Votes at a glance: Hampton council adopts four ordinances on lot sizes, parking, permit revocation and stormwater fees

Hampton’s City Council voted unanimously at its July 10 meeting to adopt a package of zoning and administrative changes and an update to stormwater fee language.

Key votes

- Ordinance 26‑0193 (R‑4 minimum lot area): Adopted to comply with Virginia House Bill 1212 by allowing a minimum lot area of 3,000 square feet and a minimum frontage of 30 feet in an existing residential district (R‑4). Staff said the change offers flexibility for denser, older neighborhood lots. (Vote: 7‑0.)

- Ordinance 26‑0188 (parking minimums): Adopted to comply with House Bill 888 (2026). In designated areas within a half‑mile of mass transit (staff identified the Hampton Transit Center and adjacent downtown areas), parking minimums will be reduced (for example, to 0.5 spaces per multifamily unit in the designated area); the ordinance also creates a process for administrative reductions (up to 20%) outside designated areas and removes the prior transit-credit language. Planning staff recommended approval. (Vote: 7‑0.)

- Ordinance 26‑0194 (use-permit revocation and refiling): Adopted to add revocation as an express action in the zoning code and to permit council to consider revocation directly without waiting for a Planning Commission recommendation; the ordinance also prevents reapplication for substantially the same use at the same site for one year after revocation. Staff said the change will speed council’s ability to address public-safety issues tied to use permits. (Vote: 7‑0.)

- Ordinance 26‑0231 (stormwater management and erosion control fees): Adopted to align the city code with state DEQ fee language so that future DEQ fee changes will not require repeated code edits by the city; staff said there is no immediate change to existing city fees but the state’s DEQ fee adjustments will be passed through where applicable. (Vote: 7‑0.)

Most of these items were presented by planning staff and required public hearings; in each case no members of the public had signed up to speak on the ordinance and staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval. The consent agenda approved earlier in the meeting included an FY2027 budget amendment to appropriate approximately $1.1 million from committed fund balance for a one-time 2% bonus; that consent motion also passed unanimously.

What happens next

Staff will publish adopted ordinance texts and administrative guidance for permit applicants. The City Manager and department directors indicated they will coordinate enforcement and implementation details (for example, how administrative parking reductions will be processed and how revocations will be handled procedurally).