City Specifics

Indian River

Indian River needs Norfolk Highlands Primary kept open, safer travel on Indian River Road, commercial redevelopment, better stormwater management, and protection of older compact neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods and corridors to track

Norfolk Highlands, Georgetown, Indian River Road corridor, South Military Highway corridor, Oaklette, Blue Heron Landing area, former Ford Plant context

Permit-Ready Chesapeake

Many local issues come back to the same bottleneck: residents and small businesses need a clearer path to do normal projects. Preapproved designs and scheduled inspections can reduce confusion, reduce repeated staff review, and help neighborhood businesses open faster.

Read the permitting plan →

Schools and neighborhood planning

Save Norfolk Highlands and school capacity planning

Issues

Norfolk Highlands Primary is proposed for conversion to an early childhood center, which affects NHP, Carver, Portlock, Georgetown, Rena B. Wright, Truitt, Sparrow Road, and Thurgood Marshall attendance zones.
This raises the core issue: neighborhood schools should not be treated as empty buildings on a spreadsheet.
Indian River schools are tied to neighborhood stability and history.

Solutions

Support SaveNorfolkHighlands.com and require a full public alternatives analysis.
Plan school capacity by capacity, travel burden, neighborhood impact, and long-term cost.
Do not close or repurpose a school without proving it is the best plan.

Issue page →

Flooding and drainage

Flooding, ditches, and water quality

Issues

Norfolk Highlands drainage improvements are listed as a resilience project.
Indian River watershed work, storm drains, and water quality are recurring resident concerns.
Flood-sensitive land-use planning needs to be visible before development decisions.

Solutions

Move Norfolk Highlands drainage to the front of the public priority list.
Clean and map storm drains and ditches on a recurring schedule.
Publish flood-sensitive maps before rezonings and capital decisions.

Issue page →

Traffic and road safety

Indian River Road safety

Issues

Indian River Road still carries the design legacy of the old Ford Plant traffic pattern.
Residents identified it as a through-street and called for lower speeds, better sidewalks, and better corridor character.
Oaklette Bridge and South Military Highway also need attention.

Solutions

Make Indian River Road serve neighborhoods first, not pass-through traffic.
Use road diet work, safer crossings, and signal timing to reduce speeds.
Tie all corridor work to school, park, and waterfront access.

Issue page →

Small business and revitalization

Redevelopment and grocery access

Issues

Indian River Shopping Center and older strip centers need reinvestment.
Residents called for a grocery anchor, mixed-use redevelopment, and local small businesses.
Vacant or underused commercial land should absorb growth before older neighborhoods are disrupted.

Solutions

Create an Indian River redevelopment overlay with design rules and small-business support.
Recruit grocery and daily-needs anchors before luxury projects.
Use brownfield and parking-lot redevelopment instead of tearing up stable neighborhoods.

Issue page →

Historic neighborhoods and character

Neighborhood character

Issues

Indian River has older, tree-shaded, connected neighborhoods.
Residents objected to replacing one brick home with two cheap-looking houses.
Preservation here means protecting shape, scale, canopy, and the look of the street.

Solutions

Mandate architectural compatibility for replacement homes.
Protect tree canopy and lot pattern.
Steer density to Indian River Road and South Military Highway, not the inside of neighborhoods.

Issue page →

Basic infrastructure

Transit and senior access

Issues

Residents asked for better public transportation for seniors, students, jobs, medical access, and later evening service.
Older neighborhoods need mobility choices that do not require every trip to be by car.
Bad crossings isolate nearby neighborhoods from each other.

Solutions

Add local circulator or microtransit pilots in older northern communities.
Improve sidewalks to shopping, schools, parks, and transit stops.
Tie transit improvements to redevelopment nodes.

Issue page →