imagineVB

2040 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Adopted April 21, 2026

CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH

Contents

1 Overview and Development Context 8

2 Environment 40

3 Inland Context Area 78

4 Coastal Context Area 113

5 Courthouse Context Area 126

6 Rural Context Area 139

7 Place Types 147

Appendix A: Zoning to Place Types 212

Appendix B: Center Area Map Series 219

Appendix C: Documents Adopted by Reference 263

Appendix D: Soils Information 265

Acknowledgments

Virginia Beach Residents:

A massive THANK YOU to all the neighbors and stakeholders who participated in this process. This plan would not be what it is without the diverse and knowledgeable perspectives of Virginia Beach residents.

City Councilmembers:

• Mayor Robert M. “Bobby” Dyer
• Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson
• Michael Berlucchi
• Stacy Cummings
• Barbara Henley
• David Hutcheson
• Cal “Cash” Jackson-Green
• Robert W. “Worth” Remick
• Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond
• Jennifer V. Rouse
• Joashua F. Schulman

Planning Commission:

• John Coston, Chair
• Kathryn Byler, Vice Chair
• Michael Anderson
• Walter Camp
• John Cromwell
• Holly Cuellar
• Susan Hippen
• Michael Mauch
• Neena Moorjani
• Katherine Schoonover
• Bryan Plumlee

Management Leadership Team:

• Patrick Duhaney, City Manager
• Kenneth L. Chandler, Deputy City Manager
• Monica Croskey, Deputy City Manager
• Amanda Jarratt, Deputy City Manager

Project Team:

• Kathy Warren, Planning Director
• Carrie Bookholt, Deputy Planning Director
• Hank Morrison, Project Manager
• Kaitlen Alcock
• Jamik Alexander
• Victoria Eisenberg
• Rachael Miller

Supporting City Departments:

• Planning & Community Development
• Agriculture
• City Attorney’s Office
• Cultural Affairs
• Communications
• Convention & Visitor’s Bureau
• Economic Development
• Emergency Management
• Housing & Neighborhood Preservation
• Information Technology
• Parks & Recreation
• Public Utilities
• Public Works

City Boards and Commissions:

• Active Transportation Advisory Committee
• Agricultural Advisory Commission
• Bayfront Advisory Commission
• Green Ribbon Committee
• Historic Preservation Commission
• Housing Advisory Board
• Human Rights Commission
• Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities
• Mayor’s Commission on Aging
• Old Beach Design Review Committee
• Open Space Advisory Committee
• Resort Advisory Commission
• Transition Area/ITA Citizens Advisory Committee
• Virginia Beach Development Authority

Stakeholder Groups:

• Citizens of Virginia Beach
• Central Business District Association
• Coastal Virginia Building Industry Association
• Hampton Roads Transit
• Hampton Roads Transportation District Commission
• Historic Kempsville Citizens Advisory Committee
• National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees
• Seatack Civic League
• Virginia Beach Chapter, Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce
• Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations
• Virginia Beach Vision
• Witchduck Point Civic League

Consultant Team:

• Renaissance Planning: Chris Sinclair, Kohl Malo
• Dills Architects: Gerrie West, Clay Dills

Plan Adopted on April 21, 2026

Imagine a city of water, with a variety of attractive beaches and large estuaries of outstanding beauty that draw people from throughout the country.

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Imagine a city with a network of parks and trails within those natural lands and corridors.

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Imagine a city with expanses of natural lands connected by natural corridors that create an environmental and open space system where plants thrive and animals move freely.

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↘ CH. 1: Overview and Development Context

Imagine a city with rural lands and active farms growing food for Virginia Beach locals and beyond.

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Imagine a city with active and walkable urban centers where people come together to work, shop, recreate, and become immersed in arts and culture.

Imagine a city of distinct communities, where neighborhood residents safely and easily walk or bike to community hubs to gather, visit farmers’ markets, and enjoy parks and playgrounds.

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Foreword

imagineVB is the City’s Comprehensive Plan. It is a long-range, aspirational document for the future. It is not a regulatory document, but instead sets direction for future policies, programs, and investments. It reflects a clear public desire for the City to grow with balance—economically, socially, and environmentally. Being strategic about growth protects natural resources, existing and future flood-prone areas, and rural land while creating places that attract and retain people and businesses, including younger residents, military families, innovative companies, and long-term employers.

Virginia Beach already offers water access and natural beauty. This plan builds on those assets by focusing on strategic growth and advancing a vision for what the City can become: a network of walkable centers connected by a Linear Park/Active Transportation System, supported by robust transit, and anchored in an environmentally sensitive open space framework.

This Plan directs growth away from sensitive areas and toward locations where it can deliver multiple benefits. It includes tools, guidelines, and policies to guide infrastructure investments, improve urban design, and support a high quality of life. The Green Line continues to serve as a transition between urban development and the City’s more rural, low-density areas. The Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line), located south of the Green Line, affirms the City’s intent to limit urban services and direct growth away from farmland, rural communities, and environmentally sensitive areas.

Tourism will continue to be an economic cornerstone, with a focus on attracting people year round to the Resort Area and Princess Anne Commons. Military installations will continue to employ many. The City is actively diversifying its economy into new industries, such as high tech, logistics, ecotourism, advanced manufacturing, sports tourism, entertainment, and defense. The Plan focuses in on locations for those industries. Virginia Beach has limited undeveloped land north of the Green Line and must be strategic about the businesses it attracts. Agriculture in the southern half of the City remains a core part of the economy and will continue to be protected.

This Plan’s Big Ideas are major investments and initiatives the City can make over the long term to support environmental and rural protection, economic development, and quality neighborhoods. They ensure systems work together and build from current efforts. For example, the Linear Park/Active Transportation System and Environmental Open Space Framework seek to create great, sustainable places and align with the City’s Sea Level Wise program.

Most importantly, this Plan reinforces the redirection of the City’s growth that began with the 2016 Plan. It builds the foundation for updating the City’s implementation tools, most notably the zoning ordinance. Place Types designated in this plan indicate how the updated zoning ordinance should regulate development.

In summary, imagineVB guides the City into an environmentally sustainable, economically vibrant, safe, and secure future.

Chapter 1

Overview and Development Context

Introduction

This Comprehensive Plan serves as Virginia Beach’s guide for growth through 2040. It integrates ideas based on residents’ visions for the future and the strategies for achieving them. A key focus of this Update is the coordination of the City’s ongoing initiatives to address sea level rise, flooding, population growth, and economic development while preserving the City’s character and enhancing residents’ quality of life.

The City faces significant long-term challenges:

• Flooding and sea level rise risk: Frequent and intense storms, along with rising sea levels, put low-lying areas, lives, and property at risk. Sunny day and wind-driven flooding are increasing issues in the southern part of the City.

• Pressure to convert rural and agricultural areas: The City’s natural lands and agricultural areas south of the Green Line are vital ecological and economic assets. The City has a long-standing policy of preserving those farmlands and ecosystems. However, development pressures continue to threaten their long-term viability.

• Constraints on continued outward growth: The City must grow “inward and upward, not outward,” focusing anticipated growth and future development in the northern part of the City where public infrastructure already exists. Natural areas, water bodies, bordering jurisdictions, fiscal constraints, and the desire to protect rural areas south of the Green Line limit the ability to accommodate expected growth using suburban-style development patterns.

• Improving quality of life: Residents are concerned about maintaining safe and secure neighborhoods, the lack of attainable housing, and an over-reliance on automobiles to get around. Residents want more cultural, economic, and recreational options.

The City has taken many steps to respond to these challenges. Strategic efforts like the Outdoors Plan, Active Transportation plan, the Sea Level Wise Program, the Flood Protection Program, Strategic Growth Area Master Plans, Public Art programs, the Open Space Acquisition Program, and the Agricultural Reserve Program are examples. imagineVB synchronizes these plans and programs to realize a better future.

The Comprehensive Plan charts an aspirational course for the future. It presents Big Ideas that translate the City’s goals into tangible outcomes. Big Ideas weave together and enhance actions the City has already committed to. They double down on the City’s ongoing efforts to protect environmental and agricultural lands and safeguard neighborhood well-being. The plan focuses on transformational changes to auto-oriented development patterns along major corridors to make walking, biking, and transit viable travel options. It includes guidelines to guide the City in updating the zoning ordinance, capital improvement program, and other implementation tools that will support these changes.

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Existing Context

Natural Context

Water is the City’s biggest attraction and its biggest challenge. Low-lying areas are prone to flooding during storms when water cannot quickly drain into estuaries. Sea level rise is expected to bring the opposite problem: the inward flow of water. The City is actively addressing both issues through its stormwater ordinance and Sea Level Wise planning. The Sea Level Wise Adaptation Strategy outlines ways to strengthen natural systems, build engineered defenses, and adapt based on detailed local sea level modeling. It also weighs cost, potential loss, effectiveness, and local priorities in its recommendations.

Beaches and parks attract more than 10 million tourists to the City annually. Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and False Cape State Park protect natural lands in Virginia Beach’s southeastern corner. Rural and agricultural lands in the southern part of the City help preserve and protect habitats and ecosystems. First Landing State Park, between Broad Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, is a significant natural resource in the northern part of the City.

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ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES

• Surface waters
• City-owned land, parks, or open space
• Federal & State parks and other protected areas
• Wetland areas (marsh, swamp, bog, prairie)

Figure 1-1 — Natural Context

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Development Context

Growth Trends

The Hampton Roads region is among the largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the country, and the sixth largest in the Southeastern United States. The region is home to 1.7 million residents and is projected to grow by 300,000 residents by year 2045. Located in the southeast part of the region, Virginia Beach is the most populated City in both Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The City’s population was about 84,000 in 1963 when it merged with Princess Anne County (Table 1-1). By 2020, the City’s population increased to nearly 460,000. According to the Weldon Cooper Center, the City’s population is expected to grow to 484,000 by year 2040 and to 501,000 by year 2050.

Also, according to the same source, the number of people over the age 65 is expected to increase by 77 percent in the City by 2040.

Table 1-1 — Historical and Forecast Population for the City of Virginia Beach

Sources:

1960: U.S. Census Bureau (1960). This year includes the population for both the City of Virginia Beach and Princess Anne County, which would merge in 1963.¹

1970 – 2010: U.S. Census Bureau (2024).²

2020 – 2050: University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center. (2022).³

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Virginia Beach absorbed much of the region’s growth between 1960 and 1990 when the City grew by around 100,000 people per decade. Since then, the growth rate has slowed considerably to between 20,000 to 30,000 people per decade. The region’s growth shifted to Chesapeake and Suffolk which have ample amounts of vacant developable land.

The Weldon Cooper Center forecasts indicate the region’s growth rate will remain robust, around 300,000 new residents are expected over the next twenty years. Those forecasts, reflecting past trends, anticipate Virginia Beach will absorb around 30,000 new residents, only ten percent of the region’s growth. The growing inward versus outward focus of this Comprehensive Plan update is designed to attract a larger portion of the region’s growth.

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Source: University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. (2022).¹

Figure 1-2 — Population forecasts for six largest cities in Virginia (2023 to 2050)

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Employment in the City follows population trends, with high growth rates until 1990 that have slowed since then (Table 1-2). Through its economic growth initiatives, detailed in the Economic Development Strategic Plan, the City has positioned itself to attract a larger share of the region’s job growth.

