Success Story: Coastal Zoning Regulations
Norfolk, Va., updates zoning regulations to address flooding and sea level rise
Project Purpose
Between 1930 and 2010, relative sea level in Norfolk rose more than one foot. Half of that amount was from sinking land. This change in sea level combined with more frequent heavy precipitation causes recurrent coastal flooding. In response, the City of Norfolk updated its zoning ordinance to manage flooding and promote safer development (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2019).
Quick Facts
- The City of Norfolk used the “Dutch Dialogues” approach to educate and engage residents in envisioning what the region could be if it adapted to flooding.
- The Dutch Dialogues prompted the community to include flood management goals in its short-range and long-range plans. Residents called for an overhaul of the zoning ordinances to try to avoid impacts from more frequent heavy rainfall events, sea level rise and sinking land (The City of Norfolk, n.d.).
- The newly adopted zoning ordinance:
- Requires landscaping to be exclusively salt-tolerant and native species (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2019);
- Implements a Coastal Resilience Overlay Zone and an Upland Resilience Overlay, the latter of which encourages new development to locate on higher ground while supporting preservation of low-ground areas (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2019;
- Uses a scoring system for approving projects that evaluates the project's vulnerability to flood and impact on nearby flooding; and
- Requires development in the 1% annual chance flood zone (referred to as the 100-year flood zone) to be elevated 3 feet above the base flood elevation.
What are Dutch Dialogues?
Dutch Dialogues are a partnership between the Netherlands and the U.S. to offer workshops on addressing water issues in flood-prone coastal cities. The workshops combine Dutch approaches to water management with American expertise on water problems in U.S. cities. Water problems addressed through the Norfolk process included flooding, poor water quality, sea level rise and sinking land (The City of Norfolk, n.d.). Many flood-prone coastal places in the U.S. have used the Dutch Dialogues approach.
Spotlight on Equity
Regulations have the power to improve communities for generations to come. However, they must be tailored to ensure that the costs of redevelopment and new development do not overburden vulnerable members of the community. The same is true in Norfolk, a diverse city with more than 54% of the population made up of people of color (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2013). The median income is below the natural average and many poor residents live in public housing. Norfolk’s Dutch Dialogues discussed Tidewater Gardens, an impoverished Norfolk neighborhood with one of the highest rates of sea level rise in the country — 6 inches since 1992. The City’s flood resilience strategy, Norfolk Vision 2100 (PDF) (2016) identifies Tidewater Gardens as an area of dense development in need of protection. Residents are concerned, however, that the approach will lead to gentrification (Kusnetz, 2028).
| Key Info | |
|---|---|
| Location | Norfolk, Va. |
| Estimated Costs | Unavailable |
| Published | March 1, 2024 |
| Project Contact |
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| City of Norfolk Office of Resilience norfolkrc@norfolk.gov |
| Related Resources |
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- The Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences published a report (PDF) in 2013 on state adaptation to recurring coastal flooding. After reading the report, the City of Norfolk began integrating flood management goals in its general plan, plaNorfolk2030. The plan called for a zoning ordinance overhaul to address flooding and sea level rise.
- To build public support for a new zoning ordinance, the City hosted Dutch Dialogues workshops. The process educated residents, the real estate community and developers on floodplain dangers and management opportunities. The Dialogues, which happened in 2015, also helped participants envision a flood resilient future (The City of Norfolk, n.d.).
- City staff involved developers and real estate agents in drafting the new zoning regulations. As a result, these community members understood the changes and considered them worthwhile.
- The Rockefeller Foundation provided additional technical assistance for community outreach.
- Old Dominion University, among others, helped with ordinance development by analyzing floodplain data.
- In 2016, Norfolk published Norfolk Vision 2100, a long-term strategy to address flooding challenges.
- In 2018, Norfolk adopted new zoning regulations (PDF). These new regulations implement part of Norfolk Vision 2100. They attempt to avoid impacts from more frequent heavy rainfall events, sea level rise and sinking land. The planning department advertised the new regulations by conducting outreach through postcards, virtual meetings and open houses.
More information on the new zoning regulations
The zoning ordinance creates an Upland Resilience Overlay Zone. The Upland Resilience Overlay encourages development on higher ground and preserving undeveloped, flood-prone properties. To do so, the Overlay awards resilience quotient points to projects on high ground and to those that use a conservation easement or other legal instrument to preserve at-risk properties (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2019).
Resilience quotient points
The zoning scoring system requires new development and redevelopment applications to meet a minimum point threshold, or “quotient,” for approval. The system awards points for meeting standards for flood and energy resilience, as well as stormwater management. The ordinance includes pre-drafted resilient standards a developer can use to avoid going through the typical site plan review process. Developers may choose not to use the scoring system and instead meet a greater stormwater standard to obtain site plan approval (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2019).
The new zoning ordinance also creates a Coastal Resilience Overlay Zone. Proposed developments in the Coastal Resilience Overlay Zone must be elevated 3 feet above the mapped base flood level (called a “freeboard” requirement). This requirement is a 2-foot increase over the previous freeboard regulation.
- The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission sponsored the Dutch Dialogues process.
- The project received technical assistance from the Rockefeller Foundation, Old Dominion University and additional local environmental groups.
Norfolk Planning Department, Rockefeller Foundation, Old Dominion University, Norfolk City Council
- The resilience quotient offers a flexible, points-based system. The system gives points to new development for techniques of their choosing, so long as they reduce flood risks, conserve energy and manage stormwater.
- About half of new developments are using the new scoring system, while the other half are still adhering to older, more standard approaches in the ordinance.
Make adhering to new standards easy. Dedicate resources to educating residents on the need for the standards and how they protect the community.
Kusnetz, N. (2028, May 21). Retrieved from Inside Climate News: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21052018/norfolk-virginia-navy-sea-level-rise-flooding-urban-planning-poverty-coastal-resilience/
The City of Norfolk. (n.d.). Dutch Dialogues Virginia: Life at Sea Level. Retrieved from https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=5887c8fa1c754366bed999eb0c9b9f8a
The Pew Charitable Trusts. (2019, November 19). Norfolk's Revised Zoning Ordinance Aims to Improve Flood Resilience. Retrieved from https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2019/11/norfolks-revised-zoning-ordinance-aims-to-improve-flood-resilience
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2013). Populations at Risk: Norfolk. Retrieved from Headwaters Economics: https://headwaterseconomics.org/par