The Virginia Beach Planning Commission held a formal session on March 12, 2026, following an informal session on March 11. Key actions included recommendations on the Imagine VB 2040 Comprehensive Plan, an ordinance regulating roll-off containers, removal of the Nemo Church Historic and Cultural District, and a major VA outpatient facility. The commission also approved a consent agenda of nine items and an alternative compliance request for a mixed-use building at the Oceanfront.
Good gap. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you, Planning Commissioners of City Staff for your participation today. My name is John Coston. I'm the chair of the Virginia Beach Planning Commission. Welcome to the March 11th informal session of the Linux Beach Planning Commission. Call this meeting to or first off, I want to thank everybody for last month's planning commission hearing. Especially to members of staff. I appreciate you. Thank you. All of you. I would now ask the planning administrator, Ms. Aileen Lalcock for comments and to review our procedures. And just one quick comment for those of you who are not aware. Did change the attendance policy for all city council council appointed boards and commissions. And so I've got a copy. I can provide a copy to any of you, but essentially what it does is allow any board appointee to miss up to 50% of any of the scheduled meetings for a calendar year. It gets rid of the excused and unexcused absences. So we can provide a copy to you if you want this, but they're also, Tori's gonna go over because the state code provisions specific to planning commission will still apply. So she'll do a refresher on that. I know it's been a while since we've talked about it. Yes, so just for clarification, for almost all of the other boards and commissions, they serve at the pleasure of council, but for planning commission, council um could remove a commissioner if they miss three consecutive meetings or four meetings per year under the state code. So the city council attendance policy provides for automatic removal after missing half of the meetings. The council remains that retains the discretion to act based on the state law provisions when applicable. The only other quick comment that I will make is we will have a closed session following formal. I know the chair already has the language for that, just to cover a security briefing for the commission. And it is my understanding that Commissioner Hipon will not be here for informal, but it is her intent to participate virtually during the formal hearing. Oh, can we move on to the reverent good morning, planning commissioners? Morning. Morning. Morning. All right. So very excited to be here this morning. Um this project is the culmination of thousands of survey responses, dozens of public meetings, and over 100 public input opportunities. Uh the staff final draft was presented to the public at two public meetings in September of 2025, and public comment was accepted until October 30th. After the comment window closed, staff reviewed the 600 plus comments that were received and updated the plan accordingly. Uh the a workshop was held in January where the planning commission finalized guidance for staff to make final edits to the draft of the plan. So staff and the consultant implemented those commission's comments and posted the draft on February 18th. The plan consists of seven chapters, which provide guidance for the four different context areas, as well as design guidelines for the different place types throughout the city. The plan promotes infill and redevelopment as a practice, focusing on the eight SGAs, aging strip shopping centers, and along major transportation corridors north of the green line. This provides the opportunity for more attainable housing, reduces sprawl, and promotes responsible growth by utilizing existing infrastructure. Single family neighborhoods are protected with buffer requirements for new developments adjacent to existing neighborhoods. The plan proposes to maintain the green line in its original position and location, excuse me. Um marking the beginning of the transition from suburban to rural land uses and character, protecting the agricultural land south of the blue line or the rural area boundary. The blue line has has historically been used by the public utilities department to indicate where water and sewer infrastructure end and the use of wells and septic systems begin and has been formally recognized in this plan to better differentiate the green line context area and the rural context area. The plan increases mobility options for residents of Virginia Beach, including public transit. However, public transit is not a requirement of the system to function. Transit-oriented development only refers to the integration of transportation and land use to make areas more walkable and accessible.