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Chesapeake City Council adopts Chesapeake 2045 comprehensive plan, emphasizing housing and environment
Summary
Chesapeake City Council voted 9-0 to adopt the Chesapeake 2045 comprehensive plan, a 20-year guidance document that updates land-use, transportation and environmental goals; staff will dispatch follow-up reports addressing specific neighborhood concerns raised during public comment.
Chesapeake — The City Council unanimously approved the Chesapeake 2045 comprehensive plan, a policy document intended to guide land use and capital projects for the next two decades.
Planning Director McNamara described the plan as a “robust action-oriented plan” that carries forward previous policy while adding new guidance on infrastructure, green-space preservation, complete-streets principles, climate resilience and tree protection. Staff recommended adoption of the version dated 01/20/2026.
Speakers were split. Robert Ross of the Chesapeake Sustainability Network praised the plan’s environmental policies and attention to tree preservation and living shorelines while urging additional measures on native landscaping. Bill Young, chair of a housing task force, urged adoption for its housing chapter and alignment with local economic priorities. Several residents raised concerns about the plan’s road-widening proposals — especially Volvo Parkway — notification of affected homeowners and the aspirational nature of some policy goals.
City Manager and staff told council the Volvo Parkway widening concept had appeared in previous plans and that the 2045 plan does not commit the city to immediate capital projects; staff said they would prepare a report describing options, funding and necessary regulatory changes for affected neighborhoods. Councilmembers characterized the comprehensive plan as aspirational guidance that would inform, but not mandate, future rezoning or CIP actions.
Councilmember comments praised the staff’s outreach and asked for additional attention to conservation landscaping, public art, and specific timelines for plan policies. After debate, council voted 9-0 to adopt the resolution repealing the 2035 plan and adopting the 2045 plan and its attachments.
What’s next: Staff will dispatch a follow-up report to council outlining actions and policy changes needed to implement specific plan elements and to clarify the implications for neighborhoods concerned about road projects.
