise as well as on-premise signage.

And to further clarify on that, the request in the CUP are twofold to sit back on the side yard because of the conflict with the drive aisle.

The other is you have to have a 300-foot distance to the property line of residential, and we're reducing that to 101.

Um basically, because we believe we have a heavy standard trees and the way this has been designed, it's not going to create uh any kind of visual impact on the apartments way in the back.

And that is essentially why we also decided on uh the fact that we would only light one side of the sign because we were closer to the hotel.

Okay.

Which is all consistent with the ordinance, all consistent with the change we achieved in January.

Thank you.

Uh Vice Chair Squelia.

Thank you.

Question for Mr.

McNamara.

I don't remember seeing about the static on the back, and I just wanted to make sure that actually is in the current form.

That was not included as a condition by the applicant.

I think they just proposed that tonight.

That's what I thought.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Thanks, sir.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

Bell, uh uh looking through the presentation, uh, there were some comments about the uh the Greenbrier area plan, which was just recently adopted by City Council, I believe, December.

Um, just talk a little bit about uh from staff's perspective of how this affects that that green brower area plan we have been talking about, because that's really you know incorporating that in with the conference plan is is something that we need to take in consideration as well.

So if you could tell me kind of where staff comes in and how that blends in with this project.

Um I'll let Jimmy expand if he'd like, but essentially the regional gateway that is called for by the Green Briar area plan in this area is essentially the the traffic coming into Greenbrier from Interstate 64 onto Battlefield Boulevard, which lets out just before you hit this property and the desire to maintain this area for some sort of architectural element that would provide uh a gateway signage that welcomes you into the core Greenbrier area.

Um again, I'll I'll let Jimmy expand on that if you would like, but that's essentially what we were trying to describe in the staff report.

Yeah, I'll I'll point out in the in the design guidelines themselves when we talk about Section 1.5 where it talks about gateways.

The first recommended uh point here is that gateways are an important concept in the Green Bar Area Plan.

Sites identified as gateways should design be designed to reflect unique location as an entry point to the green bar area.

When we are designing these entry points, what we are looking for is a visual welcoming to the green bar area.

And when we talk about adding, you know, uh uh uh more signage to these areas, particularly of you know of the billboard nature, we see that this is adding sign clutter and not necessarily contributing towards that that gateway aesthetic that we are that's recommended by the the uh the design guidelines.

Thank you.

All right, is there any further discussion?

All right, hearing none at this uh time, a motion is in order.

Mr.

Chairman, uh I think I'm gonna say this correctly.

A motion to deny.

So staff recommends recommendation is to deny.

So if you make the motion is to deny if you want to change that, I think staff probably has in a report that if uh if if the planning commission sees fit uh to approve that the stipulations or the proffers and whatever is made in there would be part of it.

But if you make a motion uh based on the staff recommendation, it would be a motion to deny.

Let me restate.

Make a motion based on the staff report to deny.

All right.

So we have a properly made uh motion.

Do we have a second?

Second.

All right.

So we have a motion by Commissioner Williams and a second by Commissioner Taylor.

Um this again, when we vote, the grain will be to deny.

So this is a motion to deny.

So if you vote green, uh you're in support of that motion.

Uh Commissioners uh please prepare to vote.

Please vote.

Mr.

Boswick, please record the vote.

By a vote of six to three, the motion carries.

All right, Mr.

Boswick, uh please present the next public hearing item.

Next is item number three, PLN-REZ-2025-017.

The project is still water.

Applicant is Virginia Builders Holding LLC.

Owners are CFG properties LLC, Virginia Builders holding LLC.

The agency is civil engineering and construction services.

Their proposal is a conditional zoning reclassification of approximately 26.4 acres from R15S residential area, three acres, and A1, agricultural district, 23.4 acres, to B2, General Business District, 4.2 acres, RMF 1, multifamily residential district, 10.6 acres, and R8, single family residential district, 11.3 acres, with the remaining 0.3 acres being dedicated as right-of-way.

The location is 1733 and 1737 Battlefield Boulevard South in the Great Bridge Planning Area.

This item has been approved for concurrent advertising and will be heard by City Council on March 17, 2026.

Mr.

Hannigan will present staff's findings.

Thank you, Mr.

Boswick.

Staff proposes or staff has the following findings.

As proffered, the proposed rezoning creates a highly immunitized and attractive community that reinforces compatible residential development patterns, sets up inter-neighborhood connections, and provides a unique commercial product in the form of a food truck park.

The proposed rezoning is consistent with the community regional commercial character district and the density requirements of the suburban overlay district.

The proposed rezoning aligns with the city's smart growth principles by supporting attractive walkable neighborhoods and providing diverse housing opportunities.

And the proposed rezoning supports City Council desire outcomes for economic prosperity and connectivity by increasing the non-residential tax base through the unique commercial opportunity of the food truck park and by creating a greater pedestrian connectivity along battlefield.

