How the land is managed and used for development impacts a community’s growth and its regional, local, and personal transportation options. Land-use laws and guidelines, land-use patterns and development designs -- urban, suburban, rural -- auto-based development, pedestrian friendly development, and property rights all impact local and regional transportation modes and systems.

Land-Use Laws  -  State and Municipal:

Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, and the Dillon Rule is the basis of Municipal Law and defines local government powers. The Code of Virginia determines Virginia land-use, and a city’s Comprehensive  Plan is a general guide for land-use planning and zoning.  Because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, the Virginia General Assembly regulates land-use, and city governments must adhere to what is allowed. Two Virginia Codes affecting land-use include:  1) § 15.2-2223.1 which determines that cities must have a Comprehensive Plan, and 2) § 15.2-2223 which determines that each plan will include principles of new urbanism. City officials are responsible for land-use planning and zoning.

Land Use and Transportation: The Virginia Department of Transportation is responsible for the planning, funding decisions, and construction of new highways, bridges and tunnels and the “types and pattern of development influence and impact travel patterns and demand for transportation facilities”

(VDOT website).  The City of Virginia Beach’s Master Transportation Plan is a framework for the future of transportation in Virginia Beach (see section 6.10 – Land Use and Transportation).  Transportation- related concerns like increased congestion, public transportation, roadway funding and infrastructure are all considered in the planning process.

Land Use and Virginia Beach:  Land-Use Patterns: The City of Virginia Beach Comprehensive Plan “serves as the official land use planning policy for the City of Virginia Beach.” The City of Virginia Beach uses four land-use patterns: Natural Environment, Rural, Suburban, and Urban, and has identified five categories as Special Areas . As of 2007, the plan must also “identify urban development areas which this plan does through the use of Strategic Growth Areas (SGA's) (see also the interactive map) and must incorporate principles of New Urbanism and Neo-Traditional Development” (1-1, Comprehensive Plan). Transportation considerations in urban areas focus on Transit Oriented Development (TOD), which means transit-centered, walkable, compact, and mixed-use development.  Some of the transportation considerations for suburban areas focus on having a feeder bus system that ties into the city’s overall transit system, park-and-ride areas, and creating safe streets with traffic calming measures.

Tags: Dillon Rule | Land Use | Master Transportation Plan | New Urbanism | Smart Growth | Strategic Growth Areas | Traffic Calming