If you would like to make a matched contribution, use the link below and forward your email confirmation to the OPCL Treasurer or board member by Jan 31.
OPCL is matching up to $1,000.
Learn more about The Lawsuit & GoFundMe info here.
$19,505 has been raised so far.
Email update:
Folks/Bradford-Chubb Project Followers:
The City of Virginia Beach’s Public Works – Stormwater Engineering has scheduled a virtual open house meeting for the Lake Bradford / Chubb Lake (CIP 7-053) project on Thursday, November 12, 2020 between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. For information to join the meeting virtually, please visit the project website: http://www.vbgov.com/LakeBradford.
Due to the Covid-19 public health crisis this meeting will not be held in-person and instead we will utilize a virtual platform to host this meeting and continue providing project updates and introduce the upcoming construction projects.
As most of you know, we held an open house/public meeting in November 2019 to hear from residents in the area regarding their flooding concerns and to assist in developing a program of drainage improvements. We received valuable input and feedback from the community and are looking forward to our continued coordination.
Since we met last November, the City and RK&K have made progress on the drainage study and develop a concept of improvements to help mitigate flooding. This concept requires further analysis and the drainage study is anticipated to be completed by the end of next summer.
This will be an informal open house public meeting and will begin with a 30 minute presentation providing an update on the Lake Bradford/Chubb Lake Drainage Study as well as introduce the upcoming Lake Pleasure House Outfall and Lake Bradford Dredging construction projects. Public Works representatives from the City of Virginia Beach will be available to answer questions via the virtual platform following the presentation.
After the presentation, we request attendees complete an online survey to provide feedback on the presentation as well as any comments or concerns for the upcoming construction projects. A link to this online survey will be provided on the project website. Our previous survey was very successful and provided valuable input on flooding concerns in the area.
Again, we want to thank each and every one of you who have participated in some way: attending the meeting, marking maps, taking the survey, emailing us your thoughts and comments, and all the other ways you have contributed. We feel strongly that this can be a very successful project with your suggestions and feedback.
Please contact us at lakebradford@vbgov.com with your comments and questions. Also, go to our website at http://www.vbgov.com/lakebradford for updated information.
If you have any pictures of flooding, please email them to stormpics@vbgov.com. Please include the location, date, and time the picture was taken.
Again, thank you for your participation in this project and we look forward to continue working with all of you. Please stay safe during this difficult time.
Matthew Richardson, Project Manager
Lake Bradford / Chubb Lake Drainage Study (CIP #7-053).
Public Works – Engineering
757-385 -4131
Local coverage of THE LAWSUIT against WCCB & City of Virginia Beach continues at Virginian-Pilot:
“If this decision is allowed to stand, it could set a precedent for City Council to ignore zoning regulations in any neighborhood in any part of the city,”
View story including video at 13NewsNow.com:
“hold city council accountable for what the codes, and rules and guidelines are”
First coverage at 13NewsNow.com:
In the last six days, a GoFundMe launched to raise money for the petitioners has raised more than $13,000.
Westminster Canterbury Expansion-Stop City Council GoFundMe FUNDRAISER link:
Virginia Beach City Council has approved plans to allow a 22 story building expansion of Westminster Canterbury. This will create a structure rivaling Town Center and potentially supporting other high rise development in the Bayfront neighborhoods along Shore Drive. This precedent setting decision was based solely on the opinions of 5 Council Members and not based on quantifiable City codes or requirements.
VIEW LAWSUIT v. VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL, CITY of VIRGINIA BEACH, WESTMINSTER-CANTERBURY on Chesapeake Bay ( 29 page PDF )
Join us & many others who don’t want to see the Shore Drive community & potentially other areas of Virginia Beach have an explosion of density & high rises due to this arbitrary decision made by 5 people.
Westminster Canterbury Expansion-Stop City Council GoFundMe FUNDRAISER link:
Virginia Beach City Council has approved plans to allow a 22 story building expansion of Westminster Canterbury. This will create a structure rivaling Town Center and potentially supporting other high rise development in the Bayfront neighborhoods along Shore Drive. This precedent setting decision was based solely on the opinions of 5 Council Members and not based on quantifiable City codes or requirements.
In 2003, a thoughtful City Council, after learning more about how Bayvista’s(FORT WORTH DEVELOPMENT INC) original Approval would negatively affect the Shore Drive community because of it’s “mass, density” & “precedent setting” nature – worked on RECONSIDERATION.
