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Council explores zoning changes, incentives and workforce strategies for resilience
Summary
Council discussed possible zoning and tax tools, the city's 3-foot freeboard requirement, community-rating insurance incentives, transfer-of-development-rights and internship/term-hire strategies to boost staff capacity for resilience work.
Council members pressed staff about how local policy and incentives could support resilient development. Staff noted Hampton’s existing 3-foot freeboard requirement for structures in the flood plain and described stormwater-code updates requiring on-site capture and modern retention practices; staff also flagged community-rating-system benefits that can lower homeowner insurance premiums when communities adopt resilience-oriented standards.
Councilors raised ideas to promote resilience through economic tools (tax incentives, wetlands banking, transfer of development rights) and workforce development (expanded internships with Hampton University, ODU, Virginia Tech and local community colleges, term and project hires, and use of external project managers). Staff said they have worked with universities on design projects but warned that growing grant volume requires additional internal staffing or outsourcing to manage applications and contracts.
