VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach city leaders are updating their comprehensive plan for 2040 through a series of meetings with the public. But how do we predict what will occur that far in the future?
To find out, News 3 talked with Chris Sinclair, President of the Renaissance Planning Group. He's been putting together comprehensive plans like these since the 1980's, and Renaissance are contracted to help out with the City of Virginia Beach.
“Most of the roads that you see in the city of VB now were planned in the 70’s or 80’s," he said.
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Sinclair says that when city leaders were making plans like these decades ago, they thought cars would dominate travel. But now, Sinclair thinks public feelings are shifting in that regard.
“Not much thought was given to walking or using transit," he told News 3. "And then what’s happened in Virginia Beach and probably most other jurisdictions since the 70’s and 80’s. They’ve all grown in a car-centric way."
Even though this is a plan for 2040, it will be updated every five years.
“We have several amendments to the comprehensive plan since it was adopted in 2016," said Virginia Beach's Comprehensive Planning Administrator, Hank Morrison.
The main focuses are broadening the methods of transportation in the city, increasing protections for flooding, and keeping construction projects north of the city's 'green line' so they don't develop over the more rural southern part of the city.
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“Most of that is residential neighborhoods," Sinclair said. "So where do you grow within that framework? It is going to be along the major roads where there is the strip commercial shopping centers and things like that."
After the pandemic, both Sinclair and Morrison say that people want to connect more. Whether it requires turning shopping centers into mixed-use areas or putting more bike paths and walking trails around the city.
“We need to get input from the residents and make sure the comprehensive plan is actually supported by them," Morrison continued. "It’s hard to get things adopted when it’s not supported by the community."
There will be another meeting on Thursday, May 16, at Kellam High School. Morrison says they'll also make a virtual presentation available in June for those who couldn't attend any of the meetings.