The key strategies are protecting developable land for industrial uses and attracting business clusters seeking high amenity, urban settings. The Comprehensive Plan affirms and expands those strategies.

Table 1-2 — Historical and Forecast Employment for the City of Virginia Beach

Source: Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (2019)¹

Development Patterns

Between 1960 and 2000, the City grew at a rapid rate, from 84,000 to 426,000 residents. Most of that growth was suburban, characterized by single-family subdivisions, shopping centers, and business parks.

Significant investments were made in urban services, water/sewer, new roads, and roadway widenings. Developments were designed to primarily accommodate cars. Development first expanded into farmlands between the City of Norfolk and the Atlantic Ocean. It then expanded south.

While major roadways are essential regional connectors, they also act as barriers that disrupt neighborhood cohesion. The physical and visual divide created by these roadways limits walkability and community interaction, reinforcing a fragmented developed landscape, even for more traditional and compact forms of development. For example, I-264, and at times Virginia Beach Boulevard, act as barriers between many communities in the northern and southern parts of the City.

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In 1979, Virginia Beach established a growth boundary, today named the Green Line (Figure 1-3), to safeguard rural and agricultural lands and control local expenditures. The Green Line was adopted, but not formally named, in 1979 to distinguish zoning districts, with residential zones north and agricultural ones south. The 1985 Comprehensive Plan formally recognized the Green Line, and it has remained in the same location since its inception. The City continues to recognize the role of the Green Line to limit development into the City’s southern area and limit costs of expanding infrastructure and services.

In 2004, the City Council adopted a resolution that established the concept of the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) as a boundary for potential extension of City water and sewer service. The Department of Public Utilities later developed a policy based on this resolution. While the Green Line has historically served as the primary tool for managing growth in the Comprehensive Plan, this Update for the first time acknowledges the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) as a complementary policy tool. Together, these tools help define a clear transition between urbanized areas and the City’s rural, agricultural, and natural areas.

Conversations with the public during the update of the Comprehensive Plan indicated a strong interest in continuing the Green Line policies to protect the rural areas in the southern part of the City. People also wanted continued growth, notably to diversify the City’s economic base and cultural opportunities. There was consensus that the tension between the Green Line and growth is best addressed by continuing to focus on growing inward rather than outward, and through infill and redevelopment.

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The GREEN LINE begins at the Chesapeake–Virginia Beach border, tracing the Interfacility Traffic Area (ITA) boundary northward to Princess Anne Road. From there, it follows Princess Anne Road east to Sandbridge Road and then turns south, bypassing the Sandbridge Special Service District. The Green Line restricts building intensity and density within the Southern Rivers Watershed, an area designated for agriculture and conservation, with notable flood risks.

The RURAL AREA BOUNDARY (BLUE LINE) runs along North Landing Road to Indian River Road, then extends eastward to New Bridge Road, then proceeding north until it intersects with Sandbridge Road, then proceeding eastward tracing the eastern and southern boundaries of the Sandbridge Special Service District until such boundary reaches the Atlantic Ocean. The Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) marks the outer limit for city sewer and water services.

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CONTEXT AREA FEATURES

• Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line)
• Green Line
• Blue / Green Overlap
• Coastal - Inland

MILITARY

• (Icon)

ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES

• Surface waters
• City-owned land, parks, or open space
• Federal & State parks and other protected areas
• Wetland areas (marsh, swamp, bog, prairie)

Figure 1-3 — Green Line and Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line)

VB 16 | CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

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Because the area north of the Green Line is nearly built out, the City will increase its focus to growing inward rather than outward. Growth needs to be organized to advance the City’s sustainability and quality-of-life goals. The City created Strategic Growth Areas (SGAs) to absorb growth using higher density, mixed-use, walkable development patterns. Each SGA has a master plan that illustrates the transformation of existing suburban, auto-oriented development patterns into urban, multimodal patterns that provide residents with options for how they can move around the City. The SGAs and Centers designated in this Plan north of the Green Line can accommodate growth and help and expand businesses that diversify the City’s economy and create jobs.

The City is also seeking areas for other targeted industries, including logistics, ecotourism, advanced manufacturing, sporting events/entertainment, and defense and technology sectors such as cybersecurity, medical technology, and data analytics. Designated planning areas around Naval Air Station Oceana, areas within the Burton Station SGA, and existing clusters at Princess Anne Commons and the Princess Anne Athletic Complex can also support these industries.

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imagineVB directs most growth through infill and redevelopment techniques. Infill involves adding new buildings to vacant or underutilized land within already developed areas. Redevelopment is replacing or upgrading older buildings or sites to meet today’s needs.

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Regional Partnerships

The City of Virginia Beach will continue working with regional, state, and federal partners on planning and coordinating efforts that serve the broader Hampton Roads area. Many of the region's challenges extend beyond city borders. Strengthening cooperation with regional partners helps Virginia Beach and the region solve important problems. Key partnerships include:

• Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) and Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO), to support coordinated regional planning on land use, housing, transportation, infrastructure, and broadband.

• Hampton Roads Transit (HRT), to serve Virginia Beach’s mass transit needs and to support ongoing transit planning and operations.

• Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the Virginia Marine Resource Commission (VMRC), to monitor and help manage shoreline change, wetlands, and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and river systems.

• The U.S. Military (described more on the following pages) to maintain military readiness, manage flood risk, and align coastal and flood resilience efforts with base operations.

• Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to plan for severe weather response, update hazard mitigation plans, and coordinate disaster recovery.

• Eastern Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority (EVRIFA), to develop and market regional business parks and large-scale industrial sites.

• RVA757, to advance connectivity and economic development in the Richmond and Hampton Roads reigons.

Additional regional partners include utility and waste management organizations, Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA), and the Southside Network Authority (SNA), transport partners such as Norfolk International Airport (ORF), the Virginia Port Authority, and the Hampton Roads Alliance (HRA), and environmental groups including Lynnhaven River Now.

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Military Partners and Planning

The City of Virginia Beach values its military partners as critical to both the City and regional economies and essential to the community’s long-term prosperity. The City will continue working with the military to address disruptions and pursue shared long-term goals. Military bases in the City are shown on Figure 1-4, and include:

Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story: U.S. Navy and U.S. Army

Joint Expeditionary Base (JEB) Little Creek–Ft. Story serves as the primary East Coast base for overseas contingency operations. It supports expeditionary forces in the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet. The installation spans the Inland and Coastal Context Areas and extends into Norfolk.

Naval Air Station Oceana and Dam Neck Annex: U.S. Navy

Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana is the Navy’s only operational Master Jet Base on the East Coast. It hosts FA-18 C/D Hornet and FA-18 E/F Super Hornet squadrons for the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (NALF) Fentress, located seven miles southwest in Chesapeake, simulates aircraft carrier decks and supports training operations. NAS Oceana lies in the Inland Context Area. Dam Neck Annex is in the Coastal Context Area.

The City has made significant investments to meet the requirements of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process to protect its citizens and keep NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach and will continue to do so.

State Military Reservation: Virginia Army National Guard

Located south of the Resort Area, State Military Reservation (SMR, formerly Camp Pendleton) occupies about 300 acres, with 27 additional acres leased from the federal government. It supports the Military Sealift Command and the 203rd RED HORSE of the Virginia Air National Guard.

SMR was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in June 2004 and the National Register of Historic Places in September 2005 as the City’s first historic district recognized at both levels. SMR is in the Coastal Context Area.

Air Installations Compatibility Use Zones and Accident Potential Zones

Jet aircraft are essential components of the missions supported at NAS Oceana. The City and Navy carefully evaluate and manage noise impacts through the Air Installations Compatibility Use Zones (AICUZ) planning efforts.

The AICUZ program has modeled three noise zones based on the average sound level of aircraft activity. Each noise zone has land use controls. 2005 Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) created the noise zones used in the AICUZ Overlay Ordinance.

AICUZ “Subareas” have been designated by the City of Virginia Beach to correspond to high noise contours. Each of these subareas has associated land use density policies and use restrictions.

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MILITARY ⬚ figure

CONTEXT AREA FEATURES

• Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line)
• Green Line
• Blue / Green Overlap
• Coastal - Inland

AIRCRAFT PLANNING

• ⬚ figure AICUZ
• Accident Potential Zones
• ⬚ figure Clear Zone
• ⬚ figure Accident Potnntial Zone 1
• ⬚ figure Accident Potential Zone 2

ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES

• ⬚ figure Surface waters
• ⬚ figure City-owned land, parks, or open space
• ⬚ figure Federal & State parks and other protected areas
• ⬚ figure Wetland areas (marsh, swamp, bog, prairie)

Figure 1-4 — Military Bases and AICUZ contours

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The City adopted the Interfacility Traffic Area (ITA) & Vicinity Master Plan, as an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan in 2011. An updated version of that plan was adopted by the City Council in 2017. The update recognized a significant increase in land in the ITA purchased by the City as part of the program to support operations at NAS Oceana. The plan guides future land use and development in Virginia Beach within the high noise zone contours between NAS Oceana and NALF Fentress.

The Navy also identifies areas of accident potential based on historical data from aircraft mishaps, known as Accident Potential Zones (APZs), to assist in land use planning. The Navy recommends that certain land uses that concentrate large numbers of people—apartments, places of worship, and schools—be constructed outside APZs.

The City has adopted the APZ-1/CZ Master Plan (2008) to help ensure safety while accommodating growth and long-term planning efforts.

The City’s APZ-1 Ordinance limits development in APZ-1 and Clear Zones to stay consistent with Navy safety regulations. These areas influence redevelopment in nearby areas, including the Lynnhaven and Hilltop SGAs.

Military Partnership Policies

• Land uses in the AICUZ should conform to all adopted plans (e.g., APZ-1/CZ Master Plan, ITA & Vicinity Master Plan, and the Strategic Growth Area Master Plans).

• Support the mission of the military installations in Virginia Beach.

• Continue to route to the Community Planning Liaison Officers (CPLOs) all discretionary and by-right development applications within “areas of interest.” Work closely with the CPLOs to review development applications for “areas of interest” to avoid potentially incompatible uses.

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Public Involvement

The Comprehensive Plan Update actively involved City residents and stakeholders through a series of in-person and online engagements. The City’s Communications Office supported marketing and developing public engagement activities through targeted social media ads, direct email to City lists, calendar publications, and media promotions. Over 1,500 people participated in the in-person and on-line workshops and events.

Summer 2023: Focus Group meetings

• Two rounds of focus group meetings.
• Initial plan themes and concepts are developed.

In the Summer of 2023, ten in-person focus group meetings were held with participants from local environmental groups, civic groups, homeowner groups and associations, business leaders, and members of the Human Rights Commission, the Mayor’s Commission on Aging and Committee for Persons with Disabilities. The meetings asked participants to reflect on the City’s current conditions and significant challenges, and to convey their visions for a positive future.

Focus group discussions covered transportation, infrastructure, environment, education, economic growth, and quality of life. The Comprehensive Plan’s initial themes and Big Ideas emerged from those meetings. Those initial meetings are summarized in the “Initial Public Engagement Focus Groups” memorandum.

Fall 2023: “Big Ideas” Workshop events

• November public workshop events to gather more information.
• Major concepts are either affirmed or refined.

