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Staff previews Greenbrier Area Plan, highlights five transformation districts and implementation tools
Summary
Planning staff and consultants reviewed the Greenbrier Area Plan draft, describing five ‘transformation’ districts, design guidelines, circulation and open-space improvements, and implementation tools including TIF, traffic pro rata, TDR and community development authorities; plan scheduled for council consideration July 15.
Planning Director Jimmy McNamara and consultant leads briefed Chesapeake City Council on June 17 on the draft Greenbrier Area Plan and associated design guidelines, a plan staff described as focused on directing anticipated growth into walkable, mixed-use districts and preserving other parts of the city.
McNamara said the study area (roughly 12 square miles) was assessed with extensive public engagement — “thousands of survey responses” and multiple community meetings — and that staff divided the study area into three broad types (preserve, enhance, transform) and five specific transformation districts: Health Village around Chesapeake Regional medical campus; a Greenbrier Recreation District envisioned for event fields and indoor recreation; the Central Greenbrier District (building on Summit Point success); the Greenbrier Mall regional hub for mixed-use redevelopment; and a Conference District around the Chesapeake Conference Center.
Design guidelines and a circulation plan accompany the draft, McNamara said, with street typologies (vehicular/transit-focused, multimodal, local and main streets), emphasis on multimodal connectivity and on programmed open spaces and linear BMPs. He described specific capital improvement projects, policy changes (zoning, parking, funding tools) and implementation mechanisms that City Council could elect to deploy, including a tax increment financing (TIF) district already in place, a traffic pro rata program, a community development authority (CDA), and a transfer-of-development-rights (TDR) program if enabled by state law revisions.
Council members asked about the TDR program and timing. McNamara said Frederick and Stafford counties in Virginia operate TDR programs and that staff has visited Frederick County to study its approach. He said the city could designate receiving areas (e.g., Greenbrier) and sending areas (e.g., southern Chesapeake) and that a TDR program requires both sending and receiving areas to function. He estimated the plan and related implementation steps could reach adoption and court/legal steps by early next calendar year for some actions, but said the pace of implementation — zoning overlays, CIP projects, TDR adoption — would be determined by council decisions.
McNamara and the consultant emphasized the plan’s objective to strategically accommodate forecast growth in key corridors, to provide infrastructure and housing choices for workers, and to preserve rural and suburban parts of the city by concentrating investment. Staff said the plan is scheduled for council consideration on July 15, when council may choose to adopt the plan document (which would then guide subsequent zoning and policy actions) or to direct further changes.
Ending: McNamara told council the draft plan includes prioritized capital projects, specific policy changes, and design guidelines; adoption would establish the area’s vision and policy framework, after which the council could choose when and how to accelerate implementation through CIP, zoning changes, or TDR. The council did not vote on adoption at the June 17 briefing; the item is scheduled for a July 15 public hearing and decision.