Based on these factors, staff is recommending approval of PLN REZ 2025017 with the proffers listed in the staff report.

Thank you.

Secretary Malone, do we have four more speakers for the item to be read into the record?

We do.

Since we have four more speakers for the item, each speaker will be allotted three minutes to speak.

Secretary Malone, please call the first speaker.

Speaking in opposition of agenda item number three.

I'm sorry.

Correction.

Speaking in support of agenda item number three, Mr.

James Leftwick.

Good evening, Mr.

Chairman, members of the Commission.

If I could, I would like to defer to Mr.

Baraki.

He's going to give more of an overview of the project.

And then I'm going to follow up some more concrete information, if that's okay.

Sure.

Okay.

Sam Barack.

Speaking in support of the agenda item number three, Mr.

Sam Baraki.

Good evening, Mr.

Chairman, Chairman Highquarters, member of Planning Commission, my name and staff.

My name is Sam Baracki.

My business address is 5267, Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach.

I'm here tonight as the agent for this application to proudly present the Stillwater Community.

But before I finish my presentation, I like to, in the conditions, rezoning condition item, condition number 7B.

At the end, we like to eliminate the wording, anything has to do with vinyl.

So the second paragraph of that conditions is or vinyl board with a minimum of 0.44.

It was supposed to be a backward board, not vinyl board.

So we like to eliminate that from the conditions of the application.

With that, still water is a design to be a much more than a conventional subdivision.

It is a thoughtful planned, designed-led communities that represent a comprehensive neighborhood concept rather than a simply residential yield plan.

From the beginning, the developer goal has been to create a place that prioritized community life, thoughtful design, and long-term compatibility with the surrounding area.

The site plan reflects that intention.

The layout was developed through more than 20 iteration to ensure a clear planning logic and a balanced community structure.

The most active use as thoughtful.

The most active use are positioned at the entrance along Battlefield Boulevard, where a community-scale commercial gathering space create a strong sense of arrival and place.

At the center of the neighborhood is Stillwater Central Park, designed as a true multi-generational amenity.

This space will include an athletic field, playground, fire pits, picnic areas, and gathering space designed to bring residents of all ages together.

By placing this park at the heart of the community design ensure it becomes a focal point for the neighborhood life.

The residential component is also reflect a thoughtful planning approach.

Still water include a mix of housing type, brownstone, raw homes, cottage homes, and executive executive single family home, all designed with a cohesive architectural vision.

The housing variety supports different lifestyle life stages and encourage a diverse and connected neighborhood.

Equally important, the architecture and streetscape are intentionally people-oriented, featuring such as front porch, walkable street, and carefully arranged home are designed to encourage interaction between neighborhoods to create a strong sense of community.

If I may give a couple more seconds.

As long as it's very quick.

Okay.

The commercial component at the entrance further enhance the project placemaking goal.

It featured a high-end food park, the first of its kind in Hampton Roads, along with a flexible indoor venue space capable of housing, uh hosting farmer market, community event, fundraiser, fine art festival, wedding, and other gatherings.

With the close proximity of this park to the Southeastern Elementary, we elected to put in a four-foot berm with a fence and then to prevent anybody from to keep people within the park safe from exiting to battlefield.

The three minutes is up.

We gave you a few extras aware.

We need to call the next speaker.

Okay, thank you.

Next speaker.

Speaking Mr.

Light Mr.

Lovers.

Mr.

J.

Left, Leftwitch.

Thank you, uh Mr.

Chairman, members of the Commission.

Uh James Leftwitch, my business address is 308 Cedar Lakes Drive, Chesapeake, Virginia 23322.

And I am here on behalf of the applicant in support of this application.

As you heard from Mr.

Baraki, and as I know you have seen from the package that you have reviewed, this project provides a probably one of the best and most diverse living arrangements that I have seen proposed in the City of Chesapeake.

One of which, as Mr.

Baraki mentioned, is the only thing like it, or anything that would be like in the City of Chesapeake.

And the food uh truck park and the uh multipurpose uh uh warehouse in the front with with uh very um aesthetically pleasing architectural features.

Uh what I like to do is maybe hone in on some of the more concrete issues that I know are going through uh the commission's mind, and that is the levels of services.

Um all the level services are met uh in this application.

The the one thing that I put an asterisk next to is schools.

You've seen the numbers that um for the schools.

Presently, um this would add 16 students to uh Southeastern Elementary School, which is overcrowded, and that is why the applicant made a proffer that no CO would be obtained until after that uh addition is completed and goes online.

When that goes online, it will take an additional 200 to 275 students.

And one may ask what you know why why the swing.

Um it's kind of hard to get a handle on that, uh, having some experience uh dealing with um the school board.

Uh you don't really know what kind of students are going to come to your school.

You may have some classrooms that uh address uh special education needs.

