Chesapeake, Suffolk brief council on plan to formalize long-standing boundary

Deputy City Manager Bridal Solis told Chesapeake City Council on June 17 that the city and the City of Suffolk are preparing to formalize a long-standing “working boundary” along the northwestern Pewsville area and described a schedule of surveys, public outreach and legal steps. Solis said the draft line formalizes assessor practice that has, over decades, treated adjacent parcels as belonging to one city or the other.

Solis said the line shown on the jointly prepared map is largely a stair-step boundary reflecting assessor agreements and that about a dozen small, undeveloped, wooded parcels fronting platted but unbuilt “paper streets” would move from Chesapeake to Suffolk for assessment purposes; he said there are no residents, businesses, students or registered voters on those parcels. “So those are streets that are platted but are not, developed as roadways yet,” Solis said.

City attorney Catherine Lindley summarized the legal steps the cities will follow: a cost-sharing agreement the council will consider next Tuesday to fund surveying, legal and outreach expenses; drafting a boundary line agreement with meets-and-bounds descriptions and plats; public hearing notice and property-owner notice; a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign the boundary-line agreement; and, if adopted, recording and filing a petition with the circuit court to make the boundary lawful and part of the land records. “When we move forward and we're ready to present it to council, we do have to advertise it as a public hearing. We have to give notice to affected property owners and then we have to present it to you,” Lindley said.

Solis said public outreach will include an online map tool Suffolk has prepared so residents can enter an address and see the boundary, and joint webpages and FAQ materials for the two cities. He said surveyors will place temporary field markers this summer and that real-estate assessors from each city will reconcile back taxes for any parcels that change assessment jurisdiction. Solis described physical markers — e.g., manhole covers or storm structures — as typical permanent meets-and-bounds references once the line is recorded.

Council members asked about ownership and notification. Solis said owners of the roughly 12 parcels are a mix of private individuals, some owning multiple lots, and that some parcels have unpaid back taxes; he said the city will notify all affected property owners by mail as required by statute and will try to reconcile any owner-supplied title information during survey. Council member Ritter asked specifically “Who owns the 12 properties in question?” and Solis replied they are in private ownership and that owners “absolutely will be contacted.”

Solis and an official from Suffolk, Kevin Hughes, described community open houses planned for September and said the agencies expect surveying activity this summer. Lindley said the cities would rely on the statutory procedure for boundary-line agreements and court recording to finalize the change.

The briefing did not present a final boundary agreement for council action; Solis said the first formal item will be a cost-sharing agreement for the city manager to sign, scheduled as an action item at the next council meeting. The council did not take a vote on the subject at the June 17 meeting.

Ending: Staff said the effort is intended to align legal records with assessor practice while limiting disruption to residents and businesses; council members and staff said they would return with the proposed cost-sharing agreement and outreach materials in the next meeting cycle.