Four in-person workshops were held throughout the City where participants were asked to provide feedback on the initial themes and Big Ideas. They were also asked to weigh in on potential Plan concepts such as Place Types. Participants contributed input and ideas through group discussions with facilitators and participant-led report-outs. Groups supported the initial themes and Big Ideas, most importantly maintaining the Green Line and further developing strategies for growing inward. The workshop events are summarized in the “November 2023 Big Ideas Workshops memo.”

Spring 2024: Open House events

• Open house events share plan policy concepts.
• Online public engagement gathers more feedback.

Open house events held in the Spring of 2024 allowed participants to weigh in on the proposed organization of the Plan, notably Context Areas and Place Types, and proposed policies. Residents could also weigh in via an on-line version of the open houses. The in-person and virtual open houses also featured a survey, which garnered over a hundred responses. Most respondents supported the Plan’s themes, Big Ideas, organization, and policy direction. The events and survey responses are summarized in the “Spring 2024 Open House Engagements Report.”

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Goals, Objectives, and Big Ideas

imagineVB’s Overarching Goals originated from the initial focus group sessions and evolved over subsequent engagements. Plan goals include:

• Economic sustainability and diversity.
• Housing attainment and diversity.
• Environmental sustainability.
• Rural and agricultural land protection south of the Green Line.
• Infill urban development and multimodal access north of the Green Line.
• Community identity and connections.
• Neighborhood well-being and safety.

The following pages list additional goals and objectives for each overarching goal and iterate through the Plan’s chapters.

“Big Ideas” are tangible investments and initiatives the City can make to achieve its goals. For example, creating an environmental and open space framework is a big and bold initiative to ensure the goal of environmental sustainability. The Big Ideas listed below helped guide the policies and recommendations in this Plan.

• Establish an environmental and open space framework: Create a citywide Environmental and Open Space Framework that improves flood and sea level rise resiliency, wildlife migration, ecological diversity, and public enjoyment of nature.

• Create a Linear Park/Active Transportation System: Establish a Linear Park/Active Transportation System with pathways for biking, rolling, and walking between new and existing open spaces, parks, and recreational areas.

• Continue the Green Line and Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line), and plan based on the unique contexts created by those lines: Identify the City’s existing four unique landscapes into Context Areas to tailor planning efforts. The Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) and Green Line are foundational to the Context Areas. Tailor policies and initiatives to meet the needs of each Context Area.

• Designate centers and multimodal corridors north of the Green Line: Encourage upward, not outward, growth by redeveloping commercial areas into higher-density, walkable urban centers and invest in walking, rolling, biking, and transit networks to provide travel options for residents and workers.

• Create unique community identities and connections: Work with neighborhoods to identify larger communities. Use place-making strategies to uplift community aesthetics and pride with art, history, and centering local stories. Create small-scale, walkable hubs for civic and social activities, such as farmer’s markets.

• Monitor and ensure neighborhood well-being: Work with neighborhoods to identify ways to improve well-being, focusing on attainable housing, multimodal access, and safety.

Each of the Big Ideas is presented under the goals and objectives on the following pages.

Economic Sustainability and Diversity

Goals

• Attract quality employers and talent to the City in strategic market sectors defined by the Economic Development Strategic Plan.
• Attract, retain, and grow military contractors and renewable energy businesses to support the Economic Goals of the City and region.
• Continue to foster growth of tomorrow’s workforce to retain and attract diverse talent.
• Support sustainable agricultural production, especially south of the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line).
• Sustain and grow tourism within the Resort Area and across the city, guided by emerging opportunities.
• Attract year-round visitors that help sustain the City’s economy and tax base.

Objectives

• Direct and encourage economic growth in Centers and SGAs.

• Collaborate with property owners and potential developers to apply Center design guidelines to create urban location options for businesses.

• Implement recommendations from the Resort Area Strategic Action Plan (RASAP) and other adopted plans in the RASAP area.

• Continue to promote unique economic development opportunities in the Princess Anne Commons Planning Area.

• Continue using policies and regulations that limit development in the Rural Context Area to support sustainable agricultural production.

• Continue to support policies and regulations that preserve the Rural Context Area to maintain viable farming operations and safeguard long-term agricultural productivity, while exploring opportunities for ag-tech and sustainable farming innovations.

• Continue the Agricultural Reserve Program, and Open Space Acquisition Program.

• Apply Special Economic Growth Area (SEGA) Planning Area policies and design guidelines to support location opportunities for diverse, strategic, and emerging industries.

• Identify and promote areas for business growth that offer urban settings and regional multimodal access, supporting sectors such as light industrial, logistics, renewable energy, and industries with demonstrated momentum.

• Support unique and emerging economic opportunities in strategic market sectors, including innovation-driven enterprises, sports tourism, ecotourism, and other niche industries that contribute to a dynamic and resilient economy.

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Housing Attainment and Diversity

Goals

• Provide a mix of housing types and attainable housing in differing settings across the City.
• Ensure the quality of existing and new housing.

Objectives

• Take advantage of Center redevelopment to increase housing diversity and attainability.
• Find opportunities outside of Centers to increase housing diversity and attainability.
• Apply design guidelines to ensure the development of a variety of housing types affordable housing across all income levels and ages in Centers and Community Hubs and along Multimodal Corridors.
• Evaluate the adopted zoning ordinance and map to identify barriers to creating or maintaining attainable housing.
• Identify strategies to address increasing senior housing demand.

Environmental Sustainability

Goals

• Position the City of Virginia Beach as a model of environmental stewardship.
• Enhance healthy ecosystems in the City.
• Improve water quality and mitigate flood impacts.
• Protect, enhance, and connect natural lands and open spaces.
• Increase access to nature and expand eco-tourism.
• Protect residents from natural hazards.

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• Encourage efficient land use and green buildings and infrastructure.
• Protect existing properties from sea level rise, flooding, and erosion.
• Optimize, protect, preserve, and enhance the ecological resilience of beaches, parks, trails, launches, and recreational amenities.

Objectives

• Continue to focus on and implement sustainable practices that:

  • Encourage the development of green buildings and infrastructure
  • Limit waste and pollution and protect residents from hazards.

• Utilize the Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment and Development Strategy to prioritize investments in park and recreation facilities, including needs and equitable access factors.

• Continue to focus on and implement water quality and flood protection programs and strategies that:

  • Improve water quality and protect regulatory floodplains.
  • Monitor and mitigate flooding and sea level rise.

• Continue the Open Space Acquisition Program.

• Continue to strategically protect and connect open spaces that:

  • Optimize the ecological value of protected lands and open space.
  • Enhance connectivity between protected lands.
  • Increase public access to natural lands and waterways.

• Develop and implement major environmental initiatives (Big Ideas).

  • Sea Level Wise program for flood protection.
  • Environmental and Open Space Framework to connect open spaces.
  • Linear Park/Active Transportation System to provide public access to nature.

Big Ideas

• Establish an Environmental and Open Space Framework.
• Create a Linear Park/Active Transportation System.

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↘ CH. 1: Overview and Development Context

Infill Development, Redevelopment, and Multimodal Access

Goals

• Direct infill growth into Centers and Community Hubs and develop Centers and Hubs to make walking, biking, and transit viable and safe travel options.
• Modify the designs and operations of designated Multimodal Corridors to make walking, biking, and transit viable and safe options within and between Centers and Hubs.
• Create safe and convenient walking and biking paths between neighborhoods and Community Hubs.

Objectives

• Designate Multimodal Corridors and apply Multimodal Corridor design guidelines to promote safe and convenient walking, biking, rolling, and transit.
• Prioritize transit service improvements that provide access to City job centers.
• Designate Centers and Community Hubs and apply Place Type design guidelines to create land development patterns and multimodal networks that promote safe and convenient walking, biking, rolling, and transit.
• Work with transportation agencies and adjacent jurisdictions to develop and connect regional transit routes and trails.
• Plan, design, and develop walking and biking paths between neighborhoods and local focal points (such as Community Hubs).

Big Idea

• Designate and design Centers and Multimodal Corridors.

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Community Identity and Connections

Goals

• Recognize the unique histories and identities of communities in the City.
• Promote and sustain community venues, events, and opportunities.
• Provide central locations (Community Hubs) for community residents to gather.
• Provide walking and biking connections between community neighborhoods and hubs.
• When conceptualizing new schools, consider improvements to neighborhood mobility early in the process.

Objectives

• Work with residents to define community boundaries and their identities.
• Develop community identity-based placemaking strategies, design guidelines, and cultural opportunities.
• Designate one or more centrally located and walkable Community Hubs within each identified community and apply design guidelines to develop Hubs.
• Recognize and protect historic sites within communities.
• Leverage opportunities from Cultural Affairs to realize local art and place making investments.

Big Idea

• Create unique community identities and connections.

Neighborhood Well-Being and Safety

Goals

• Promote the integrity, sense of well-being, and safety of neighborhoods by ensuring:
  • Quality housing and safe streets.
  • Safe and convenient access to schools, civic functions, and parks.
  • Protections from the scale and conflicting activity of adjacent non-residential developments.

Objectives

• Develop a neighborhood monitoring program that continually tracks factors of interest to residents and stakeholders in local neighborhoods, such as sense of safety, traffic, sidewalk connectivity, or shade.
• Identify and address improvement needs based on the measures.
• Apply neighborhood design guidelines to ensure development within and adjacent to neighborhoods promotes safety and well being.
• Continue to implement adopted plans and policies, including the Local Road Safety Action Plan, Active Transportation Plan, Urban Forest Management Plan, Complete Streets Policy, and Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment and Development Strategy.

Big Idea

• Monitor and ensure neighborhood safety and well-being.

↘ CH. 1: Overview and Development Context

Priority Policies

The policies listed in the Plan reflect specific actions the City will take to achieve its goals and objectives. Policies are listed throughout the plan. This section lists the policies the City will focus on in the near term. Details for the priority policies are provided in later chapters.

Economic Development and Diversity

• Coordinate with the Virginia Beach Development Authority and regional and state development agencies to attract industry sectors targeted in the Virginia Beach Economic Development Strategic Plan, including:
  • Industrial, logistics, and high-tech bio.
  • Technology and finance businesses.
  • Agriculture.
  • Defense and uncrewed systems.
• Work with the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau to sustain and grow year-round tourism within the Resort Area and across the City, guided by emerging opportunities.
• Identify key areas for redevelopment, including needed infrastructure updates to attract vibrant mixed-use development.
• Identify and inventory suitable land for industrial, high-tech, and logistics industries, including available development and redevelopment parcels in Center and Special Use Place Types, with a focus on unique, high-quality-of-life assets that support a diverse workforce base, including existing military personnel and young professionals.
• Collaborate among City departments to identify key redevelopment areas and plan necessary infrastructure improvements. This joint effort ensures strategic investment in Centers, anticipates development challenges, and aligns growth and opportunities with community needs.

Housing Attainment and Diversity

• Implement the Attainable Workforce Housing Performance Grant program.
• Pursue activities adopted by City Council based on recommendations from the City’s 2024 Housing Study:
  • Advance discussions with the Virginia Beach Development Authority to fund new, large-scale, mixed-use development projects.
  • Design a housing education campaign to incorporate into successful community engagement.
  • Research opportunities to simplify and streamline the permitting and review process.
• Explore Focused Action Plan initiatives for attainable housing, including potential tax abatement opportunities through state legislation to support development of attainable housing.
• As part of an overall update to the City’s Zoning Ordinance, update the code to allow for density bonuses and smaller lots in districts north of the Green Line.
• Explore land development opportunities for attainable housing, such as through partnerships with Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation, collaboration with religious entities on any excess land, and use of publicly owned property as development incentives.
• Promote use of assistance programs such as U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME funds for down-payment and closing cost assistance for first-time home-buyers, HUD-funded rehab programs using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds, and owner-occupied grants for rehab and preservation of manufactured housing.