In that event, that class is going to be smaller.

But we do know that at a minimum, uh, based upon the school numbers, they'll be able to service an inchal 200 students, up to 275 students.

And so if you look at those numbers and you project that out based upon approved site plans and uh uh rezonings, uh if you only add 200 students, this school would be at 113 percent capacity.

If you added 275 students, it would be close to 100 percent uh capacity.

A lot of people ask, well, why do we want it to be overcapacity at all?

And I wouldn't say that we really want to, but the for planning purposes, um you don't start planning an addition or a new school until you know the demand is already there and you can draw from other schools to fill that.

Otherwise, you're not really using the uh taxpayers' dollars uh to the highest and best uh purposes that you that you could.

Um the other question that may arise is what about already zoned property?

I know we take into consideration those where properties have been zoned and site plans are approved or in the process.

We've done an analysis of already zoned property and have found that there is no significant impact on student enrollment based upon currently zoned property.

And I will use the property on off Johnstown Road if you go down a ways as an example.

That's been zoned for 60 years, but it's wetlands.

Um out of time.

I can say more, but I appreciate your consideration and ask you to act favorably on the application.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Speaking in support of agenda item number three, Mr.

Taylor Gerson.

Stand by question.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Speaking in support of agenda item number three, Mr.

Joey.

Ami UO?

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Speaking in opposition of agenda item number three, Mr.

Jonathan Borg.

Good evening.

My name is Jonathan Boring.

I'm here because currently in that area, our public infrastructure is unable to keep pace with the residential density along South Battle South Battlefield.

Under our current level of service standards, I believe the stillwater application and subsequent development is premature and presents a measurable negative impact to the community.

The major point that I have is the school capacity.

So as was already touched on, Chesapeake is currently using temporary trailers as a semi-permanent solution to school overcrowding.

Hickory Middle School in itself is already at 123 percent capacity.

Overflowing by 248 students between Patriots Ridge, Patriots Walk, and Ashburn Meadows, we're already adding on approximately 60 more students to that deficit.

At the elementary level, Southeastern is currently at 116 percent capacity, while the 16.4 million dollar renovation increases the capacity to 786 seats.

Those same approved developments that still have no residence or minimal residence at this point will bring approximately 223 new students, pushing enrollment to over 830, which surpasses that 786 capacity.

This is 106 percent of the new capacity before a single resident from Stillwater even takes residency.

We're essentially spending millions of dollars to move one group of children out of trailers, only to immediately replace them with another group.

The second point, infrastructure and reactive planning.

Infrastructure failures are no longer theoretical at Patriots Ridge, where only about 40 homes are occupied.

Homes are the a single single vehicle attempting a left turn while southbound on Battlefield Boulevard can shutter the southbound lane.

We need a discussion regarding the anticipated build-out timelines for these residential and commercial projects.

Imagine a commercial delivery truck entering that corridor to deliver goods to the commercial building, uh the commercial product uh the commercial sites at the Patriots Walk, which is just north of the still water.

In a two in a restricted two-lane arterial, there are no move over options for drivers, creating a total standstill and a safety crisis for emergency services.

Furthermore, we still lack safe pedestrian paths from these communities to the hickory schools.

Fragmented sidewalks and developer turn lanes are not a plan.

They are reactive.

Short focused responses to a problem that is already out of control and only getting worse.

In conclusion, if we continue to approve rezonings like Stillwater, when our expanded schools and public infrastructure are already failing to meet the demand of existing projects, we're failing this community.

I recommend the application be delayed until they said he can demonstrate that our infrastructure can absorb this influx safely.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

That concludes the speakers.

All right.

Any questions or discussions?

Commissioner Commissioner Gilman.

Mr.

Lefflet, I just want to clarify something.

I think I heard you say.

Did you state in your level of service 16 additional students?

That's for Southeastern Elementary, is what my notes reflect.

Okay.

Under certainly not overall.

Just overall.

Thank you for the clarification.

Which is the most critical school in question, I think.

Absolutely.

Commissioner Bearfield.

Yes.

I just wanted to be sure that the numbers we're looking at the impact on student enrollment that the current capacity at Hickory Middle and Hickory High are not overcapacity.

Correct?

Because I thought I heard someone say uh give the impression.

That's my understanding, yes.

I think well under 100.

Yes, it looked I'm looking at 85.7 and 88.9 right now.

Uh these numbers, when did you all get are these the most recent numbers from okay?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Mr.

Hannigan, I think, or or Mr.

McNamara can probably talk to you.

Commissioner Bearfield, if I may.

Um, the numbers that you just referenced, the 85.7 percent and 88.9 percent, those were provided to us by um to speak public schools in a memo dated February 25, 2026.

So those are the most up-to-date numbers that they have at this time.

You know, and maybe I'm speaking from my old principal hat, but these uh when we look at capacity, we sometimes forget that during the year students do transfer out, and you don't get those updated numbers.