View August 12th ’03 City Council Minutes Bayvista Approval
Note: Original Approval was won by 1 vote.
City Council August 26 ’03 Reconsideration first discussion PDF
View November ’03 City Council Agenda for RECONSIDERATION discussion
View November ’03 City Council Minutes of Bayvista Formal Session
Story including video at 13NewsNow Ali Weatherton report.
Mayor Bobby Dyer said his goal is to form a group with community members and the developer to talk about the plans and to keep everyone in the loop.
That’s great news Mayor!
That group being formed now would only makes sense if City Council voted to RECONSIDER.
Horse leaving the barn already & all that.
Bay Vista on Shore Drive in Ocean Park was RECONSIDERED in 2003.
“Mass, density” & “precedent setting” were several items RECONSIDERED by a thoughtful City Council once they learned more.
Councilmember Sabrina Wooten said, “Thank you for your inquiry. Please note that I have not been briefed on this matter in detail. I am not aware that the vote was ruled or determined to be unfair in any way. Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.”
We’d love your reply Councilmembers:
Council Members Berlucchi and Wooten should explain their reasons for support. Since the approval of the WC expansion was based solely on Council opinion, all the members provided explanation for their votes except Council members Berlucchi and Wooten. A decision that changes the future of the Bayfont demands that they explain why they ignored the community’s concerns and voted in favor of the project.
From Pilotonline.com:
I’ve been a resident and single-family homeowner in Cape Story since 1977, where Seagate was the big 13-story condo and Westminster-Canterbury was a big brick building for elderly people to live. The Virginia Beach City Council 5-2 vote approving the 22-story Westminster-Canterbury tower was disappointing: Eight-to-11-stories high seems more appropriate, not 22.
Concern continues about the population explosion on Shore Drive as the Planning Commission continues to approve senior living projects and the council is the last approval needed to go forward.
I ask that the council to reconsider the tower vote with at least eight voting members present. Three council members — representing Bayside, Lynnhaven and At-Large — have conflicts of interest, and an additional council member was not able to vote on Sept 22.
This council can decide if Virginia Beach is to continue to support the strong community engagement of single families or continued high profile growth.
Empsy Munden, Virginia Beach
From Pilotonline.com:
Virginia Beach’s lack of civic engagement for a project of this magnitude and impact is appalling. The bayfront residents pride themselves on civil discourse and the ability to work with the city to find compromising solutions. The fact that we were hardly given the chance to discuss our concerns is not acceptable. Many of you, if not all of you, ran election campaigns that championed improved civic engagement for the citizens. We demand that you take the opportunity at your meeting today and reconsider your vote of Sept. 22.
Denying the proposed Westminster-Canterbury On The Bay expansion will allow the necessary city-facilitated civic dialogue to take place to make an informed decision of this magnitude. A smaller, less dense development would be an acceptable compromise that will keep future development of the bayfront in accordance with codes, plans and guidelines. It would also allow Westminster-Canterbury residents to enjoy their new amenities and City Council to enjoy an increase in tax revenue.
Keeping the approval of the high-rise, high density project will lead to a bayfront that resembles the Virginia Beach Town Center and result in the loss of our neighborhood.
It’s appalling how five people have currently chosen to ignore the rule of law they’re charged to enforce. It’s appalling how the overwhelming amount of citizens opposed to this precedent-setting monstrosity were ignored. The entire process was appalling. Reconsideration!
Tim Solanic, Virginia Beach
From Pilotonline.com:
Have we all been bought and sold? The article on the vote for the out-of-scale 22-story retirement home expansion makes me ask this question.
To change our community and its future development on such a large scale with only a couple evening meetings is outrageous.
Through our City Council’s callous disregard of previously agreed zoning measures, we are opening up ourselves and our community to unchecked development of new high-rises along the beach, subsequently, destroying our culture and restricting our access to the very things that attracted us to the Lynnhaven way of life.
Where are the advantages of such a development to our community?
Councilman Guy Tower’s pathetic assessment of the proposed 250-foot glass tower is meaningless; his supporters must be cringing with embarrassment. Council members Louis Jones, Rosemary Wilson and Jim Wood could not vote due to conflicts of interest. With this being the district Wood represents, I am left unsettled.
I am sure that attorney Jeanne Lauer will find much more support within the community. After speaking to many of my neighbors and people in the community, it is quite evident that the council is not voting with the wishes of the people they represent.
John Samuel, Virginia Beach
If you dare, learn more at OPVRS.com.
Read the reviews from years past!