CH. 1: Overview and Development Context

Environmental Sustainability

• Continue implementing programs that ensure water quality and flood protection, notably the Sea Level Wise initiative.
• As described in Chapter 2, identify opportunities in City planning and design efforts and during private development reviews to protect and connect natural lands and open spaces.
• Within five years, prepare the Environmental Open Space Framework Plan described in Chapter 2.
• When making improvements included in the Active Transportation Plan and Outdoors plan and during private development review, identify opportunities to develop portions of the Linear Park/Active Transportation System.
• Preserve the right of way needed to develop the Southeastern Parkway Greenway linear park spine.

Rural Land Protection South of the Green Line

• Continue purchasing land and conservation easements south of the Green Line.
• Continue the Agricultural Reserve Program, and Open Space Acquisition Program.
• Continue the policy of not extending urban services south of the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line).
• Continue limiting development densities in the Courthouse Context Area.
• Prohibit density bonuses in the Courthouse Context Area.
• Update the zoning ordinance as needed to incorporate Transition Area Design Guidelines and Transition Neighborhood design guidelines in Chapter 7.

Infill and Multimodal Access North of the Green Line

• Use Place Type design guidelines to update the zoning ordinance for properties north of the Green Line.
• Develop a Place Type development review manual based on the process outlined in Chapter 7.
• Use Center design guidelines in Chapter 7 to develop Center plans and development regulations for those designated Centers without adopted Plans and regulations.
• Identify and implement needed development incentives as outlined in Chapter 3 to promote private Center development.
• Within five years, begin the Virginia Beach Boulevard Corridor Study as described in Chapter 3.
• Within ten years, begin the Independence / Princess Anne Road Corridor Study as described in Chapter 3.

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↘ CH. 1: Overview and Development Context

Community Identity and Connections

• Develop a Community and Connections program that focuses on:
  • Working with local residents to define community boundaries and the unique characteristics of each community.
  • Implementing brand designs (such as banners) in gateways to public spaces within communities.
• Local community members will initiate Community Hub plans, develop Community Hub plans using Community Hub design guidelines listed in Chapter 7. Planned Community Hubs will then be designated in the Comprehensive Plan.
• Develop community walking and biking plans once Community Hub locations are adopted.

Neighborhood Safety and Well-being

• Develop a neighborhood monitoring system that continually tracks factors of interest to residents and stakeholders in local neighborhoods, such as sense of safety, traffic, sidewalk connectivity, or shade.
  • Identify well-being measures and data sources.
  • Develop a GIS-based monitoring system.
• Use the monitoring system to regularly report on neighborhood well-being and recommend needed improvements.
• Apply the buffering guidelines from Chapter 7 to ensure neighborhoods are properly buffered from infill development during development reviews.

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Comprehensive Plan Framework

The Comprehensive Plan is organized by:

• Context Areas that define the vision and policies for the unique areas of Virginia Beach.
• Planning Areas that define the plans and policies for strategically important areas in the City.
• Place Types that define the functions and forms of differing settings across the City.

Context Areas

Context Areas capture the four major landscapes across Virginia Beach. The boundaries for the Context Areas are based on the Green Line, Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line), and the new Coastal Context Area Boundary. Context Areas tell the story of these landscapes, including recognizing the environment, major destinations, and historic features, to direct and orchestrate goals and policies. The four established Context Areas are described below and shown in Figure 1-5.

• Inland Context Area: Located north of the Green Line, this area is mostly developed and densely populated, featuring numerous neighborhoods, shopping and employment centers, parks, Naval Air Station Oceana, and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story. The primary goals for the Inland Context Area are to accommodate the City’s anticipated growth through the redevelopment of major existing corridors and under-utilized shopping centers. Existing residential neighborhoods will retain their scale, density, and character, with planned enhancements to connectivity and sense of place.

• Coastal Context Area: Located along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, east of the Inland Context Area and defined by the Coastal Context Area Boundary, this area seeks to cultivate and protect a vibrant coastal landscape and experience. Goals include enhancing access to beaches and natural areas such as First Landing State Park and Pleasure House Point, accommodating anticipated growth in the Resort Area, and giving special attention to managing sea level rise. Existing residential neighborhoods will retain their scale and character.

• Courthouse Context Area: Located between the Green Line and Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line), this area serves as a density and intensity step-down between the developed lands north of the Green Line and the uses south of the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line). The Courthouse Context Area seeks to maintain low-density neighborhoods and open space. Existing policies for Princess Anne Commons and the Transition Area will continue guiding development. Princess Anne Commons emphasizes education, recreation, and habitat preservation. The Interfacility Traffic Area (ITA) & Vicinity Master Plan provides a development program in the area based on aircraft noise contours and other features. This Context Area is also home to some medical and retail uses.

• Rural Context Area: South of the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line), this area will continue supporting rural and agricultural lands and serve essential conservation functions, being home to areas including Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and False Cape State Park. Agriculture plays a vital role in the City’s economy as the city’s third-largest industry, following tourism and defense, contributing significantly to local employment, sustainability, and the preservation of rural character.

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Figure 1-5 — Context Areas

↘ CH. 1: Overview and Development Context

Planning Areas

Planning Areas, shown in Figure 1-6, are specific parts of the city where development is guided by adopted plans or policies. The goals, objectives, and policies of each Planning Area plan will continue to guide development within the designated area. Those policies will be augmented by Place Type guidelines listed in Chapter 7. Planning Areas are described in more detail in later chapters. Planning Areas of note include:

• Strategic Growth Areas (SGAs) are spaced along Virginia Beach Boulevard from the Norfolk city line to the Resort Area and adjacent to I-64 interchanges in the City. SGA plans illustrate the transformation of suburban shopping centers into compact, walkable places. Each SGA is designated as a Center Place Type in the Comprehensive Plan.

• Special Economic Growth Areas (SEGAs) are located around the Naval Air Station Oceana. SEGA policies from the 2016 Comprehensive Plan guide industrial and logistics development in those areas. Each SEGA is designated as an Industrial and Logistics Place Type, which is summarized in the next section.

• Communities and neighborhoods, such as Seatack and Shore Drive, that focus on neighborhood enhancements to land use, design, and overall aesthetics.

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PLANNING AREAS

• Strategic Growth Area (SGA)
• Special Economic Growth Area (SEGA)
• Neighborhood
• Resort Area
• Princess Anne Commons (PAC)
• Transition Area

CONTEXT AREA BOUNDARIES

• Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line)
• Green Line
• Blue / Green Overlap
• Coastal - Inland

MILITARY

• (Image of military hatching)

Figure 1-6 — Planning Areas

↘ CH. 1: Overview and Development Context

Place Types

Place Types (shown in Figure 1-7) convey the character, function, and development patterns for different settings within each Context Area. Corridor Types (shown in Figure 1-8) provide guidance on the design and operations of unique roadways. Each includes a set of policies and design guidelines that guide growth. Centers and Multimodal Corridors Place Types will enhance the City’s ability to grow inward and upward by providing direction on function and form. Place Types will augment the City’s zoning ordinance to reflect the goals and objectives of the Plan. The geographies of designated Place Types in this Plan and the design guidelines for each Place Type are foundational to updating the City’s zoning ordinance. The Place Types include:

Centers and Multimodal Corridors

• Centers – settings for compact, mixed-use, walkable, rollable, and transit-oriented development. Centers are located along Multimodal Corridors.
• Multimodal Corridors – transportation routes that provide safe and convenient vehicle, transit, walking, and cycling access to and from Centers. Over time, existing roadways will transform into Multimodal Corridors.

Neighborhoods

• Type 1 Neighborhoods – mostly lower density areas where single family homes are the predominant use; civic uses like schools, religious institutions and parks may also be found in this Place Type.

• Type 2 Neighborhoods – moderate to higher density settings with a range of housing options that span from single-family homes, townhomes, and apartments alongside neighborhood serving commercial and service uses.

• Transition Neighborhoods – lower-density areas designed to fit the unique context between the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) and Green Line.

• Coastal Neighborhoods – moderate to higher-density areas with single- and multi-family homes suited to a coastal setting.

• Community Hubs – compact, walkable, centrally located places that provide convenient access for “neighborhood-oriented services, facilities, events, and potentially health care.

Special Uses and Corridors

• Institutional Districts – settings for schools, office parks, universities, hospitals, and similar multi-building institutions with specific and interconnected functions.
• Industrial and Logistics – settings that support specialized employment in production, distribution, manufacturing, and logistics sectors.
• Business - non-Center locations for commercial, office, and hotel uses.
• Freight Corridors – transportation routes that provide safe and convenient freight and goods access to Industrial and Logistics districts.

Rural

• Rural Villages – low-intensity collections of locally-oriented stores and services, along with some residences. These are oriented to the Rural Context Area to form a distinct place.
• Rural Corridors – transportation routes that provide farm-to-market access and connections to Rural Villages and other destinations.

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PLACE TYPES Regional Center Core Edge (Blue) City Center Core Edge (Purple) Local Center Core Edge (Pink)

Special Use Industrial and Logistics (Blue Hatch) Business (Orange) Neighborhoods Neighborhood - Type 1 (Yellow) Neighborhood - Type 2 (Dark Yellow) Coastal Neighborhood (Lighter Yellow) Transitional Neighborhood (Orange/Yellow)

NON-PLACE TYPES Agriculture (Green Hatch) Preservation (Dark Green Hatch) MILITARY (Grey Hatch)

CONTEXT AREA BOUNDARIES Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) Green Line Blue / Green Overlap Coastal - Inland

Figure 1-7 — Place Types

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Figure 1-8 — Corridor Types

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Chapter 2

Environment

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Introduction

The City of Virginia Beach’s natural landscapes and parks offer wildlife habitats, recreational opportunities, and scenic backdrops for daily life. Safeguarding these environmental assets and addressing challenges like sea level rise and flooding is crucial for the City’s future resilience.

Protected and natural areas make up a significant portion of the City, including the following important resources:

• Thirty-eight miles of shoreline along the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. Twenty-eight miles are along public beaches.
• Fifty square miles of estuaries, creeks, and wetlands (about 15 percent of the total area). Lynnhaven River, Broad Bay, Linkhorn Bay are major waterbodies.
• Major State and Federal parks and wildlife areas, such including: First Landing State Park (2,900 acres), False Cape State Park (3,800 acres), and Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) (9,200 acres).
• Approximately 26,700 acres of agriculturally designated lands, including 10,500 acres of farmland protected by the City through its Agricultural Reserve Program, discussed in Chapter 6.

The City has a longstanding commitment to planning for and safeguarding these resources. Continuing to protect them remains a top priority for the City, ensuring their value is maintained and enhanced for future generations.