So what might appear to be over capacity at some point will be under capacity as well.

And I'm looking at the two high schools, the two feeder schools.

The two feeder schools, once they leave Southeastern, there is no problem.

Correct?

I think so.

Uh Vice Chair Squelia.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um my thoughts are tad long, excuse me.

And interestingly, despite Mr.

Boring's um opposition, I didn't receive any feedback negative or positive from the community.

And this is one of the hardest ones for me, quite honestly.

Um the the concern that that I want to talk about is schools.

Um, and I take that concern very seriously.

In fact, as you know, last month I voted against a project in part because I didn't believe that the school capacity issue had been addressed adequately.

So it's not something I dismiss lightly, and I want to be very clear that I do approach this issue with consistency.

Um, but we also have to be a clear about where the responsibility lies.

The planning commission doesn't control school attendance zones.

That authority belongs solely to the Chesapeake School Board.

And they do have the ability to redistrict, to rebalance enrollment, and a plan for growth in our city.

Other localities do approach this challenge in different ways.

For example, Virginia Beach reviews their policies annually.

When adjustments happen regularly like that, they tend to be smaller and far less disruptive for families than large changes that happen after 10, 20 years.

Here in Chesapeake, we can't expect the Planning Commission or the City Council to solve a problem that school system itself has the authority and the tools to address.

That responsibility rests with the school board alone.

And I'll say that we do have a nice relatively young school board along with an energetic new chairwoman who is doing a great job.

And so I'm hopeful that we'll continue to see thoughtful planning on that issue as our city grows.

That responsibility also relates to safety.

As schools grow, the use of mobile classrooms become more common.

And I know that many schools share, or excuse me, many parents share concerns about that.

I do.

Schools today are designed with controlled access.

And you have to get that access through the main entrance for safety and these mobile classrooms, they create challenges for that model.

It's another reason that thoughtful planning and regular review of these attendance zones is so important as our city continues to grow.

But we also need to look carefully at the land use decisions before us tonight.

The property before us could very easily become many things under the current market pressures.

Across our city, we have seen a pattern of another gas station, another car wash, another vape shop, another storage facility.

And instead, what is being proposed here tonight is a thoughtfully designed neighborhood that adds something genuinely unique to our community.

Stillwater introduces the concept of a lively community gathering space.

It includes a beautiful park and a food truck park, which creates a place where neighbors can gather and families can spend time together.

And that kind of village-style environment is something that many communities strive to.

In many ways, um it makes me think of East Beach in Norfolk, which is one of my favorite communities where thoughtful design has created a strong sense of place and and community, I guess.

When we look at nearby school capacity, we see that Butts Road Intermediate is currently operating at around 70 percent of its capacity, if I'm not mistaken.

That indicates that the system has flexibility if adjustments become necessary and they are.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I am going to pay back a thing, what you just said.

The school board can resone.

Great Bridge rate of 70 percent.

As of now, I took the liberty to find out that uh the school itself is at 128 percent.

Once we move those 12 portables, and still water is beautiful.

And I like the plan.

I like the plan a lot.

So the school board and where will the where are the families that to stand up?

And if they are so much against it.

So for what I'm seeing, I don't see a lot of families that so much against it.

It's not just addressing the hickory area in that particular school.

I feel like Stillwater is doing a from the plan I looked at is doing a good job, and I like what I see, and I think the citizens will like it as well.

Um, the school board should take the liberty to probably have two rezone so that we don't have the high fluctuation student at that particular school when bus rules is available.

Why not?

Use the problem that they have.

And don't put everything on the planets, use the problem that they have.

So I'm going to, um I'm in support of steelwood.

I'm I am totally supportive of this.

Thank you.

Other discussion.

Uh Commissioner Gilman.

Mr.

Tate, I have a question for you.

I tend to agree with my fellow commissioners that the project itself is beautiful.

I love the concept, the community design of it.

I also share concerns that the citizen spoke to as far as battlefield and the level of service there.

And I noticed in the report that the level of service for is it existing plus other approved plus this project does not change.

Can you explain that?

Yes, ma'am.

So we do a traffic analysis to determine what the existing level of service will be, the existing plus the other developments in the neighborhood.

And if you look at the report, you'll see there was all the developments that I think the gentleman mentioned that were uh included in the analysis.

And this development is relatively small for the intersection that we analyze, which is the closest signalized intersection.

So it doesn't create a giant additional amount of traffic to an intersection that has that much traffic.

So proportionately the change is very minor.

And in some cases, it is not that it didn't change, it is just that the change was within the range of the level of service.

So for instance, in for um for an intersection level of service D might be something like a 35 to 55 second delay.

And so they contributed to something that didn't change it beyond that range.

So it might have been a two or a three-second, but it didn't change it out of the out of the um level of service grades that are assigned.

Thank you.

Mr.

Kate, while you are there, sorry.

