As Chesapeake farmland is harvested for developments, the city grapples with legal loopholes

Chesapeake Faces Challenges in Preserving Agricultural Heritage

In the city’s official seal, a farmer with a plow and a worker holding a wrench shake hands in front of a backdrop that includes open fields but also factories and shipping facilities.

The image is symbolic of a city that’s championed its rural and agricultural heritage since its establishment in the 1960s while looking toward a future of growth. To that end, major residential development in Chesapeake’s agriculturally zoned land has been prohibited since the 1980s to help preserve the rural character and protect a historic green belt. Today, the city estimates about 960,000 acres of the city’s land is zoned for agriculture.

The Loophole in Zoning Laws

But a loophole is allowing developers to skirt the typical level of city scrutiny and build in historically rural areas with greater density than would otherwise be allowed. The development tactic creates a quandary for Chesapeake as the city’s population grows: continue to let landowners subdivide agricultural land with minimal say in the matter or curtail the practice to preserve the city’s agricultural heritage.

City leaders have discussed addressing this zoning loophole since at least the 1990s, but the issue became a glaring one in recent years due to the sprouting of 100 new homes along Sanderson and Cedarville roads in southern Chesapeake. It spurred a meeting last year among city leaders, who anticipated it would ultimately cost the city nearly $1.28 million in the long run because no proffers were offered to offset the impact to city services.

The loophole developments are allowed by-right, meaning they are permitted under zoning laws and handled administratively with no public hearing or legislative action required by the Planning Commission or City Council. They allow landowners to “string together” provisions for agricultural subdivisions and minor subdivisions to create higher density development akin to major subdivisions.

“It’s when you’re linking them together that we’re getting the issue,” said Chesapeake Planning Director James McNamara. “It leads to a major subdivision when you look at all the parts of the whole.”

Population Growth and the Impact on Land Use

Cities with land to offer, like Chesapeake, can count on growth. It became the second most populous city in the commonwealth in 2020 after its population increased by more than 10% in the previous decade. As the population grows, the influx of by-right developments is putting pressure on city leaders to consider rethinking their long-term vision for land use across the city, especially as more and more farmland is plucked.

“Long gone are the days where we can just develop wherever we want to,” said City Council member Don Carey. “We’re getting to the point where the urban, the suburban and the rural areas are starting to butt up against each other.”

How By-Right Developments Work

Developing by-right means no rezoning request is needed because the use is allowed under the land’s current zoning designation, which allows landowners to subdivide their land into more parcels over time without the same level of scrutiny as other large development projects.

For example, a landowner may approach the city with a desire to subdivide property into three parcels to create an agricultural subdivision, which has to be used for “bona fide agricultural” purposes for one year, such as the production and harvesting of animals or crops.

Then the landowner can subdivide each of those parcels into five lots, leading to 15 total lots — effectively creating a “major” subdivision in an area primarily dedicated to agricultural use.

Since 2015, the city has received 22 applications for agricultural subdivisions, with nearly 70 parcels created as a result. But those nearly 70 parcels grew to 130 following additional subdivisions. Another handful of agriculture subdivisions are pending.

The city’s rural overlay district, which prohibits major subdivisions and calls for low intensity development in southern Chesapeake, contains a little more than 153,000 acres. In 1995, approximately 66,000 acres were used for active or inactive farming operations. Today, almost 30,000 acres have transitioned to primarily residential uses, according to data presented by the city last year.

“I think that as folks continue to look towards the future, people are aging out and they’re looking at what options they have with their land,” McNamara said. “And it’s options like, do you continue to farm? Do you, perhaps, engage with a solar farm? Because that’s a popular option these days. Do you look to develop the property, and essentially cash out? Do you look to grow houses at that point in time?”

The Challenges of Development

By-right developments have cropped up along major roadways in Chesapeake’s southern corridor and the Highway 17 corridor, with Ballahack, Sanderson, Indian Creek and Cedarville roads harboring some of the most prominent. They can be seen during a drive along the curvy, country roads primarily intended to support light traffic and some farming equipment.

Now those roads, some unmarked, leave some drivers hugging a nearly nonexistent shoulder as they pass other vehicles or struggle to turn around. Some minor improvements to road shoulders and drainage connections are required in creating agriculture subdivisions since they still involve basic inspections and regulations required by law. But more homes created this way means an increase in school enrollment, traffic and city services, like trash pickup, and fire and emergency response — all without any requirement that the developer contribute resources to mitigate the impact as a condition of approval.

It’s an issue Heather Barlow was especially passionate about during her single term on the Chesapeake Planning Commission, with a chief concern that the rural overlay is “increasingly becoming suburban without rezoning.” Barlow said the rest of the city, as a result, ends up covering the cost of the needed infrastructure improvements, funneling resources out of urban and suburban areas to support by-right residential development in the rural overlay.

It ends up costing the city millions in the long run, though it’s challenging for the city to estimate how much since no analyses are conducted to determine the impact on local schools, roads, infrastructure and public safety services.

In rezoning requests, developers often make proffers, which are voluntary conditions that lay out expectations for how the site will be developed, with proposals from the developer intended to minimize impact. They could include the installation of new traffic signals to mitigate congestion,

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs Addressed or Connected to the Issues Highlighted in the Article:

1. SDG 2: Zero Hunger
2. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
3. SDG 15: Life on Land

Specific Targets Based on the Article’s Content:

• Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding, and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
• Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated, and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.
• Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
• Target 15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.

Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article:

• Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture.
• Indicator 11.3.1: Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate.
• Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area.
• Indicator 15.2.1: Progress towards sustainable forest management.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: pilotonline.com

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