This Day in Henrico History: Nov. 13 – Henrico establishes Chesapeake Bay protection areas
On Nov. 13, 1991, Henrico County established Chesapeake Bay protection areas, bringing new attention to the connection between development along local waterways and the health of the bay.
The county’s program included Resource Protection Areas beside tributaries draining toward the Chesapeake. Its purpose was to limit harm from development, particularly pollution carried into waterways by runoff rather than released from a single discharge point.
The 1991 ordinance revisions incorporated Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay preservation requirements into local development rules. Those requirements included standards for reducing pollutants in stormwater runoff from development projects.
The protected areas became an enduring part of Henrico’s development review system. Two decades later, county planners still traced the program to the November 1991 action when evaluating requests to build near the James River.
The milestone placed local land use decisions within a larger environmental effort: protecting the streams and rivers that carry water from Henrico toward the Chesapeake Bay.