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↘ CH. 2: Environment

Environmental Goals and Objectives

Goals

• Position the City of Virginia Beach as a model of environmental stewardship.
• Enhance healthy ecosystems in the City.
• Improve water quality and flood protection.
• Protect, enhance, and connect natural lands and open spaces.
• Increase access to nature.
• Protect residents from natural hazards.
• Encourage the efficient use of land.
• Take a proactive stance in mitigating flooding and sea level rise issues.
• Maximize the social and environmental benefits of open space.
• Optimize the ecological value of protected lands and open space.

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Objectives

• Expand the City’s green infrastructure inventory.
• Review practices that limit waste and pollution.
• Factor hazard mitigation into the planning process.
• Create wildlife corridors.
• Encourage adaptive reuse redevelopment and green building techniques.
• Develop a Linear Park/Active Transportation System and continue to strategically acquire open space.
• Expand public access to waterways.
• Continue managing activities that significantly affect water quality and any regulatory floodplains.
• Plan for increased sea level rise and model high-risk sea level rise and storm scenarios.
• Implement the City’s Sea Level Wise Program strategies.
• Proactively collaborate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and other federal, state, and local agencies on the ongoing Coastal Storm Risk Management Study and other resilience-planning initiatives in Virginia Beach.
• Enhance connectivity between protected lands.
• Continue to implement the City’s Urban Forest Management Plan.

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ENVIRONMENTAL

• Surface waters
• City-owned land, parks, or open space
• Federal & State parks and other protected areas
• Wetland areas (marsh, swamp, bog, prairie)
• MHHW Projected SLR (3.0ft) (SeaLevelWise)

CONTEXT AREA BOUNDARIES

• Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line)
• Green Line
• Blue / Green Overlap
• Coastal - Inland

MILITARY

• (Military Hatching)

Figure 2-1 — Parks, protected areas, and open spaces map

43 | CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Sustainable Practices

The City of Virginia Beach recognizes the importance of integrating environmental stewardship and sustainability practices early in long-range planning efforts. A primary goal for the City is to lead with environmentally sustainable practices. The related objectives are:

1. Encourage the use of green infrastructure.
2. Promote efficient land use patterns and buildings.
3. Review practices that limit waste and pollution.
4. Factor hazard mitigation into the planning process.

Green Infrastructure

Green infrastructure leverages natural systems as infrastructure solutions in response to issues like extreme urban heat, flooding, and erosion. Green infrastructure has multiple co-benefits besides providing solutions to immediate challenges, namely enhancing access to nature and providing a sense of community pride.

Green infrastructure solutions can be large or small and applied even in densely developed areas. Because green infrastructure works with natural processes, it can have lower operational costs compared to traditional “gray infrastructure” solutions. Living shorelines, the urban tree canopy, and wildlife corridors are among the most essential green infrastructure solutions for the City of Virginia Beach.¹

Mean Higher High Water (MHHW) is the average height of the highest high tide. Maps throughout this Plan show the projected MHHW for Virginia Beach in the future, based on the City’s Sea Level Wise Program data. Areas shown with this designation are expected to be at risk of inundation as sea levels continue to rise.

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↘ CH. 2: Environment

Living shorelines involve a “shoreline management practice that provides erosion control and water quality benefits; protects, restores or enhances shoreline habitat; and maintains coastal processes through the strategic placement of plants, stone, sand fill, and other structural and organic materials.” Living shorelines can slow erosion, provide carbon sequestration, help manage nitrogen levels (limiting harmful algal blooms), provide habitat and biodiversity, and add to natural and scenic beauty. In contrast, hardened shorelines and bulkheads can interrupt and bounce wave energy away from the shore, causing accelerated erosion effects.¹

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The urban tree canopy is the area of the City covered by leaves, branches, and tree trunks when viewed from above. A connected, healthy canopy improves air quality, provides wildlife habitat, and reduces the heat island effect. The trees and plants that form the canopy also help sequester carbon and mitigate stormwater runoff. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, investments in trees in other cities have shown returns of nearly six dollars per dollar spent on increasing tree canopy through improved water quality, stormwater control, energy savings, and increased property values. The City of Virginia Beach’s Urban Forest Management Plan (2023 update) aims to capitalize on and expand these benefits and achieve a 45 percent urban tree canopy coverage by 2045 (40.3% as of 2018).

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↘ CH. 2: Environment

Wildlife corridors are areas that facilitate connections and movement between habitats for animals. In urban areas, well-connected wildlife corridors maintain biodiversity and reduce human-wildlife conflicts. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) completed the statewide Wildlife Corridors Action Plan in May 2023, which focused on balancing highway safety with wildlife protection. A local understanding of wildlife migration should be studied at the regional scale in partnership with adjacent jurisdictions, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC), and DWR.

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Efficient Land Use Patterns and Buildings

The City of Virginia Beach is committed to the efficient use of land as part of its sustainability approach. Directing growth to create vibrant, more compact areas can:

• Ease pressures to convert farmland and open space to urban uses.
• Make better use of existing public infrastructure and services (roads, transit, schools, water, sewer, police, fire, and rescue), thereby lowering long-term public expenditures.
• Reduce vehicle miles traveled by placing essential services closer to where people live and work.

The City intends to capitalize on the benefits of compact development using higher-intensity, mixed-use Centers to accommodate its anticipated growth north of the Green Line. Center locations and design guidelines, covered in Chapter 7, define how the City’s existing underutilized shopping strips and surface parking lots can transform into more vibrant, walkable, and livable places.

Adaptive Reuse is a concept of re-purposing structures in a way that limits the need for total demolition and new construction and offers a way to bring forward elements of history. Adaptive reuse projects can be more complex, but in return, they offer environmentally friendly ways to provide redevelopment.

Low-impact development (LID) aims to minimize environmental impacts and manage resources sustainability in land development by preserving natural systems, reducing impervious surfaces, and using green infrastructure.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) promotes sustainable building practices to conserve resources, reduce environmental effects, lower ongoing costs, and improve comfort for occupants. Both newly built and existing structures can be LEED®-certified.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Mitigating Natural Hazards

The City of Virginia Beach is vulnerable to a variety of natural hazards due to its coastal location in the mid-Atlantic. The City has created plans related to resilient development from the property scale to the neighborhood scale.

The Hampton Roads Hazard Mitigation Plan (Hazards Plan) (2022) coordinates regional hazard planning efforts, focusing on infrastructure upgrades and planning strategies in response to natural hazards. The plan outlines hazards like coastal flooding, sea level rise, hurricanes, coastal erosion, and other significant threats like tornadoes, winter storms, and extreme heat. The plan’s overarching goal centers on increasing community resiliency by reducing vulnerability, especially to flooding. It stresses the importance of education and fostering regional partnerships to ensure the community is better prepared to face these ongoing risks so when disaster occurs, the City can bounce back more quickly.

The Hazards Plan includes a Vulnerability Assessment¹ and emphasizes social disparities and equity as part of its analysis. It identifies areas in Virginia Beach as having moderate to high social vulnerability to these hazards and highlights areas marked by repetitive flood loss. This is another area where recognizing underserved communities is essential to ensure the health and safety of all of Virginia Beach. The Vulnerability Assessment recommends that specific plans and resources be developed and maintained to support disaster preparedness. The City of Virginia Beach maintains nearly all of the recommended items and should continue to do so.²

Virginia Beach is at a heightened risk for experiencing high temperatures. Urban areas with dense pavements, buildings, and heat-retaining surfaces can expose users to higher temperatures than areas with more open, natural areas. The City has created a local Heat Risk Index for its Census Tracts (Figure 2-2).

Some of the highest-risk Census tracts occur within areas along and within Multimodal Corridors and Centers. This highlights the importance of planning for open space, green space, and trees, especially in Town Center and Hilltop areas. For those Census tracts outside Centers, monitoring neighborhood conditions should include extreme heat and supporting strategies.

Much of the City’s stormwater infrastructure is now nearing the end of its design life-cycle. As originally designed, there was less awareness and information on rising sea levels and changing rainfall patterns. As a result, some of the infrastructure may not perform as originally intended. The City’s Sea Level Wise Adaptation Strategy is a comprehensive program for mitigating sea level rise and flooding, detailed later in this chapter.

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VB 47 | CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

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HEAT RISK INDEX (HRI) Low High

CENTERS

• Regional
• City
• Local
• Rural Village

CORRIDORS

• Regional
• City
• Rural

CONTEXT AREA BOUNDARIES

• Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line)
• Green Line
• Blue / Green Overlap
• Coastal - Inland

MILITARY

Figure 2-2 — Heat risk index map

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Limiting Pollution

This section addresses noise, light, solid waste, and air pollution, and outlines strategies to reduce their effects aligned with sustainable growth. Water quality topics are addressed in the next section.

Noise pollution is the introduction of disruptive sound that interferes with everyday activities and diminishes quality of life. Primary sources of noise pollution in Virginia Beach are jet aircraft and surface transportation. These impacts must be minimized against other required planning objectives cited in state law. The Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) program and the recommendations noted in the 2005 Hampton Roads Joint Land Use Study address jet aircraft noise. The Centers and Corridors in the Comprehensive Plan are geared toward shifting auto trips to other modes to help reduce surface transportation noise.

Light pollution is the excessive use of artificial light, causing sky glow, glare, light trespass, and decreased visibility at night. Reducing light pollution restores the natural abilities of wildlife migration, reduces stress on wildlife and humans alike, can improve aesthetic value, and provides energy savings. The City aims to continue monitoring light pollution and implementing strategies to reduce it in existing and future developments.

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The City aims to limit and manage solid waste effectively. Reducing waste generation is critical because it helps conserve the energy and cost required to produce, transport, and dispose of products. When waste is generated, managing it well is essential to protect the environment from pollution. While the Comprehensive Plan plays a limited role in waste management, the City seeks to maintain its leadership by taking proactive measures and planning for the future demands of solid waste disposal capacity SPSA is encouraged to continue boosting reuse and recycling rates to extend the life of the regional landfill.

Air pollution is the introduction of particulate matter, gases, odors, or other harmful materials into Earth’s atmosphere. Air pollution is a significant risk factor for several health conditions, including respiratory infections, heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Transportation and vehicle emissions are a primary contributor to Virginia Beach air pollution. The Comprehensive Plan looks to reduce transportation-related air pollution by transitioning trips to less polluting sources and reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The key strategies are to shorten automotive trip lengths and increase non-automotive mode share through the Centers and Corridors in the Comprehensive Plan. The other strategy is to support electric vehicle charging and adoption.

Sustainability Practices

Objectives

• Continue to focus on and implement sustainable practices that:
  • Encourage the development of green buildings and infrastructure.
  • Limit waste and pollution and protect residents from hazards.
• Continue to apply the Urban Forest Management Plan.
• Continue to follow the recommendations in the Natural Heritage Report and the Historic Preservation Plan.

