Every issue we follow, what's happening now, and what happened when residents spoke up. Big decisions often take several votes over many months, so each issue tells the whole story in one place.
Active campaigns
VB National Golf Club
What's happening: The developer needs a rezoning to build 659 homes next to the course. The Planning Commission will vote Dec. 9. City Council votes after that.
Our ask: Planning Commission, recommend denial. City Council, leave the final vote to the newly elected Council in January.
How we got here
August 2026. We asked: vote no on selling the course.
What happened: Council approved the deal's terms 9-2 on Aug. 11. The sale can't close until the land is rezoned, which is why the fight continues.
What we're watching
ITA Master Plan update
A draft plan would open about 368 acres in southern Virginia Beach to industry before the City has rules for data centers. It's waiting on a Planning Commission hearing. No action is needed yet.
How we got here
Spring 2026. We asked: slow down, finish the cost analysis and update the zoning rules for industrial uses, including data centers, before expanding industry.
What happened: In June, Council unanimously backed rejecting large data centers, and a Council member cited the many emails residents had sent (WTKR). In August, Council paused new data center applications while the City writes rules (WTKR). The plan itself went back for revisions.
Decisions residents weighed in on
Not every vote goes the way residents hope. But every email and every person at a hearing shows City leaders that people are paying attention, and that shapes the decisions that come next.
Back Bay Farmhouse rezoning (Sept. 2026)
We asked: delay the vote and make the developer, not taxpayers, pay for pedestrian safety on Kempsville Road.
What happened: Council delayed 30 days. The developer is now required to pay $600,000 toward a pedestrian signal, up from $100,000. Council approved the apartments 9-1 on Sept. 15. Full story
West Neck and former Signature golf course rezoning (March 2026)
We asked: vote no on rezoning the former golf course for housing.
What happened: Council approved 143 homes for residents 55 and older and a nine-hole course, 9-2, on March 24 (WHRO).
2040 Comprehensive Plan (spring 2026)
We asked: keep the Transition Area's limits on growth south of the Green Line.
What happened: Council adopted the plan in April 2026 over strong public objection, opening the door to denser development in areas that can't support it (City of Virginia Beach).
Responsible Growth 757
Virginia Beach is one part of a larger, wonderful Hampton Roads community. Traffic, flooding and growth don't stop at city lines, so we're glad to help neighbors in other Hampton Roads cities speak up, too.
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).