Planning commission backs smaller Nansemond SWIFT plant and approves access-bridge exception for HRSD

The Suffolk Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of an amended conditional use permit (CUP2025001) for Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s (HRSD) Nansemond SWIFT (Sustainable Water Initiative For Tomorrow) enhancement and, in a separate vote, to grant an exception to the city’s Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area rules to allow a vehicular access bridge and associated utility conduits to cross the 100-foot resource protection area buffer.

Staff Planner Gonzalo Borge told commissioners the CUP request would amend previously approved conditions to allow a reduced plant footprint — shrinking total building floor area from about 100,606 square feet to roughly 82,391 square feet — while keeping the facility’s permitted maximum treatment capacity of 50 million gallons intact. Borge said the proposal includes process buildings, chemical buildings, pumps and enclosures, and six managed aquifer recharge wells; staff concluded the project meets UDO criteria and recommended approval with mitigation conditions.

The project’s supporters emphasized…