The City Council in Norfolk is poised to approve a $2.6 billion project that would construct floodwalls along parts of the waterfront, but people living south of the Elizabeth River are concerned with the process.
Residents of Campostella, Berkley and other historically Black neighborhoods spoke to the council Tuesday about their hang-ups with the project. Specifically, many at this week’s meeting were concerned their communities’ needs would not be fully addressed — while higher-income areas on the other side of the river would see large-scale structural improvements.
Kim Sudderth, member of the Southside Coalition and a member of the city’s Planning Commission, said that decades ago, her home was included in a redlined district that was excluded from government-backed loans and mortgages. When she saw her home and neighborhood would not be included until the fifth and final phase of the project, she became deeply concerned.
“My first thought was ‘Oh, god. It’s happening again. And it’s happening to me,'” she said. “And I’m sure (members of the Council) have been left out of different conversations and opportunities before, so you know how it feels to be left out and told to wait your turn. Being told ‘You’ll be all right.’ It’s hurtful. So I know that this is not (the Council’s) decision. I know that the Army Corps of Engineers use a benefit-cost analysis, and they’re not looking very far past our home values. Those home values that were stunted, almost a century ago.”
In a partnership with the Corps of Engineers, Norfolk would begin the first phase of work from Ghent along the Elizabeth River to the Ohio Creek watershed in the Chesterfield Heights and Grandy Village area. This is split into four projects: constructing a levee from the Berkley Bridge to the Harbor Park pump station; a series of concrete floodwalls that would extend from Harbor Park to Campostella Road near Claiborne Avenue; demolishing the Waterside District’s plaza and reconstructing it at a higher elevation; and additional work on the existing downtown floodwall.
Plans for the second phase include a surge barrier at Pretty Lake to prevent flooding along Shore Drive, with work not beginning until 2024. Phase three includes a surge barrier for the Lafayette River, not beginning until 2027. Phase four includes barriers and floodgates on Broad Creek near Interstate 264 and would not begin until 2028. The entire project is expected to be completed by 2032.
As for neighborhoods on Norfolk’s southside, about 1,000 homes can be placed on higher foundations or have basements filled, which would happen during the fifth phase. Structures such as floodwalls would not be constructed. While speakers said they support the floodwall project as a whole and are glad the city is working to protect against the effects of climate change, they are displeased with the timing for southern neighborhoods in Norfolk.
“Our storm water management struggles to keep up, and as climate change heats up, it will only get worse,” Sudderth said. “(The environmental nonprofit Climate Central) says that in our city, there is over a 66% chance of a 6-foot flood by 2050 due to the combination of sea-level rise and storm surges that’s all driven by climate change. When I heard that there was a plan to protect my home from storm surges, I was relieved until I realized that — where I live in Berkeley — will be in phase five of the project. This is the only phase that does not include structural barriers like sea walls and levees that would direct the water away from my house.”
According to a timeline of the project, the first portion of these property-specific flood mitigation projects on Norfolk’s southside would happen in 2024, with the bulk of the work happening in 2028.
“Our community was not valued to justify the cost to prevent our homes and businesses from flooding,” said Lawrence Brown, president of the Campostella Heights Civic League. “Given that the southside communities are predominantly African American, this decision also, unfortunately, continues that the Army Corps of Engineers’ long history of completing projects that represent the acts of environmental social injustice and inequity, thus negatively impacting Black and Brown communities (and) further marginalizing the communities without considering the impact to the community.”
Councilwoman Andria McClellan said many more discussions will be held about the project, and she thanked the residents of the southside communities for continuing to advocate for equity during the process. McClellan shared a portion of a 2021 letter sent to the Corps by the Environmental Defense Fund outlining a need for projects and studies addressing a flood-risk gap that often puts communities of color in greater danger.
“I hope that we can work together as a community to get the Army Corps to reevaluate this,” she said. “I don’t know that we can necessarily put up a hold on the project because we got the federal dollars coming at us, but what (the residents) are doing is great to bring this up.”
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