Policies

• Encourage the development of green buildings and infrastructure.
  • Promote green infrastructure in new development and retrofit to existing structures and sites.
  • Promote the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program and research other financing or incentive options that support small green-infrastructure installations on private property.
  • Encourage and incentivize adaptive reuse of suitable structures to limit waste and the need for all-new construction, as well as protect elements of historical value.
  • Encourage low-impact design features in the City’s projects, especially municipal facilities by pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver ratings, or higher, in municipal structures.
• Foster a healthy and complete tree canopy.
  • Increase tree plantings and preservation of existing trees on all public properties.
  • For the City’s trees, monitor and track tree planting and removal and ensure that net tree loss is replaced near the location of the loss.
  • Protect and help to enhance connected tree canopies.
  • Maintain the intermediate goal of 45 percent urban tree canopy (UTC) by 2045.
  • Continue maintaining the Urban Forest Management Plan and following its recommended next steps.
  • Encourage the replacement of trees taken down by a proposed development.
  • Celebrate the live oak as the official City Tree.
• Promote the expansion of living shorelines.
  • Maintain and update regulations to prioritize living shoreline projects in coastal and waterfront areas.
  • Invest in restoration and maintenance programs for existing natural shorelines.
• Enhance and employ practices that limit waste and pollution and protect residents from hazards.
  • Educate citizens about natural hazards through community awareness campaigns and preparedness efforts.
  • Include social vulnerability dimensions in hazard mitigation planning and projects.
  • Mitigate urban heat island effects and enhance natural cooling.
• In conjunction with HRT, support more sustainable and affordable travel options by expanding active transportation networks that reduce emissions, lower costs, and connect key destinations without needing to drive.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

• Utilize the Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment and Development Strategy to prioritize investments in park and recreation facilities, including needs and equitable access factors.

• Identify urban heat island hotspots within the City, referring to Heat Risk Index efforts.

  • Develop shading and cooling strategies in key urban areas, incorporating equity considerations. Identify opportunities through the Urban Forest Management Plan to create tree canopy shading.
  • In areas with a high prevalence of urban heat, follow strategies such as increasing tree and vegetation cover, green roofs, and cool pavements.

• Continue regional planning and coordination efforts on environmental topics and hazard mitigation.

  • Refer to the City’s Capital Improvements Program, Public Works Design Standards, Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy, along with the Hampton Roads Hazard Mitigation Plan (2022), as the guiding frameworks to address upgrades and planning strategies that respond to hazards like flooding, sea level rise, and coastal erosion.
  • Proactively collaborate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and other federal, state, and local agencies on the ongoing Coastal Storm Risk Management Study in Virginia Beach.
  • Limit the sources and exposure to different forms of pollution.

• Continue to mitigate noise pollution.

  • Adhere to Air Installation Compatibility Use Zones (AICUZ) and other policy and programmatic recommendations cited in the Oceana Land Use Conformity Program and the 2005 Hampton Roads Joint Land Use Study.

• Relocate existing and locate proposed higher noise-generating businesses and activities to locations inside the City’s higher AICUZ zones and away from residential areas.

• Remain good partners with the Navy and ensure regulations relating to the AICUZ continue to provide the appropriate balance of development restrictions.

• Continue to mitigate light pollution.

  • Ensure that outdoor lighting provides sufficient illumination for a structure or area without unnecessarily contributing to light pollution.
  • Ensure that pedestrian lighting is provided at storefronts, using indirect illumination from the building or direct illumination under canopies or awnings.
  • Ensure that non-residential building lighting is designed as an integral feature of a structure’s architecture and as unobtrusive as possible.
  • For rear-building lighting, limit its illumination onto residential properties.

• Continue to mitigate air pollution.

  • Reduce automotive vehicle miles traveled and increase non-automotive mode share.
  • Support the roll-out of electric vehicle charging stations.
  • Pursue strategies that enable residents and local employees to trade automotive trips for transit and non-motorized trips.

• Continue to efficiently and effectively manage solid waste.

  • Eliminate, reduce, or recycle waste products to the greatest extent practical.
  • In conjunction with SPSA, operate waste management facilities to safeguard land, air, and water resources for economic and environmental efficiency.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Water

A primary goal for the City is to improve water quality and flood protection. The related objectives are:

• Expand public access to waterways.
• Continue managing activities that significantly affect water quality and any regulatory floodplains.
• Implement Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy.
• Plan for increased sea level rise and model high-risk sea level rise and storm scenarios.
• Optimize the ecological value of protected lands.
• Enhance connectivity between protected lands.

Water Quality

Virginia Beach is a city of water. It is bound on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north by the Chesapeake Bay. There are three primary watersheds: Atlantic Ocean Watershed, Southern Rivers Watershed, and Chesapeake Bay Watershed. These are mapped in Figure 2-3.¹

Watersheds consist of wetlands, shorelines, riparian buffers, storm drainage systems, and the land from which they drain. These interconnected components determine the environmental health and sustainability of the City’s natural resources.

Groundwater refers to water stored in aquifers beneath the Earth’s surface. It supplies wells and springs and is essential for drinking water, agriculture, and ecosystems. Residents in the Rural Context Area rely solely on groundwater.

The groundwater near the surface is mostly fresh, whereas local groundwater found at depths of 200 feet and greater is mostly saline and generally too salty to drink or use for irrigation.

Excessive pumping lowers groundwater levels and leads to saltwater intrusion and increased salinity. The proliferation of impervious surfaces also reduces groundwater recharge, which elevates these risks. Other sources that cause groundwater pollution include drainage from croplands, urban lawns, fertilizers and pesticides, livestock, underground failing septic systems, underground failing storage tanks, and unsound construction or demolition practices.

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WATERSHEDS

• Atlantic Ocean Watershed
• Chesapeake Bay Watershed
• Southern Rivers Watershed

SURFACE WATERS

• Surface waters

Figure 2-3 — Primary watersheds map¹

↘ CH. 2: Environment

The Southern Rivers Watershed

The Southern Rivers Watershed, sometimes called the Southern Watershed or the Albemarle-Pamlico Watershed, is the most extensive in the City, representing over 60 percent of the City’s land area. The Southern Rivers Watershed is foundational to the City’s ecological balance and rural economies. This unique and sensitive watershed includes significant protected lands with noteworthy plant and animal diversity, as well as both tidal and non-tidal wetlands.

High groundwater elevations and hydric soils can increase runoff, limit the capacity of stormwater conveyance systems, and reduce the effectiveness of Best Management Practices.

The Southern Rivers Watershed Management Area guidelines create a 50-foot buffer as a key regulatory overlay that guides development.

The City strongly recommends that developers conduct drainage studies before a request to approve a discretionary development application involving land disturbance in the Southern Rivers Watershed. The drainage study should evaluate the effects of the development proposal to ensure the proposed drainage system meets City standards and does not result in flooding within the planned development or in upstream and downstream areas.

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and has major ecological significance. Approximately one-third of the City’s land area drains into the Chesapeake Bay. Located at the southern end of the Bay, we depend on its health for economic, environmental, and recreational benefits.

Pollution and habitat loss degraded the estuary’s health during the 19th and 20th centuries, but significant action has helped curb some of these effects.

The Commonwealth of Virginia empowers localities to regulate activities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the City does so through its Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Ordinance. The Ordinance is an effort to enhance water quality by protecting environmentally sensitive areas adjacent to waterways, tidal shores, and wetlands, as well as highly erodible soils. These sensitive areas are called resource protection areas (RPAs). The Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area includes all areas closest to shorelines that have intrinsic water-quality value or are sensitive to development-related impacts.

The Ordinance applies to lands included in the Chesapeake Bay watershed within the City of Virginia Beach, including wetlands and a variable-width buffer area not less than one hundred feet. Ordinance specifies rules and standards for development and activities within the Resource Protection Area. The Ordinance includes strategies such as erosion and sediment control, stormwater management, and the preservation of native vegetation.

The Atlantic Ocean Watershed

The land areas that drain directly into the Atlantic Ocean make up a small percentage of our land area, but have an out-sized economic importance. The Atlantic Ocean beaches are fundamental to the City’s tourism economy. Regular sand replenishment is an integral part of maintaining our beaches and dunes and protecting the businesses and homes in this watershed.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Flooding

Virginia Beach is exposed to several sources of flooding, including high tide, wind tide, storm surge, rainfall, and groundwater flooding. These flood types are exacerbated by compounding factors due to changes in the natural and built environment. According to the Sea Level Wise project, the City’s annual average flood-related losses would increase almost three-fold to $77 million without interventions.

In 2016, Virginia Beach experienced three major storm events, Tropical Storm Hermine, Tropical Storm Julia, and Hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew was devastating, having resulted in 14 inches of rain and damage to over 2,000 structures. A historical rainfall analysis that the City commissioned shows that heavy precipitation events have been increasing; projections indicate and this trend will continue through at least 2060.¹

The City’s adopted Floodplain Ordinance acknowledges that "Virginia Beach is facing an increased danger of flooding caused by both sea level rise and subsidence and has adopted the Sea Level Wise Adaptation Report as part of the Comprehensive Plan" and should continue to maintain the Ordinance and the regulatory framework based on the latest data originating from the Sea Level Wise Program and similar efforts.

The City also uses its Public Works Design Standards Manual, Erosion and Stormwater Management Ordinance, and Master Drainage Study to manage stormwater issues.

In 2019, the Navy, the Cities of Virginia Beach and Norfolk, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, and the Commonwealth of Virginia completed the Norfolk-Virginia Beach JLUS to assess how sea level rise and tidal flooding threaten mission readiness in Hampton Roads.

The study focused on infrastructure key to Naval operations and recommended local projects and regional strategies to strengthen planning and improve data sharing. The JLUS reflects Virginia Beach’s ongoing work with the military and regional partners to tackle sea level rise and protect shared infrastructure.

A floodplain is defined in the City’s Code of Ordinances as “any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source.”² Floodplains are natural buffers, absorbing and slowing floodwaters, reducing damage to infrastructure, and aiding in groundwater recharge by allowing water to infiltrate the soil. They also improve water quality by filtering sediments and pollutants. The development of managed and functional floodplains reduces flooding risks and improves groundwater replenishment.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Sea Level Rise

Sea level rise is expected to intensify flooding problems. Figure 2-4 shows the City’s projected Mean Higher High-Water (MHHW) line under the 3-foot sea level rise scenario to 2075. Increased MHHW levels will result in loss of land, saltwater intrusion, farmland loss, and loss of or challenges to existing wetlands areas. The map shows how the City’s low-lying lands are expected to be more frequently inundated by water and prone to storm flooding under the 100-year storm event flood depth (3’ SLR projection – 2075), as defined by the City’s Sea Level Wise Program.

The City of Virginia Beach’s Department of Public Works Sea Level Wise Program has adopted strategies for at-risk lands. Engineered defenses, including levees, sea walls, and gates, are intended to mitigate the impact of sea level rise by keeping ocean and bay waters from flowing into at-risk areas. The program identifies natural mitigation strategies for at-risk areas, such as marsh restoration, creation, and land conservation. It also identifies and adapts structure strategies, including resilient roadways and elevating buildings. The approaches are specific to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Atlantic Ocean Watershed, and Southern Rivers Watershed. (Figure 2-6 to Figure 2-9).

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As modeling, projecting, and measuring the effects of sea level rise continue to become more accurate and precise, the City must continue to evaluate climate, sea level rise, flooding, and storm data. The City will review studies and new projections as they are released. The Sea Level Wise project follows an Intermediate Projection of federal sea level rise projections for Hampton Roads. The City should continue to monitor this area of research to ensure that compound flooding events and the latest sea level rise properly account for future risk, including in higher-risk sea level rise scenarios. Of particular interest are how rising sea levels will interact with different types of flood events, and how compounding flood events could result in catastrophic losses that may not be caught by only evaluating one aspect of sea level rise.¹

Sea level rise will intensify major flood events. Projections from the City’s Sea Level Wise program are mapped on Figure 2-5.