Y’all knocked ‘em Dead! My teens said it was scarier than Howl O Scream. And then they went back for more! Here is a video of one of our traumatized teens and one shot of me running for my life…
Another awesome year! Thanks so much! We all had so much fun❤️🎃👍
That haunted house was fantastic! Just the right level of scary!
From Pilotonline.com Letters to the Editor:
Wrong move
For the first time in my 50 years of living in Virginia Beach, I attended a City Council meeting. The only topic was a vote on the massive $250 million expansion of Westminster-Canterbury on Shore Drive that includes a 22-story glass tower. Speakers for and against the expansion presented their views in a most informative manner. There is no doubt that the quality of life and care for hundreds of senior citizens is top-notch at Westminster-Canterbury. On the other hand, the quality of life in the Shore Drive area, which is primarily residential, will be forever changed for thousands.
Despite compelling evidence that current city zoning laws do not permit a structure greater than 165 feet in height, the council approved the Westminster-Canterbury expansion that is taller than 250 feet.
Some of the rationale for approval voiced by Mayor Bobby Dyer, Councilwoman Barbara Henley, and Councilman Guy Tower was that Virginia Beach needs medical care facilities for its senior citizens. I couldn’t agree more, but that care is in a different building, not in a 22-story, 250-foot independent living facility. This 22-story structure will only open the door for future developers to make Shore Drive “high-rise heaven.” I will express my disapproval on Nov. 3.
Richard Malla, Virginia Beach
Why bother?
As a longtime resident of Lynnhaven Colony, I watched Tuesday’s Virginia Beach City Council meeting regarding the approval or disapproval of Westminster-Canterbury’s expansion with much interest. What I understood from Westminster proponents is: It’s a great place; they really care; Virginia Beach does not have enough senior housing; and that Beach boomers cannot wait to move there. What I heard from the opponents was that Westminster will destroy their view; shade their homes; and eliminate beach access that residents deserve, use and have grown to expect. It will incorporate a building that will be out of place, depreciate their home values, and that Westminster is actually unaffordable to most people.
What I heard from the council (except for Council members John Moss and Aaron Rouse, who I applaud for their sensibilities) was that the council meeting was a red herring, set up at the Virginia Beach Convention Center so as many people as possible could waste their time and voice their views; and, yes,
thanks for your comments and concerns, but we know better, don’t really care what you think or how this action might impact you,
and we’re going to pretend to think about it for say — five minutes — before announcing our foregone conclusion. Thank you very much. Virginia Beach citizens will know exactly who to vote out of office on Nov 3.
Kriste Brown Camsky, Virginia Beach
View article at Pilotonline.com:
“We don’t want a Town Center on Shore Drive,” Solomon said. “Once developers know they can get council to buckle, the developers will start lining up to build high rises on Shore Drive.”
Briefing includes delay of sand for Ocean Park & no mention of using sand from Lynnhaven Boat Ramp stock pile which is located there to be used for emergency beach replenishment work according to City Staff in Public Works.
View briefing slides that will be presented to City Council tomorrow.
WAVY TV COVERAGE OF WCCB PRECEDENT SETTING PROPOSAL
“This is planned for a residential community on Shore Drive …”
Download & view FOIA Docs from WCCB 1998 Application
It is mind boggling City Council will be having a Public Hearing and vote on this Application next Tuesday September 22 2020 considering:
“The lack of attention to detail is astonishing” in this entire process.
A profound lack of civic engagement to fine tune the proposal so it meets the Shore Drive Corridor Plan, Shore Drive Overlay District & Comprehensive Plan Guidelines and compliments not destroys the residential neighborhood the Shore Drive community is.
View Councilman Jones / Vice Mayor Wood proposal documents presented at City Manager Briefing September 15th[Note: VBGov.com broke the link again. Use Download links below for PDF.]
General overview of changes
■ Allow STRs, by-right, in certain specific locations of the City if they meet criteria
■ No Conditional Use Permits–STRs cannot operate elsewhere in the City
■ Regulations for Sandbridge are not changed
■ Regulations for other areas where STRs are permitted reflect current City Council imposed conditions on STRs with modification on number of rentals and required response by property owner or representative
Download Jones/Wood documents PDF of proposed changes.
View slides presented by Planning Director of STR proposed changes at City Manager Briefing.[Note: VBGov.com broke the link again. Use Download links below for PDF.]
Download PDF Planning Director slideshow.
View details at Ocean Park Rescue Squad website:
September 26th, 9am-12pm at the Shore Drive Farm Market.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 