From City Arborist:
I wanted to let you and the SDCC know that three Live Oak trees at the intersection of Tazewell Rd. and East Stratford Rd must be removed soon by Virginia Beach Landscape Management. The city has been monitoring the trees for a few months and carried out crown cleaning. However the soil in the median where the trees are growing is extremely compacted, and this has led to the decline of the trees and canopy dieback. A strength test was performed on these trees which revealed decay within the shell walls of the trunk. We will be replacing these trees with three more Live Oak trees in our next planting season. One tree will go into the center of the median where the soil is less compacted and the other two trees will be planted nearby.
Thank you for helping us inform the neighborhood residents. Please let me know if there are any additional questions.
Best wishes,
Susan
Susan French
City Arborist
Virginia Beach Parks & RecreationLandscape Management Division | 4141 Dam Neck Road | Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Phone 757.385.4076 | Fax 757.427.1895 | sfrench@vbgov.com | VBgov.com/Parks
A couple goals discussed includes staging the live oak lumber some place dry to cure it to create art.
You might have seen live oak lumber used in Brock Environmental Center that was saved from live oaks cut down for a development in Ocean Park to be built. (View some of the art at this link in SDCC.info.)
Other teachable moment opportunities include clearly illustrating why the live oaks had to be cut down and how to ensure yours stay healthy.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 
Sounds like this would be the perfect opportunity to amend the soil in the area so that it will better percolate stormwater and also allow any new plants (hopefully more native plants to keep the new Live Oak company!) to better thrive.