Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act

In 1985 the Virginia members of the Chesapeake Bay Commission urged the General Assembly to fund a policy dialogue group to focus on land use issues and the Bay/ The 1986 General Assembly did so, and, as a result, a group of legislators, farmers, industrialists, developers, local government officials, environmentalists, and citizen activists convened to form the Chesapeake Bay Land Use Roundtable. In November 1987 this group issued findings and recommendations calling for the clarification of state land use policy and local land use powers, minimum standards for sensitive shoreline environments, state consistency and advisory requirements, increased coordination between state agencies and local governments, and state technical and financial assistance to local governments. They also asked for a new citizen board to oversee these new requirements.