Chesapeake planners outline vision for Deep Creek small-area plan after broad community input

City planning staff and their consultant presented an initial vision for the Deep Creek small-area plan during the Chesapeake City Council work session on Jan. 28, describing a months-long public outreach program and four “opportunity areas” where the team expects more detailed recommendations.

The presentation, led by Devin Simpson, consultant project manager with Kimley Horn, said the planning team’s study area covers the Deep Creek and Camelot planning areas and totals roughly 33 square miles. Simpson said the team has gathered more than 800 survey responses and completed multiple community and stakeholder meetings since the project kickoff last July.

Simpson said traffic emerged clearly as the community’s top concern: “I would be remiss not to mention that traffic is the number 1 concern that we hear from folks.” He described the plan as a component of the city’s comprehensive plan intended to add neighborhood-scale detail on mobility, housing, retail access and waterfront activation.

The project team distilled public input into five guiding principles — preservation, accessibility, connectivity, community empowerment and balanced responsible progress — and identified four opportunity areas for more focused work: the George Washington corridor, the South Military Highway corridor, Deep Creek Village (centered near Deep Creek Lock Park and the old school site), and Culpeper Landing. The team said it is looking at pedestrian and bicycle connections, pedestrian crossings, and the potential to add local retail and gathering spaces while being mindful of existing residential neighborhoods.

Director McNamara (Planning) explained the plan assumes long-term bridge construction in the area will be complete and that the team is using that assumption to model future connectivity and traffic patterns. The presentation also noted the team is reviewing previous recommendations from the South Military Highway corridor study and has begun informal talks with the Army Corps of Engineers about linear trail and over-canals crossing ideas in Culpeper Landing.

Council members responded with questions and local perspective. Council member Ward, who said she is a former Deep Creek resident, thanked staff and added, “I was glad also to hear you're really, really looking at transportation, traffic, because it is a place where I travel almost daily,” noting frequent crashes and congestion near George Washington Highway. Council member Smith said, “I happen to live in the Deep Creek area, so it needs a lot of TLC,” and asked about the village concept and the large cleared parcel along the corridor. Council member Ritter asked whether the study extends to Sunray; staff replied it does and that the Sunray area expressed a preference to remain largely unchanged.

Next steps, Simpson said, include a spring round of pop-up public outreach at community events, a draft plan and implementation strategy in summer, and a return to the council to begin the formal adoption process in the fall.

The presentation materials provided to council summarize the engagement to date and list the guiding principles, the four opportunity areas and the engagement timeline. Staff said no formal decisions were requested at the work session — the presentation was an informational briefing to gather council input before additional outreach and draft plan work.

Officials urged residents to watch for the spring pop-up schedule and materials as the team moves from visioning to drafting recommendations.