No, you're fine.

Thank you.

I and I know this is putting you on the spot.

But if if this didn't pass, this is this beautiful residential situation, and and it was a car wash or retail, that level of service I would think would go the opposite direction of what where we're looking for is.

Well, typically residential generates less traffic than commercial, and it depends on what type of commercial it would be.

So there is a lot of commercial that could create a lot more traffic, and then there's some commercial that could create less because it tends to be more of a pass-by user instead of new traffic.

So it's hard to say, but from a general standpoint, you know, business is generating the most and then O and I second then multifamily, then single family.

All right.

Any commissioners?

Commissioner Taylor?

Yes, sir.

Um you doing tonight?

Good.

Thank you, sir.

All right.

Uh I only have one question.

And I I've seen it on the news.

Um, when you do this development, um, would there be any issues with like the mail?

I see how you got the mailboxes standing on the post on the corner and all.

I don't know if you've been paying attention to the news or not, but they got them um residents right down the road here where the mailboxes went down when the storm came and they putting everything on the residents.

Uh are these people going to have this problem in this neighborhood or I would have to defer to Mr.

Baraki on that.

He he designed that.

So the reason I ask is because if the residents is moving into these homes, these nice homes and facilities, um, they they shouldn't have to rely on the city.

They should rely on a developer to fix what's going on.

That's why.

And I'm so you think about the little issues that we have around here with storms and all the fluids.

My main thing is the residents shouldn't have to worry about the little small things if they paying this kind of money and moving into these nice luxury homes.

I am going to take a stab at that.

I think that um the the development requires to have that localized uh mail receiving area.

And I think ultimately when tull um the the project is handed over to the homeowner association, the developer would absolutely be responsible for that.

But once that is turned over to the homeowner association, then they would have the dues they are collecting, and it would become the association's responsibility to maintain that.

So there will always be a responsible party.

Thank you for that.

Mr.

Grissom.

Oh, am I good?

Go ahead.

Is Mr.

Grissom here?

Good evening.

Good evening.

Um you called me last week and you dropped this uh very impressive brochure off at my office.

And on this picture right here, is that substantially what we can expect subs uh stillwater mill, the building to look like?

Is that what it's gonna be right there?

Yes, sir.

Approximately how big is that building?

Shall we?

Yeah.

Between 10 and 12,000 square feet.

Okay.

Um additionally, you indicated that this concept had taken off in two places you mentioned to me, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Yes.

Northern Virginia.

Northern Virginia.

Okay, somewhere up there.

Yes, sir.

Um proffer number six, you have indicated that uh you would not get a uh CO until September 1 of this year.

Well what if um I mean it's construction, so what is kind of count, but what if the uh the modulars don't come online until some time after, or how long are you willing to wait?

Uh Commissioner Howard, I appreciate the question.

So that proffer was intended really for the purpose that uh when you look at the timing of what we will be looking at, if we're approved next week, we have at least 12 months uh of just planned construction.

Right.

We have another uh eight months of site work construction, and then another six months after that, so that the models will be built.

So we won't even be ready to even bring uh any students in for at least two years.

Right.

Okay.

And so, yes, sir.

Um also in the documentation um, I think that was the staff report.

And I think you mentioned it here that this would be a quote unquote base of operation for food trucks.

Yes, sir.

Uh it's a new concept for Chesapeake.

Uh so therefore it's a new concept for me as well.

Uh, but we do see that it works in other localities.

And uh what we're what we're striving for is to have a place for not just this community, but for all of Edinburgh and for all of Southern Chesapeake to come and have a variety uh of choices, uh, up to 15 food trucks.

We will have individual paths that will be built.

They will have services that will be provided for them.

And so one thing that we see uh, and as we've been doing the research, especially when it comes to the food truck park, um, is fascinating that there's over three hundred and fifty food trucks just in Hampton Roads alone.

I have no idea.

And so uh one of the things they like is they like the fact that they're mobile and so they can go to where you are.

Uh but one of the things that they actually desire is to go to one place and kind of stay there for uh you know extended period of time.

And so this is what this will provide.

Uh we will offer um the ability so that you could come in for a day, you could come in for a week, you could come in and stay for a month, or you can even have a year lease to where you could have a home base for your particular food truck.

So that was my next question that food trucks would actually be housed there for long extended periods of time.

Yes, sir.

Would maintenance be done on the food trucks while they're there?

That would be to each individual food truck because they're they're locally operated and you know independently operated.

Okay.

Uh yes, sir.

Now, in this building right here, will large volumes of food be stored in this building here to supply the food trucks?

No, sir.

That will that will be totally up to them.

Just as they do business today, wherever location that they go, they will continue that type of operation.

What what the venue will be for um is you know, when you are outside and we're gonna have a really nice area uh you know for the food trucks with picnic tables and lights and real really that's something is uh that's very family friendly.

