Planning Department

Chesterfield County’s Comprehensive Plan Revision

Chesterfield County is undertaking the development of a new countywide comprehensive plan, a revision process that will help solidify the county’s vision for the future. Specifically, the purpose of this revision is to produce a comprehensive plan that will:

• Provide an overall future vision for the county
• Educate the public and promote their involvement in the county’s future
• Guide the wise use of land and resources
• Protect the environment
• Promote employment opportunities
• Preserve established communities
• Guide property owner and developer decisions
• Establish a factual basis for coordinated decisions affecting the future
• Objectively anticipate future needs
• Promote the most cost effective use of tax dollars

What Is a Comprehensive Plan?
Comprehensive plans enable local government officials and citizens to anticipate and deal constructively with changes occurring within their community. Though its format varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the comprehensive plan is a broad effort to address a wide range of community issues and concerns, understanding the important relationships between each part. Virginia state law requires that all local governments have an adopted comprehensive plan. While the planning process can take many forms, some of its most important steps include:

• Collection and analysis of information
• Development of objectives
• Formulation of goals and recommendations
• Consideration of alternative courses of action
• Adoption of a plan
• Adoption of measures to implement the plan

Typical topics addressed in a comprehensive plan include the analysis of population change, land use and economic trends, natural and environmental features, housing, transportation systems, and community facilities and services.

Chesterfield County’s Comprehensive Plan

Chesterfield County’s first comprehensive plan was approved in 1967. The original components of Chesterfield County’s current comprehensive plan, The Plan For Chesterfield, were adopted by the Board of Supervisors between 1983 and 1987. Originally made up of five area plans addressing issues mainly relating to land-use and transportation, the county’s comprehensive plan has evolved into a collection of 21 “area” plans and five “countywide” plans, addressing public facilities, thoroughfares, water quality, etc. While the county’s area plan approach has produced strong community-oriented plans over the years, there is now general agreement that many components of The Plan For Chesterfield are out of date and the plan lacks an overall comprehensive countywide future vision and development strategy, not only for newly growing areas, but for the county’s established communities as well.

The Countywide Comprehensive Plan Revision Process

This new countywide comprehensive plan revision process is anticipated to take at least two years to complete.  The county is working to retain a planning consultant to work with both county staff and the public during the revision process. Because public input is a vital part of a successful planning process, there will be many public meetings, work sessions and workshops. Work to hire a consultant and establish a work program will continue through the fall of 2008. It is anticipated that the public participation process for the countywide comprehensive plan revision will start in the winter of 2009.

Click here for a preliminary scope of work for the comprehensive plan revision process.

Interested in receiving periodic e-mail updates concerning the Chesterfield County comprehensive plan revision? Contact Barbara Fassett, project manager, at FassettB@chesterfield.gov.