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WATER FEATURES

Surface waters

Wetland areas (marsh, swamp, bog, prairie)

MHHW Projected SLR (3.0ft) (SeaLevelWise)

Figure 2-4 — Water bodies, wetlands, SLR inundation map (3 feet)

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100-YEAR STORM EVENT FLOOD DEPTH (3’ SLR PROJECTION – 2075) Flood depth [No flood depth] 0.0 - 0.5 feet 0.5 - 1.0 feet 1.0 - 1.5 feet 1.5 - 2.0 feet

2.0 feet

CONTEXT AREA BOUNDARIES Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) Green Line Blue / Green Overlap Coastal - Inland

WATER FEATURES Wetland areas (marsh, swamp, bog, prairie) Surface waters

Figure 2-5 — 100-year storm event flood depth map (2075 projection)

↘ CH. 2: Environment

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Figure 2-6 — Elizabeth River watershed adaption strategies

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Figure 2-7 — Lynnhaven River watershed adaption strategies

Figures originate from the Virginia Beach Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy report (March 2020). Voluntary acquisition of properties subject to repeated flooding depends on engineering and financial analysis.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

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Figure 2-8 — Oceanfront watershed adaption strategies

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Figure 2-9 — Southern Rivers watershed adaption strategies

Figures originate from the Virginia Beach Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy report (March 2020). Voluntary acquisition of properties subject to repeated flooding depends on engineering and financial analysis.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Water Quality and Flood Protection

Objectives

• Continue to focus on and implement water quality and flood protection programs and strategies that:
• Improve water quality and protect regulatory floodplains.
• Monitor and mitigate flooding and sea level rise.
• Continue to apply the Flood Resilience Toolkit.

Policies

• Protect the quality of the City’s ground and surface waters.
  • Coordinate public water and sewer extension plans with groundwater protection goals for all areas north of the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line) where septic tanks and wells have exceeded their life cycle and are failing.
  • Continue to ensure and improve water quality by developing and implementing initiatives to protect water resources.
    • Establish protocols to conserve and protect groundwater on City properties.
    • Develop a targeted educational program that increases public awareness about protecting and conserving non-potable groundwater resources and their use.
  • Demonstrate that provisions of the Clean Water Act are addressed as they apply to achieving total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirements through the City’s annual MS4 report.
  • Ensure that the goals set by the Southern Rivers Area Management Program are met.
• Encourage all golf courses to maximize the use of recycled water for irrigation.
• Promote partnerships with non-governmental organizations to achieve the City’s water quality improvement goals.
• Continue participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) and pursue higher classification levels to mitigate risk and increase flood insurance discounts.
• Carefully regulate development within and enhance the integrity of Virginia Beach’s floodplains.
• Concentrate new development at higher elevations outside special flood hazard areas.
• Continue recommending that a professional engineer review all discretionary development applications in the Southern Rivers Watersheds, who will review disturbances and potential mitigations to the watershed and any upstream and downstream areas. Maintain the 50-foot buffer to protect the most sensitive part of the Southern Rivers Watershed ecosystem.
• Continue monitoring and regulating development within the Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area.
• Continue to pursue grant funding to retrofit and acquire properties designated as repetitive loss by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Revisit the development of a city-funded program for flood retrofits and buyouts that would offer more flexibility than the current FEMA grants.
• Consider equity and community involvement when planning investments related to floodplain restoration, ensuring those at a higher level of risk or vulnerability are heard and prioritized.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

• Encourage flood mitigation designs that create multiple benefits and amenities, such as floodable parks that can store water or publicly accessible retention ponds with landscaping treatments.

• Identify opportunities for integrating Linear Park/Active Transportation System improvements as these projects are pursued.

• Monitor and plan for sea level rise and recurrent flooding hazards and invest in risk mitigation strategies.

  • Ensure that local ordinances regulating the floodplain are based on the latest understanding of long-term threats and data.
  • Continue researching compound flooding events across all sea level rise projections (low-, intermediate-, and high). Consider incorporating high SLR projections and flooding events data into planning practices and strategies.
  • Reference the Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy, updating data and findings as needed and supporting ongoing public educational programs and materials.
  • Review and revise the zoning ordinance and connected regulations to protect the City against long-term threats from sea level rise and hazard flooding.
  • Inventory and incorporate sensitive and at-risk lands into the city’s zoning ordinance, planning, and engineering initiatives, reducing the intensity or density of uses in those places and providing any feasible defensive solutions.

• When designing for flood mitigation, recommend designs that create multiple benefits and amenities, such as floodable parks that can store water or publicly accessible retention ponds with landscaping treatments.

• Where appropriate, consider using porous materials for driveways, walkways, etc. Refer to the City’s Flood Resiliency Toolkit for more solutions.

• Long-term, pursue the creation of an Environmental and Open Space Framework Master Plan that comprehensively studies solutions that address citywide stormwater, sea level rise, wildlife, and open space needs.

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↘ CH. 2: Environment

Protected Lands, Open Space, and Access to Nature

Virginia Beach is home to abundant natural areas, open spaces, and recreational spaces. These encompass federal lands, such as the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, state lands, such as First Landing State Park and False Cape State Park, and local City parks, such as Marshview Park, Prosperity Park, and Mount Trashmore Park. Conservation easements are used extensively in the southern part of the City to protect natural and agricultural land from development. State and federal lands are generally established for conservation and are not artificially manipulated or disturbed from their natural condition.

According to the City’s Outdoors Plan (2016), 58 percent of Virginia Beach residents live within a ten-minute walk of a park, lower than the national median of 68 percent. Expanding access to nature is a Goal of the plan update.

The City’s commitment to conservation also includes long-term planning efforts. For example, the Natural Heritage Technical Report #94-12 provides a framework with key findings on areas of high biodiversity and ecological value in Virginia Beach. This work continues to support grant applications and resource protection planning.

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established in 1938 as a 4,590-acre refuge for migratory birds. In the 1980s, reacting to significant development activity, the US Fish and Wildlife Service purchased lands and doubled the size of Back Bay NWR, and today it represents 9,200 acres. Habitats include beaches, dunes, woodlands, agricultural fields, and emergent freshwater marshes.

Back Bay NWR provides refuge for birds and other threatened and endangered species, including the loggerhead sea turtle and the bald eagle. Back Bay NWR has a vibrant visitor program that is both a tourist attraction and a benefit to residents. It offers over eight miles of scenic trails, a visitor contact station, and interpretive programming.

False Cape State Park

Between Back Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, False Cape State Park is a large natural area with significant educational and historical programming. The park includes hiking and biking trails and six miles of beach coastline.

Pleasure House Point

Pleasure House Point Natural Area in Virginia Beach is a 118-acre coastal preserve featuring tidal marshes, maritime forests, and calm shoreline along the Lynnhaven River. It offers scenic trails ideal for birdwatching, especially for spotting herons, egrets, and osprey. The area provides a peaceful, undeveloped landscape that highlights the region's natural coastal ecosystems and conservation efforts.

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↘ CH. 2: Environment

First Landing State Park

First Landing State Park (formerly Seashore State Park) is Virginia’s first planned state park. First Landing is Virginia’s most-visited state park and includes 20 miles of trails and 1.5 miles of Chesapeake Bay beach along the City’s northeast corner. The park encompasses nearly 3,000 acres and features bald cypress swamps, lagoons, maritime forest, and rare plants. There are also cabins and campsites. Built in part by an all-African American Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933-1940, First Landing is a National Natural Landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area

Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area, covering about 1,500 acres, is a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries waterfowl hunting area. Hunting opportunities are further enhanced by a long-standing cooperative agreement with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation that provides limited access to False Cape State Park for visitors.

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Beaches

The City’s beaches are a vital part of the coastal ecosystem and are an immense attraction for residents and tourists. Many local beaches face erosion issues. The City’s Beach Management Plan (2002) balances beach access, recreational opportunities, erosion control, and infrastructure needs; the City has also undertaken additional re-nourishment efforts.

Some residents expressed challenges accessing local beaches during the public engagement process for this Comprehensive Plan update. Balancing access, preservation, and protection remains key to maintaining Virginia Beach’s most iconic feature.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Environmental and Open Space Framework

The Environmental and Open Space Framework Master Plan (EOSF) is envisioned as a long-term action plan the City can take to synergize planning efforts and maximize investments in open space. This is one Big Idea that emerged as part of the visioning for this update.

The Environmental and Open Space Framework will be designed to accomplish three goals:

1. Enhance large, open land areas and environmentally sensitive spaces to address flood control and sea level rise.
2. Establish wildlife corridors to connect fragmented habitats, support ecological health, and promote biodiversity.
   • Where appropriate, identify corridors supporting the Linear Park/Active Transportation System to amenitize these features and support access to nature.
3. Establish environmentally protective boundaries for development, with particular focus on the Courthouse Context Area.

The EOSF can unify the City’s separate initiatives into a coordinated effort Programs such as Sea Level Wise, the Active Transportation Plan, and the Outdoors Plan will align under this framework to ensure that investments are coordinated and prioritized appropriately, given the multiple aims of the City.

Because the EOSF looks to synchronize public investments in open space managed across different departments within the City, it will require the participation of several City departments and planning efforts.

Furthermore, the EOSF can orchestrate privately held open space needs without necessarily requiring public acquisition through techniques such as conservation easements.

There is possibility for the EOSF to provide growth management features and specific growth management boundaries as it is developed.

Enhancements and Connections

The EOSF intends to recognize and inventory the major protected open spaces in Virginia Beach. The EOSF will synchronize investments and future connections in land based on what the City and its partners are trying to accomplish with respect to flood protection, sea level rise defense, habitat conservation, and wildlife corridors. Within the framework, there will be opportunities to add walkable and rollable non-motorized paths, which ties into the Linear Park/Active Transportation System concept discussed later.

Local waterways should be protected and, where needed, restored or enhanced through buffer areas, open spaces of various sizes, parklands, and low-impact development. These features can form continuous corridors known as greenways, which can also serve as wildlife corridors. Virginia Beach should strategically acquire, manage, and protect lands for public use to create an interconnected system of green spaces. This system would provide public access, conserve natural ecosystems, sustain clean air and water, and support flood control, recreation, and civic engagement.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Linear Park/Active Transportation System

The Linear Park/Active Transportation System (LP/ATS) is an aspirational system of trails connecting the city. It is one of the Big Ideas from public focus groups and workshops. The system hopes to provide safe and scenic walking, running, and rolling access from neighborhoods to parks, Centers, and other destinations. Parts of the system are already in place, such as the Thalia Creek Greenway and Cape Henry Trail. Others are already in the planning phase. Trail-oriented Development standards will help coordinate form and land uses along the trail links.

The Linear Park / Active Transportation System will serve two primary functions. First, it can become a citywide bicycle and pedestrian network, allowing residents to walk, run, or roll from their neighborhoods into Centers and parks in the Inland and Coastal Context Areas and parks and agricultural and natural lands in the Courthouse and Rural Context Areas. Second, it can work to support the City’s environmental goals, especially the City’s Sea Level Wise Program efforts and stormwater protection programs. Trails in the Linear Park / Active Transportation System are envisioned to generate a strong return on investment by improving public health, environmental sustainability, and the local economy.

