Neighbors helping neighbors
Virginia Beach is one part of a larger, wonderful Hampton Roads community. Our roads, waterways, flood risks and jobs are shared, and a decision in one city can shape life in the next.
Responsible Growth 757 is how we help residents across Hampton Roads understand growth decisions in their own city and speak up before they’re made.
Open to every Hampton Roads city
Whether you live in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News or a neighboring community, we’d love to hear from you. If a land-use or growth decision is coming up where you live, reach out.
How we can help
- Explain what a proposal means in plain language
- Share how public hearings work and how to speak at them
- Help draft emails residents can send to their own City leaders
- Connect you with neighbors who care about the same issue
What neighbors have done together
Chesapeake data center rules (summer 2026)
We asked: Chesapeake leaders to think carefully about whether large data centers fit the city. If the City moved forward, we asked for firm protections: no data centers in the rural Fentress area, a cap on how much power any one substation can supply to data centers, stronger noise limits, and bigger buffers between data centers and homes. Residents sent comments ahead of the Planning Commission’s July 8 public hearing.
What happened: On Aug. 18, Chesapeake City Council voted unanimously to remove the Fentress Airfield area from consideration and to end “by-right” data centers, which means future data centers need the City’s case-by-case approval instead of being allowed automatically (WHRO).
Source documents: Chesapeake Data Center Ordinance & Policy (City of Chesapeake) · Draft ordinance, June 17, 2026 · Draft policy, June 17, 2026
Every city’s decisions are made by its own leaders and residents. We’re here to help you be heard in yours.
Part of Responsible Growth VB
Responsible Growth 757 grew out of Responsible Growth VB, a citizen-led group of Virginia Beach residents working for transparent, responsible growth decisions. See what we’re working on in Virginia Beach.