Author Archives: Tim

Starting May 1 2019 all new & renewal flood policies should reflect a 15% discount thanks to VB joining CRS! Wooo hooo!

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CRS ?

Community Rating System is:

The National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements.

You may recall we’ve been lobbying for it since 2014. An article on our website here.

You may also have attended one of our meetings with reps from CoVB doing a presentation followed by a Q&A. Check out more posts about CRS on this website here.

The news about CRS at VBGov.com.

The CRS uses a 10-level (or point) scale to evaluate efforts. Each level below 10 receives a 5% discount on flood insurance premiums. The City will join the program as a Class 7 community, which reflects the significant investment being made to mitigate flooding issues throughout the city.

View the PDF of the presentation slides made to City Council.

The PDF includes contact info for the amazing Whitney McNamara if you have questions.

btw – with more work there’s a chance VB might be able to earn a 20% discount.

New required metered parking at beloved LBR&BF

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Started yesterday.

LBRBF-MeteredParking

Apparently the City was inspired to replace the honor system with the new required metered parking because of so much abuse including some ignorant users of LBR&BF mouthing off to Parks & Rec staff who work their.

For those who don’t pay, you will be ticketed and may be towed. New box is self explanatory.

Interesting new idea how to handle storm water will be tested & refined on Shore Drive.

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New scoop we just learned over the weekend after meeting one of the people whose been working on this.

Thanks to the amazing work Dewberry has done so far studying sea level rise and storm water issues in Virginia Beach, the Brock Environmental Center being located here and the fact the Shore Drive community is at the top of the list of biggest impacts to VB – a new potential solution will be tested here.

The working group will be looking for property owners who can plant trees in the Phase 3 area to help mitigate storm water. The City will also be planting more trees as well.

There’s been a breakthrough in the science of designing trees to increase Photosynthesis and surprisingly it’s palm trees that have the biggest bang for the buck.

You may remember Photosynthesis is one of the functions of a tree that pulls water from the ground – thereby mitigating the increase risk from sea level rise and storm water increasing due to more storms.

You’ll be seeing a palm tree lined Shore Drive once Phase 3 is complete.

It’s too early to know exactly what they’ll look like at this point but the other benefit to the design is the ease of transplanting them to different variations as they’ll have monitoring equilement on them to test the efficiencies of the trees.

Part of the working groups public comment includes gathering input for what would work best for our area including our climate of course.

Note: I’m excited about the testing of new science here. Just not happy it didn’t turn out to be live oaks that will be studied more.

April Baylines from Bayfront Advisory Committee

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View April 2019 Baylines

News includes losing funding for Riverwalk walkway, Phase 3 update, Phase 4 being unfunded, Baylake Pines getting speed tables, fireworks and more.

City Considers Requiring Leashes for Dogs on its Beaches

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At VBGov.com:

The Virginia Beach Police Department will be hosting a community forum Wednesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Law Enforcement Training Academy (411 Integrity Way) to gather public feedback.

It will be used in considering a proposed change to City Code Section 6.5 (animals on the beach and adjacent areas) for the City Council’s consideration. The proposed change would require all dogs to be leashed on City beaches at all times. Other restrictions in the code would remain unaffected.

Editors note: It would be great if fines for unleashed dogs & not cleaning up were aggressively enforced at our VB Parks too.

“Budget Director David Bradley said if the council accepts the increases, it would cost the average resident about $15 more a month, or an additional $180 per year.”

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That’s additional $180 / year.

News at Pilotonline.com:

About 23 percent of the proposed budget would go toward funding stormwater. To compare, in 2017 — the year Hurricane Matthew hit — the city had set aside just 9 percent.

“Animal Control officers want to require those pets to be leashed on city beaches at all times.”

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Article at Pilotonline.com.

Over the last two years, 33 incidents involving dog bites occurred on the city’s public beaches, and more than half of the aggressors were unleashed dogs, according to data provided by Conti.

More articles in search results for “leash” at SDCC.info.

