Virginia Beach planning commission backs Imagine VB2040, with minor late edits

The Virginia Beach Planning Commission on March 11 recommended that City Council adopt the Imagine VB2040 comprehensive plan, a multi-chapter update staff said reflects thousands of public comments and more than 100 engagement events.

Staff said the plan, posted publicly Feb. 18, consolidates land-use guidance for four context areas, seven policy chapters and place-type design guidance and promotes infill and redevelopment around strategic growth areas while protecting existing single-family neighborhoods with buffer standards. "Staff is recommending adoption of the Imagine VB2040 comprehensive plan," Comprehensive Planning Administrator Hank Morrison told the commission.

Why it matters: The plan aims to guide growth for the next two decades by steering higher-density development toward strategic growth areas, encouraging a wider range of housing types and bolstering multimodal transportation. Staff stressed the plan is coordinated with a pending update to the Master Transportation Plan (MTP); commissioners asked staff to flag that the city will incorporate data from the HRTPO 2050 regional model when it becomes available.

What commissioners changed: After questions and public comment, the commission approved the draft with several targeted edits requested by council and staff, including clarifications on broadband partnerships and manufactured housing language. The commission also agreed to rename one context-area label at City Council’s request before forwarding the plan. The commission’s action was a recommendation; City Council must take the final vote.

What’s next: Staff said the MTP will be updated when regional travel-demand data are released and that many zoning-code references will be amended in a separate housekeeping text change. The plan’s adoption will be followed by a multi-year process to update the zoning ordinance and implement the policies through site- and neighborhood-level actions. "We will return with the transportation updates once the regional data are available," Morrison said.

Who said what: "This project is the culmination of thousands of survey responses," Morrison said. Planning staff emphasized the plan’s objectives to support attainable housing, reduce sprawl and protect agricultural and rural lands south of the rural boundary.

The commission voted 8–3 in favor of the recommendation to adopt Imagine VB2040 and to forward it to City Council with the agreed clarifications and additions. City Council will act next.