Um but when it rains, you know, there's really nowhere to go.

And so they'd be eaten out of the car.

So if we have the venue, uh this is a venue.

If you look at that picture, uh the doors are actually garage doors that will just lift up.

And so it will it will have uh really the feel of indoor-outdoor facility uh that will have a lot of tables and park benches and picnic tables inside.

And so and uh but also from the food truck, that venue will be able to host a lot of community events, uh in farmers markets and things that we see as well.

Okay, thank you very much.

Uh Commissioner Bearfield?

Yes, with regard to uh Commissioner Howard said, um were you envisioning that this place would shut down at a given hour?

Yes, ma'am, sure.

We we are hoping that uh the food trucks will serve both breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Wow.

Um that is remains to be seen, but certainly not uh a late night uh activity to where uh we it would be inviting maybe uh school-aged kids that can come there and be up to no good.

So um there will be some some hours that will be uh placed on that, yes, ma'am.

Commissioner Williams?

Um how are you doing?

And sir, this gentleman that your project is wonderful.

I I like it, it's really beautiful, it's laid out really well.

Mr.

Grissom was nice enough to drop one off of my house, one of your nice packets.

So I looked at it, I really like it.

But I'm gonna go, I wanted to gravitate towards the school report that was produced by a Mr.

Alex Pope, planner from the school board issued to us on the 25th of February, and in where he states and and uh bullet bullet comment two, Southeastern elementary is will be over 120 percent capacity.

A building addition is scheduled to open in 26-27 school year that will relieve the current and potential overcrowding.

However, however, it will likely that the school will remain above or near 120 percent capacity.

Yes, sir.

Uh I mean that's I went down and looked at it.

It's uh think 2.5 to $5 million of our tax dollar tax dollars being put in to build it.

And just like the like the folks up here said, it's not in our purview, and that the that the school board needs to rectify that.

But that's we're we're just making it harder for our kids.

Yes, sir, Commissioner Williams.

Do you mind if I have one response to that?

Sure, go ahead.

Paragraph two, um, any time that you have an application like this and you have an overcapacity, especially a level service of schools, um, it in paragraph two is you will see that in a lot of applications.

And so that's that's kind of one that is more like a bullet point.

Uh Mr.

Pope was does not have it he is not on the staff, and so his findings is just what he presents.

And so his numbers do not include the addition coming online uh this September.

Okay.

And so but when so I went back and one of the the handouts that I provided was also able to uh after I spoke to several representatives from the school uh from schools, found out that uh just like Mr.

Lefwood said, that the that the uh addition brings on no less than 200 new desks, and it will have no more that they believe at this point uh 275.

And so if you look at just a minimum of 200, and you apply the same mathematical equation that you do with the level of service, that is how uh we came, you know, I came to the 113 percent.

Mr.

Pope would not have had that information uh or given that information because they don't know at this point uh exactly how many desks will be added, and that answer will not come probably until summertime when they actually do all of the uh when they see how they're gonna utilize those 12 additional classrooms and some of the classrooms that are uh being renovated inside the school.

So while they don't include the addition, my suggestion of what I gave you actually does include the addition, because the the addition will be built and you will have children in it for two years prior to us even adding one child to that school.

And so therefore that's us being under the level of service, the current level of service number of 120.

Okay.

I and that that was a good explanation.

I I'm just curious that how the school administration has somebody not put a recommendation together that doesn't actually have all the correct data to lean on.

Well, they will have that data in the summer time.

Yes, sir.

Excuse me, I'm sorry.

Alex does have it.

He they they run different numbers uh because when you're staffing, you have to get numbers from like paid stuts, and they they're looking at they've gone out and looked at the number of houses that could be built in a certain area and how many kids would probably come from those areas.

So this is the most recent data from February, but we know that things can change over the summer.

But I was just looking at the staffing ratio.

What are they staffing these elementary schools?

When I when we staffed middle schools, it was a 30 to 1 ratio.

Elementary may be a little lower, 24 to 1 ratio per classroom.

And I know special education, depending on if it's self-contained or resourced, it's 24 to 1, 10 to 1.

I mean, you know, some stuff is just stuck in your head.

So looking at uh possibly 20, I I'm thinking maybe 10 classrooms more than you know, the the that they might need.

But then again, when these kids leave, we don't know how many more students are going to come in, because I am still looking at that middle and high school where they are underutilized.

So we want, you know, I know we want the elementary to be, you know, in a 17 to one class ratio, but I don't think that is going to happen.

It's never happened at Southeast, unfortunately.

Thank you.

And I just don't real understand it all.

But I do I do have a different question, if I can pivot.

The food trucks.

So you said there's a pad sites for up to 15 food trucks that can be there for rent the space, lease the those pad sites.

Yes.

Yes, sir.

And the who is the business that does that?

Is it where is that the POA that will be the homeowners of the system?

No, sir.