Baylines March Newsletter from BAC

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View Baylines March ’19 Edition.

A proposal to redevelop the Windsong Apartment complex off Pleasure House Road would increase the number of units by nearly 60 percent, but update the 40+-year-old complex with new amenities, developers told the Bayfront Advisory Commission.

The proposal, on a 14.85-acre site between Pleasure House and Northampton Boulevard north of Shore Drive, is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission in April for a series of proposed rezonings that would increase the complex from 272 units to 432*. Of those, 216 would involve renovated apartments and 216 new units.

Emphasis ours.
*Note: Zoning request increase could create potential for more than 432 units total.

2 interactive VB websites to set a budget and see where your tax dollars go.

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Start here to create your Virginia Beach Budget.

Have a voice in your government. Show your elected officials how you’d balance the budget.

“Want a receipt for your Virginia Beach taxes?
Answer a few questions to find out how much you paid.”

Start here to plug some numbers in to see how much you pay for various VB services.

The Virginia Beach Taxpayer Receipt creates an estimate of the local taxes you pay to the City of Virginia Beach and illustrates the services that are funded. The information is from the city’s interactive budget simulation and includes only the revenue allocated to the City’s General Fund.

Downloadable PDF’s of Phase 3 from VB Public Works

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Thanks to Bill Purcell, Project Manager of Phase 3, for the files for Phase 3.

View CIP Status Page of Phase 3.

View the downloadable PDFs of Phase 3 from VB Public Works at Google Drive here.

A screen shot pulled from each PDF file below.

Utilities PDF of Phase 3

Signals PDF of Phase 3

Roadway & Lighting PDF of Phase 3

Frontend PDF of Phase 3

MOTxs PDF of Phase 3

MOTPlans PDF of Phase 3

Planting Plan PDF Phase 3

One of the biggest challenges you might have heard is the requirement to maintain 4 lanes of traffic during construction of P3*.

*P3 = Phase 3

Public Works Presentation from Feb 2019 Meeting

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Thank to Bill Purcell & Dave Jarman from Public Works for coming out Monday night to present what’s happening on Shore Drive soon!

View SDDC 2019-02-25 Presentation.

An idea to preserve Pleasure House Point for environmental education made the press 16 years ago today.

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RESIDENTS ANNOUNCE PLAN TO BUY PLEASURE HOUSE POINT
Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA) – Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Author: SCOTT HARPER THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

Neighbors fighting plans for a large waterfront development on the Lynnhaven River are organizing an environmental foundation in hope of buying the 69-acre tract known as Pleasure House Point.

The foundation will solicit public and private money and seeks to preserve the property for environmental education, said Tim Solanic, an Ocean Park resident and a leader of the fledgling group.

Pleasure House Point, located just south of the Lesner Bridge and the Chesapeake Bay, is a former tidal marsh that was covered with sand dredged from the bottom of the Lynnhaven River in the 1970s.

Its owner, F. Wayne McLeskey Jr., one of Virginia Beach’s wealthiest businessmen, has tried to develop the property for years. His latest plans, filed in January, call for 1,776 high-rise apartments, condos and assisted-living housing, as well as a marina, yacht club, restaurant and putting green.

Solanic announced the plans Monday in front of a city regulatory board studying the environmental integrity of the project, called Lynnhaven Shores. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Board deferred any action for 60 days, at the request of McLeskey, who needs more time to provide information to the panel.

McLeskey has asked the board to approve 45 variances so construction can occur closer to the water’s edge than allowed under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, a state law.

The hearing Monday was attended by a handful of neighbors fighting the proposal. More than 100 residents attended a civic league meeting last week to discuss the plans, sign petitions and plot strategy for delaying or scaling back the size of Lynnhaven Shores.

The city has attempted to buy Pleasure House Point off of Shore Drive for years; it, too, wants to conserve the land, perhaps as a wetlands park, a native plant nursery or an oyster farm. But the asking price, at $25 million, has proved to be too steep, officials have said.

Solanic would not speculate whether the unnamed foundation can generate $25 million or how long it would take to raise so much money.

