Title
Comprehensive Plan Amendment to Adopt the 2023 Downtown Hampton, Phoebus, & Buckroe Water Plan by Reference into the Hampton Community Plan (2006, as amended)
Purpose
Background Statement:
The Downtown Hampton, Phoebus, & Buckroe Water Plan represents the next step in a series of ongoing planning efforts to increase the City of Hampton’s resilience. This Plan offers an opportunity to demonstrate how Hampton can adapt to deal with stormwater and projected climate changes at its tidal waterfronts and in its historic urban cores.
The variety of projects recommended within this Plan are designed to slow and store rainwater, adapt buildings and infrastructure, and buffer and defend the coastal edges. These projects were designed based on each study area’s topography, risk, and vulnerability data in order to identify a place-specific resiliency vision. The design process began with data analysis covering a broad rage of topics including water patterns and elevation, soils, property flood losses, tree canopy, critical infrastructure, and socioeconomic drivers among others. This analysis was followed by a series of design charrette workshops that engaged citizens, community leaders, and local and national experts. While the Plan identifies over a dozen projects and programs, four are intended to be priority projects: Downtown Waterfront Defense, Downtown Water Management District, Mellen Green Street Demonstrations, and Long Creek Blueway.
Adoption of the Water Plan is critical to achieving the resilience goals outlined in the Hampton Community Plan and implementing the land use policies regarding allocating appropriate space and storage for water, recognizing water as an asset, and aligning land use codes and ordinances with Hampton’s resiliency goals.
The Downtown Hampton, Phoebus, and Buckroe Water Plan is available on the Planning Commission webpage at the following link: https://hampton.gov/DocumentCenter/View/42569/Downtown-Hampton-Phoebus-and-Buckroe-Water-Plan
Recommendations:
Rec
Staff Recommendation:
Approve
Planning Commission Recommendation:
Approve