That it will be separate from the residential portion.

Which will fall under a condo association.

The business up front will be owned by us.

Okay.

Owned owned and operated by us.

And there's going to be enough parking to facilitate that many food trucks?

Yes, sir.

We followed the requirements of City Chesapeake.

Okay.

Just curious.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

I am sorry.

For the food trucks and the visitors.

Or are you expecting that people are going to walk from their homes to this?

Well, we we hope that we get a lot of visitors from the nearby Edinburgh.

So yes, there will be there will be vehicular traffic there, as well as pedestrian, you know, walking from our neighborhood to that.

Sam may be able to speak a little bit more to the criteria for parking as it relates to this as well.

Only if they have got questions.

I would like to know the answer to that.

All right.

Mr.

Baraki, if you could come up, Commissioner Gilman.

If you could just restate the question for them.

Outside vehicular traffic coming into the food truck, where will they park?

If you look at the layout, there is that long stretch of parking lot there.

And it has, I believe it's about 78 parking spaces in there, and that's more than adequate for the use based on the zoning ordinance.

Now, one thing in this layout, if you note this, we have internal connection to the neighborhood across.

The whole idea is for people to bike in, come in bicycle, and walk in from the adjacent neighborhood to come in and eat at this facility.

The other up the other thing we did with this is we have we installing sidewalk along Battlefield Boulevard to pr to allow for pedestrians to come in as well.

So that's the whole idea to make it pedestrian-friendly place.

And as far as guest parking, somebody asked about guest parking, within the neighborhood, we have several locations for guest parking for people who is visiting the community or visiting their friends or family or what have you.

There is some guest parking within the community for the community itself.

So it is separated, the community residential section is separated from the uh commercial section.

Yes, ma'am.

Just one just one question.

It's according to uh to the vendors.

Um equality and diversity is good for everyone.

I don't see that one particular person or group on it doing a particular type of food where you may have a vendor from another nationality want to participate.

And then my question is who is going to be in charge of who can who cannot be at that for that week or that six months of that year?

That's depends on the the owner of the uh facility, which is the owner, the developer of the project, they own this, and they will uh uh lease the maybe ask the owner then.

I am sorry?

I like to ask the owner question.

Yeah.

Yes, sir, Commissioner School.

Don't go too far.

You know, uh ethnicity is stronger within this, like the for it to be strong within this area.

Who is gonna decide, say I'm someone from a different ethnicity, say, yeah, you could be here this week versus one who might be local and say, well, I am a homegrown, so I'm gonna be here for the whole year, a whole year.

Who is going to make that person to make that decision and say, okay, we are going to use an equitable way?

Who will make who will make that decision?

Well, uh, Commissioner Sproul, to be honest with you.

Um I really like collards.

And so if there is a food truck that shows up that has fried chicken and collars, they're coming.

Um it's it's we're not going to look at it.

Um what our desire is that we have an array of food uh for both breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so that when people come in, um there is there's a lot of choices.

And so uh it was certainly uh will benefit us and the community to uh to have to have the community, the entire community, be here to visit this and to enjoy this and the family atmosphere that we are looking to bring.

I definitely would use the analogy of fried chicken and collar that I would have used.

However, I understand what you are trying to say.

Well, uh uh it if you uh if you are a collared man, you understand.

Once again, I definitely wouldn't have that used to be.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Yes.

Any other questions, Commissioner Sproul?

No, that would be all.

Thank you.

Secretary Malone.

Mr.

Brocky.

I I want to commend you on on the development of this property.

Uh this is a a unique concept for our city.

Um I I think it's uh it's great what you have put together here.

My question is given the various types of housing that's in here.

Can you speak to the price ranges that are anticipated for the different areas that you have?

Um I I will relay relate that uh the question to the owners, the developers, because I really don't know the price points uh of these houses.

They probably be better answering that question than I am.

Okay.

Uh but as far I appreciate your comments about the the project, and that was a combination effort between us and staff, and staff worked with us so hard on this, and we keep kept back and forth until you see what you have in front of you.

So it's a uh it's a combination effort among everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Who is the developer?

Mr.

Gerson, would you know the answer to that?

Are they who I'll restate the question?

You're confused.

Yes, sir, Commissioner.

I would like to understand the anticipated price ranges for the different you have got multiple types of homes here.

I am really trying to get it affordable housing.

Yes, sir.

What uh if any of this housing is gonna be considered affordable?

In today's market, I am not sure how you define affordable.

Um we will have four products.

Uh two of those products will be attached products.

And so one of them is row homes.

Uh the reason why we call them row homes and not townhomes is because they are gonna rele look like and feel like that they are individual um uh dwellings, but they will be attached.

Uh same thing for the brownstones.

We are trying to model uh a product that you see up in Chicago or Boston.

Uh you don't really see here in Chesapeake.

Um both of those will be uh in the fives, somewhere in the 500s, 550 range.