“We’re just getting started,” he said, noting that neighbors decided Saturday to form the organization.

Reach Scott Harper at sharper(AT)pilotonline.com or 446-2340.

Mr Harper sadly is no longer with us.

Baylines EXTRA from BAC

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Baylines Extra February 2019

Charles J. Bodnar and Sue E. Kriebel from Virginia Beach Public Works Department’s Stormwater Engineering Center, are scheduled to brief the Bayfront Advisory Commission on the Dewberry Sea Level Rise study at its February meeting.

We are also working on an event that includes Dewberry & VB Staff to discuss their work on sea level rise, storm water & nuisance flooding.

Join us!

Bayline February newsletter from BAC

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View Baylines February 2019 Edition.

It includes:

Strategic Plan briefing to be held

    The Bayfront Advisory Commission recommended that its officers meet city officials to forward and discuss the 2019 Strategic Plan. The plan lists highest priority project items
    • Funding Phase IV of Shore Drive improvements from the Lesner Bridge west to Shady Oaks Road
    • Water issues (stormwater drainage, Dewberry sea-level rise study, city marina development, city wharf/Osprey
    Park, pedestrian walkway under bridge from Vita Circle to Page Avenue.
    • Sand replenishment (Cape Henry, Ocean Park, Crab Creek)
    • Infill development (Future nature, look of the Bayfront; work with Planning on Comprehensive Plan revisions)
    • Landscape design of Route 13 and Shore Drive interchange.
    The plan also addresses high-priority communications items, monitoring ongoing concerns and liaisons, partnerships and city staff support.
    The full plan will be posted after city officials receive it. It was developed after citizen meetings, a BAC brain-storming retreat and committee consideration of the items. Ordinarily, the annual plan would have been forwarded to the council and city manager’s office in late summer/early fall. But with an unprecedented number of City Council seats up for election in November, the BAC agreed to wait until the new council was seated to bring the plan forward.

“On Sunday, February 10, 2019 at 4:30 pm westbound lanes on Shore Drive at the Lesner Bridge will be closed and diverted to the eastbound side of the bridge for two way traffic. The diversion will end by 10 pm.”

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From NextDoor:

The diversion will move westbound traffic onto the eastbound side of the bridge at the intersection of Shore Drive and Vista Circle. Traffic will be routed back into the westbound lanes at Shore Drive and East Stratford Drive.

Official News Release from VB Police Department. (1 page PDF)

After more than three years of wrestling with how to regulate short-term rentals through sites like Airbnb, the City Council [Tuesday] passed sweeping new laws that could dramatically alter the industry.

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View article at Pilotonline.com.

Here’s an overview of the changes that will take effect Nov. 1:

Airbnb hosts who rent out their primary residence must be home during the guests’ stay if they want to rent without a permit.

For an owner who will not stay overnight in rentals, he or she will be required to get a conditional-use permit.

More than 2,100 rentals that have paid the transient occupancy tax and have registered with the Commissioner of the Revenue by July 1, 2018 will be grandfathered in and do not need to get permits. Sandbridge properties also don’t have to go through this process.

The permits need to be renewed every five years. If no violations happen during that time, the city will renew them. The permitting process gives the City Council an opportunity to approve or deny rental properties and provides an avenue for neighbors to tell the city about any potential concerns about the rentals.

The city may revoke permits from any properties that violate codes.

The new rules limit overnight stays to three people per bedroom.

Property owners can only rent to two different people within seven days.

One off-street parking spot will be required for each bedroom.

Special events permits will be required for more than 50 guests. A house can only have three events per year. This rule came about to help control event houses, many of which are located in Sandbridge.

Property owners will not be allowed to rent out structures such as carriage houses or garages with apartments in them.

Short-term rentals will need to carry $1 million in liability insurance coverage.

Dewberry presentation to City Council from Jan 15th ’19 Informal Session

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Informal City Council workshop yesterday Dewberry made an in-depth presentation on sea level rise threats and possible solutions.