The Linear Park / Active Transportation System concept relies on primary spines that extend across the City. The LP/ATS Spines are critical pieces for connecting the future trail network. LPS/ATS spines include:

• The Virginia Beach Trail, following the former Norfolk-Southern ROW parallel to Virginia Beach Boulevard.
• The Southeastern Trail, following the Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt alignment.
• The Coastal Trail, following the Shore Drive and Atlantic Avenue corridors.
• The West Neck Creek Trail, following along waterways extending from the Lynnhaven River to the North Landing River.

Secondary and waterway trails connect to LPS/ATS spines to create an interconnected trail system. As habitat for wildlife becomes increasingly fragmented by roads and other development and further affected by environmental factors, many species must rely on wildlife corridors for dispersal to suitable habitats, as well as to find food, water, shelter, and to reproduce. These trails can facilitate wildlife movement between habitats.

The initial concept map for these trails is mapped on Figure 2-10.

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↘ CH. 2: Environment

Protected and Connected Open Spaces

Objectives

• Continue to strategically protect and connect open spaces that:
  • Optimize the ecological value of protected lands and open space.
  • Enhance connectivity between protected lands.
  • Increase public access to natural lands and waterways.
• Continue to implement the Outdoors Plan and the Active Transportation Plan.

Policies

• Prepare the Environmental and Open Space Framework Master Plan to:
  • Comprehensively study solutions that address citywide stormwater, sea level rise, wildlife, and open space needs.
  • Identify strategically important lands to protect through purchase, easements, and/or regulations.
  • Use the City’s Open Space Program to acquire at-risk or strategically located lands vulnerable to sea level rise in the floodplain and to preserve or create open space.
  • Strive for access to high-quality outdoor spaces using the Linear Park/Active Transportation System initiative to coordinate improvements.
  • Develop the Linear Park/Active Transportation System by identifying open space opportunities from the Environmental and Open Space Framework Plan, bike and walking connections in the Active Transportation Plan, and parks and recreational needs in the Outdoors Plan.
• Acquire high-quality park space within a ten-minute walk for residents north of the Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line).
• Prioritize equity when implementing access strategies for parks, beaches, and waterway investments (such as docks, kayak, and boat launches).
• Protect and preserve the City’s parks and recreational areas.
  • Monitor the condition, physical accessibility, and appeal of parks and recreational areas.
  • Implement and update the City’s Outdoors Plan.
• Maintain and provide access to beaches.
  • Maintain the integrity of Virginia Beach’s beaches and dune areas.
  • Actively provide re-nourishment to areas where erosion is persistent and invest in erosion control projects as appropriate.
  • Follow the recommendations as stated in the Beach Management Plan.
• Pursue private ownership dedication of right-of-way easements to resolve questions surrounding public access.
• Explore strategies that make accessing local beaches easier for residents, particularly those outside the Coastal Context Area.
• Use the framework and direction established in the Natural Heritage Technical Report #94-12¹ to guide conservation, stewardship, and planning for ecologically significant areas.

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LINEAR PARK / ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

• Coastal Trail
• Southeastern Parkway Greenway
• Virginia Beach Trail
• West Neck Trail
• Secondary City Trails

ENVIRONMENTAL

• Surface waters
• City parks
• Wetland areas (marsh, swamp, bog, prairie)

MILITARY

CONTEXT AREA BOUNDARIES

• Rural Area Boundary (Blue Line)
• Green Line
• Blue / Green Overlap
• Coastal - Inland

Figure 2-10 — Linear Park / Active Transportation System concept map

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Linear Park / Active Transportation System Spines

Virginia Beach Trail

The Virginia Beach Trail follows the City-owned right-of-way along the Virginia Beach Boulevard corridor that extends from the Norfolk / Virginia Beach city line on the west to the oceanfront on the east. It passes through urban centers (Strategic Growth Areas) and will be designed to reflect the surrounding urban context. Buildings will front the trail, and parks and other recreational and entertainment venues will be located along the trail to promote public interest and activity. The planned build-out for the Virginia Beach Trail is shown on Figure 2-11.

Landscaped stormwater retention improvements can support collecting and treating stormwater from nearby properties.

The Virginia Beach Trail is also an opportunity to identify key properties along the corridor for infill and redevelopment focused on walkability and an urban lifestyle. These sites can support mixed-use development, active ground-floor uses, and improved access for people walking, biking, or using mobility devices.

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Figure 2-11 — Virginia Beach Trail Phases

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Coastal Trail

The Coastal Trail follows the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean coastline from the Norfolk / Virginia Beach city limit to Rudee Inlet. The trail is within the Coastal Context Area and should reflect its design sensibilities. Given the development along its alignment, the trail may need to be incorporated into the rights of way along Shore Drive (US 60) and Atlantic Avenue. In the long term, the trail could be integrated into the Sea Level Wise Program sea walls and reinforced dunes along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.

The Coastal Trail should also intersect or tie in with the existing Cape Henry Trail that runs through First Landing State Park and several neighborhoods in the Bayfront community, which would require coordination with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, businesses, and nearby residents.

The proposed trail alignment mirrors the Chesapeake Bay Southside Loop Trail indicated by the HRTPO Regional Trails Report (2022).

Southeastern Trail

The Southeastern Trail is planned along the former Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt alignment. It will extend from the Chesapeake–Virginia Beach line to an area east of Naval Air Station Oceana. The original Parkway was intended to serve as a high-speed roadway connecting Chesapeake and areas to the west with the Resort Area. The City has since limited potential construction to a segment between Indian River Road and Holland Road.

The City owns portions of the right-of-way and has identified potential uses, including multiuse trails and utilities. While the full roadway may not be built, the Active Transportation Plan includes the Southeastern Trail along this alignment.

The trail would follow the full length of the original route, connecting the Princess Anne Commons Planning Area to the Virginia Beach Trail near the I-264 and Birdneck Road interchange. This link would create a continuous 10-mile corridor between the Resort Area and the sports and entertainment venues in Princess Anne Commons, accessible by walking, running, biking, or rolling.

The right-of-way should include landscaped stormwater retention features. Parks should be located near road crossings to support access and provide places to rest. The Southeastern Trail can move forward independently of any future roadway development.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

West Neck Creek Trail

The West Neck Creek Trail would extend from the Lynnhaven River to the North Landing River along the West Neck Creek. It would cross both the Virginia Beach Trail and the Southeastern Trail. The trail would follow a series of waterways and canals identified in the Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy. Given anticipated flooding and sea level rise effects (see Figure 2-4 and 2-5), the West Neck Creek Trail can complement the City’s response in West Neck floodplain. The trail could be built along at-risk lands, and portions could be integrated into the West Neck Creek flood defense system.

The design feasibility of integrating the trail into the defense system will need to be studied in more detail. Any land acquisition that occurs along the West Neck Creek should consider connecting right-of-way for the West Neck Creek Trail.

Regional Connections

The Linear Park / Active Transportation System would also have regional connections. The Virginia Beach Trail will become part of a more extensive regional multi-use trail network segment. Another regional trail is envisioned along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean coastline (Figure 2-12).

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Figure 2-12 — Hampton Roads trail planning

Map shows imagineVB Linear Park / Active Transportation System links and regional trails supplied from the Hampton Roads PDC for illustrative purposes.

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Linear Park / Active Transportation System Secondary Trails

Secondary trails connect neighborhoods to spine trails and other destinations. They should be designed to support other initiatives (primarily the Sea Level Wise Program) and reflect the surrounding land and development character. In some cases, they may be boardwalks over the waterway. Multiuse parks should be planned and developed at the intersections of spine and waterway trails.

The City should identify and take advantage of future opportunities for incorporating Linear Park / Active Transportation System improvements into other City initiatives, such as natural enhancements and engineering solutions in the Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy. For example, a trail could be developed along the seawall and gates of the Atlantic oceanfront (Figure 2-14). The City will want to incorporate Linear Park / Active Transportation System opportunities in the development of the Environmental and Open Space Framework Master Plan.

Alignment with the Active Transportation Plan

The City’s Active Transportation Plan (last updated 2021) sets out to provide the infrastructure necessary to create a safe, enjoyable environment for walking and cycling in Virginia Beach. The Active Transportation Plan proposes a network of updated trails and routes (Figure 2-13). The Active Transportation Plan’s “Core City Network” includes several important connections and links, including the Virginia Beach Trail, several major north-south corridors that intersect with the Virginia Beach Trail, and two other off-street trails.

The Linear Park / Active Transportation System spines (Figure 2-10) are largely identified on areas already identified as part of the Core City Network from the Active Transportation Plan.

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↗ CH. 2: Environment

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Figure 2-13 — Current Active Transportation Plan proposed routes

↘ CH. 2: Environment

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Atlantic Oceanfront, existing condition

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Atlantic oceanfront structural protection system under flood condition

Figure 2-14 — Diagram showing a shared-use path integrated with seawalls

Images from City of Virginia Beach Sea Level Wise Adaptation Strategies, Watershed Strategies

↘ CH. 2: Environment

Linear Park / Active Transportation System Policies

• Create a Linear Park / Active Transportation System that:

  • Takes advantage of land purchases and protections for other purposes, such as open space preservation, flood protection and wildlife corridors.
  • Integrates with the Active Transportation Plan and Outdoors Plan.
  • Integrates with regional and City trail plans to provide continuous regional recreational trails.

• Acquire and maintain land rights for Linear Park / Active Transportation System trails and trail-side amenities.

  • Prioritize City-ownership of trail land or right-of-way to better ensure the long-term functionality and consistency of the trail system.
  • Pursue external funding opportunities to acquire and build the system.

• Develop a Linear Park / Active Transportation System Alignment Map with the preferred and alternative alignments for the trail system, along with any necessary right-of-way parcel acquisitions that may be required.

• Incorporate the Linear Park / Active Transportation System concepts and map into the Master Transportation Plan and update the Active Transportation Plan and the Outdoors Plan to include the Linear Park / Active Transportation System Alignment Map.

• Use the guidelines for trail-oriented development presented in this chapter when creating the system and regarding applicable developments adjacent to designated trail links.

• Develop refined trail-oriented design standards to guide land uses and the trail system.

• Review and revise zoning and associated rules to allow trail-oriented design standards.

• To enhance ecological value, preserve natural features like trees, wetlands, and wildlife habitats when building trail links.

• Work with the local, regional, state, and federal partners to develop a robust Linear Park / Active Transportation System.

• Work with communities, businesses, and other stakeholders to discuss the potential for trail-oriented development in Virginia Beach.

• Coordinate with the other regional agencies to extend the Southeastern Trail into Chesapeake.

• Promote the completion of regional trail links within the City as identified in the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) Regional Active Transportation Plan.

• As the HRTPO updates its Regional Active Transportation Plan, include information on the Linear Park / Active Transportation System alignments.

• Evaluate rights of way available in the Southeastern Parkway and Trail alignment to determine how the Southeastern Trail and other uses can be collocated and how additional rights of way are needed.

• Monitor trail usage and mode share and commit to regular trail maintenance.

• Consider opportunities for public art and place making along trail links, particularly those opportunities that can serve as history-telling installations.

VB 75 | CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

↘ CH. 2: Environment

The Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) was officially designated as the City Tree of Virginia Beach in 2004. The Southern live oak is native to the Virginia Coastal Plain and is a wind- and salt-spray-resistant tree. Mature live oak trees have canopies reaching up to 120 feet wide. These trees provide the City with natural beauty and shade.

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VB 76 | CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

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