Uh your cottages are your smaller units between 22 and 2400 square feet.

They're really designed uh for uh uh empty nesters, uh, for somebody who has lived in this community for a long time, which is me.

I'm a I'm a Great Bridge uh graduate, been been in this community all my life.

Um six years ago, my wife and I uh decided to sell our house and to downsize.

And so those cottages are designed for just that.

Uh they will be priced between the high fives and low sixes, and then the fourth uh product is in the back, uh, which is the executive style homes, and they will probably range somewhere between seven, and I am sure people will add to it and go in the eights as well.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

All right.

Any other questions or discussions?

Before we move forward, uh I think when Mr.

Barack came up, they talked a little bit about a uh modification of a proffer.

Uh Mr.

McNamara, if you could address uh that issue.

Yes, yes, sir.

Uh so proffers cannot be amended on the floor.

So the the the action that sit that that playing commission can take tonight is to act upon the proffers that have been presented.

Now, that being said, you know, there is the option to uh make changes to those proffers between now and City Council.

Uh you know, that being said, we have a pretty tight time frame, which means we have to have the proffers executed and in by tomorrow in order to have those considered by next Tuesday.

So if there was to be an amendment to be considered, we have a pretty tight time frame to turn those around.

But the actions that that plan commission can do tonight is to approve the application as it's been presented with a proffer statement that's hand, or to continue such application to to uh to get an amended statement in.

Okay.

Thank you.

And I bring that up just because Mr.

Brock, you brought that up in the in the in the very beginning.

So I wanted to make sure that uh you were straight with with everything that needed to be done as we move forward that we couldn't modify it tonight.

So that we might have misspoke.

Then it was our understanding that we could not make a change to a proffer at City Council and without having to go back before Planning Commission.

And so the one item that we looked at that uh we we have been given feedback from uh is the vinyl.

And uh as we were preparing for this, um the reason why we had vinyl in the in the proffers was not because that's what we intend to do on a side on a siding.

Um that's more for eaves and for you know parts of the house that you know is something a little bit different and that you might want to go with a uh a vinyl shake and a Eve more than you would do on a on a side of a house.

And so that's why that was in there.

When we then looked at it to say, hmm, that might appear as if we are looking to add vinyl as a whole side of a house or the back of the brownstones or something, and that is certainly not our intent.

That that will be the hardy plank type setting, the cementous setting on that.

Um we really see this uh this community, um we're certainly not going to put products up that we don't believe uh match our standard.

And so I wanted to make sure that was clear.

So I may we may have misspoke, uh, Mr.

McNamara.

Um if that needs to stay in, then we'd like for it to stay in the proffer so that we don't have to go uh to go get another proffer signed.

So the owner of the property actually lives in Florida.

And so uh having during this process, as we have uh had to have their signatures to the application and proffers and other things, um we have to go through their attorney, and it has uh created uh some issues on timing.

And so if we have that short of time to do this, uh then maybe we shall leave it in uh the proffer.

Okay.

Mr.

Tutter, what would be appropriate?

Is it appropriate that we need to keep them in and it needs to be modified tomorrow?

For the purposes of the planning commission vote tonight, my recommendation is that the planning commission consider the proffers that are before this body.

Now, that being said, and understanding Mr.

Grissom's discussion here, there is latitude in the zoning ordinance, understanding we're on a compressed timeline because of the concurrent advertising, but there would be latitude for the applicant to make this desired change and still have City Council hear the item as scheduled next week, provided we can get that revised document quickly.

So there's a difference on when you are modifying the proffers prior to the City Council hearing or during the City Council hearing, those have different rules that apply.

But for planning commission tonight, my recommendation is that the commission just consider the proffers that are before it and we can figure out uh the best way to handle this as this moves forward to City Council.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh with that being said, um at this point.

Yes, I I I I guess what I when I see the no more than 25 percent and what he said with the eaves, I am thinking up the ease on four sides of the house is not that much.

So why should we not just leave it as it is?

I mean, I know this is what we're getting ready to vote on, but I don't see an issue with it.

I mean, that's the way I interpreted it.

Okay.

All right.

At this point, uh further discussion.

This point a motion would be in order.

Mr.

Chair.

Um I think the design and the concept is something very unique to the city.

It aligns with the comprehensive plan.

And therefore, I would like to make a motion that we approve this project with the proffers as listed in the official staff report.

All right, do we have a second?

Second.

Um, as presented.

Uh commissioners, please prepare to vote.

Please vote.

Mr.

Bobwick Boswick, please record the vote.

All right, Mr.

McImara, do you have any items to bring up at this time?

No, sir.

The counsellation of the March twenty-five, twenty twenty-six meeting is now being considered due to there being no business.

Do the commissioners have any objections to counseling the meeting?

Hearing no objections, the March twenty-fifth, twenty twenty-six meeting is canceled by unanimous consent.