This is the first tier with a tiered approach.

E-cycling January 19, 2019 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at Virginia Aquarium

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Details here.

The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, in partnership with Goodwill Industries, the City of Virginia Beach Public Works and TFC Recycling, will offer its semi-annual E-cycling event Saturday, January 19, 2019, from 9a.m. to 12 noon, at the Virginia Aquarium East Parking Lot. There is no fee to drop off items, but donations are always appreciated.

***Note that cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions cannot be accepted.***

Acceptable personal electronic recyclable items include:
Personal computers and laptops
Telephones, cell phones and PDA’s
Printers
Circuit boards and components
Monitors and flat screens
Fax machines
Stereo equipment and game systems
Regular recycling materials such as newspapers, bottles and cans will also be accepted.
***Note that cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions cannot be accepted.***

Acceptable household hazardous waste items include:
Up to five gallons of liquids or up to 75 pounds of dry materials
Aerosol spray cans
Automotive fluids
Batteries: Alkaline (AA, AAA, C, D), Boat, Car, Camera, Cell phone, Hearing aid, Lead acid, Lithium, Rechargeable, Trucks
Herbicides
Household cleaners
Gasoline (up to 5 gallons)
Fertilizer
Pool chemicals
Light bulbs – small quantities of CFLs or fluorescent tubes
Oil and water based paint
Pesticides
Propane tanks (small – up to 20 lb. capacity)

We thought you might be interested in a simple step to help move a bill that will help increase residential and commercial tree canopy throughout VA, in the name of water quality improvement and flood mitigation.

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From Tanner:

Delegate Keam’s proposed tree canopy Bill HB 2333 is something we have been looking forward to for some time.

View Bill HB 2333 here.

Why is the legislation needed?
Virginia state code currently limits the amount of canopy a locality may require a developer to plant/replace/preserve.

For example, under current law, for a residential parcel zoned for 10 or fewer units per acre, the locality may not require a tree canopy greater than 20% in 20 years’ time. For a commercial parcel, the maximum tree canopy a locality can require is 10%. That’s right, there is a maximum amount of trees a locality can require to be replaced.

What does HB 2333 do?
It exempts a locality from those caps if they’re using trees to achieve a water quality (i.e. Bay TMDL) or quantity (i.e. flood mitigation) goal.

See this attachment to see how it changes to existing law. (2pg PDF)

What can you do to support this common-sense legislation?
Simple. We are building a consortium of groups to add their names to our sign-on letter of support (see below how to join).

We will share this list with members of the House Counties, Cities and Towns subcommittee to ensure it makes its way to full committee vote.

From there we think it has a good chance of making it to the floor.

To join the sign-on letter all we need is:
Organization, Lead Signatory, and Title. You can see who else is already on board and add your organization to our running list here.

Or just email Tanner at CBF & let me know you are in!

View letter that will be sent that will include list of supporting organizations.

Have capacity to help?
Share this email with others who might be interested — HOAs, civic leagues, local government, tree stewards, healthcare companies, nurseries, tree care companies, botanical gardens, small and large businesses – anyone that has a stake in increasing tree canopy in the Bay watershed.

What is the deadline for signing?
We’ll leave the letter open until the bill is on the House Counties, Cities and Towns subcommittee #2 docket, which could be as early as next Thursday.

Thanks for your consideration. We hope you will join us. Please don’t hesitate to call if I can answer any questions about the bill.

Cheers,

Tanner Council
Hampton Roads Grassroots Manager
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Brock Environmental Center | 757.644.4113

Baylines January newsletter from BAC

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View Baylines January 2019 Edition.

News includes:

Bayfront Advisory Commission volunteers needed
Citizens and businesses interest in volunteering on BAC committees, tasks forces and special subcommittees should communicate their interest to Scott Ayers, BAC vice chairman, via the commission’s email address, bayfrontadvisorycommissionvb@gmail.com. Please indicate any special skills that you would bring to the commission’s efforts as well as your contact information

And much more!