The Honorable Robert M. “Bobby” Dyer, Mayor 2401 Courthouse Drive, City Hall Building #1, Room 281, Municipal Center Virginia Beach, VA 23456
RE: Floatopia, Memorial Day 2021
Dear Mayor Dyer:
I am writing you with immediate and great concern. The Ocean Park bayfront community has once again been targeted as the location for the unsanctioned Floatopia event on Sunday, May 30, 2021. The event coordinators, Matthew David and Stephen Hobbs, are specifically targeting the Lesner Bridge channel and eastern Ocean Park beach. This concern is evidenced in the below social media posts.
I am certain you recall the significant destruction left in the wake of the 2019 Floatopia event that elicited substantial lawlessness and resulted in extensive beach debris – literally tons of debris was scattered across our beach and in the Bay for residents and City workers to clean. It was so destructive that it garnered attention from both national and international media. Attached are notes taken from the emergency Ocean Park Civic League meeting in the aftermath of the 2019 Floatopia, which many of you may have attended.
Mayor Dyer, We cannot allow this event to occur on our beaches again!
We, as a community in Ocean Park, are wholly opposed to this event and the terrible impact it had on our small community, as well as the terrible environmental impact left in its wake (beach and bay debris left behind to pollute our land and beaches and the untold impact on countless native species of fish, birds and other native animals).
Memorial Day weekend is just a few days away, and time is of the essence! With such a short window of time to act to prevent the Floatopia organizer(s) from unleashing another international debacle on our community again, our residents require immediate communication from you regarding the City’s plan to prevent a repeat of the 2019 disaster. Please respond with details as soon as possible and we will share your response with our residents.
Very respectfully,
Daniel Murphy Ocean Park Civic League President president@opcl.org
Cc:James Wood, Vice Mayor/Councilmember, Lynnhaven District #5 Louis Jones, Councilmember, Bayside District #4 Patrick A. Duhaney, City Manager Paul W. Neudigate, Police Chief Captain Jeffery Wilkerson, Commanding Officer 3rd Precinct Mark Shea, Comprehensive Planning Coordinator, Bayfront Advisory Commission Phil Davenport, Chairman, Bayfront Advisory Commission Todd Solomon, Shore Drive Community Coalition Chief, Prevention Department, Commander Dean Horton, Sr., U.S. Coast Guard Frank Rabena, Vice President, Virginia Pilot Association
Over 200 people attended including the Mayor, 2 Councilmen, City Manager, Public Works Director, 3rd Precinct Captain, Deputy Fire Chief, Deputy City Manager & other leadership from CoVB.
Will SeeClickFix Account be automatically migrated to VB Works? Users will not automatically be migrated over to the new app, citizens will need to create new accounts.
Will custom maps created in SeeClickFix be automatically migrated to VB Works? No
Will current open SeeClickFix issues be automatically migrated to VB Works? SeeClickFix issues are not being migrated over to Salesforce, however they will continue to be worked and resolved in their system of record. (Editor’s comment: GREAT!)
What should SeeClickFix users do and when? Users can signup for a Salesforce account today and start submitting requests via the updated app or web portal.
We haven’t heard back yet about Privacy questions about all the data Sales Force asks for to use the VB Works new system.
TOUR OF HOTEL – 2:30 CALL TO ORDER OF MEETING – 3:30
APPROVAL OF MINUTES Review and Approval of Minutes from 4/15/2021
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Welcome Guests and Introductions – Phil Davenport, Chair
STAFF REPORTS & UPDATES Mark Shea and Nina Goodale COMMITTEE REPORTS & UPDATES Design – Bob Magoon, Joe Bovee (volunteer) Communications – Vacant Public Safety, Transit, Parking & Pedestrian Access – Charles Malbon
PRESENTATIONS
1) Beach Building Group, Inc., 2332 Pleasure House Road, Conditional Change of Zoning from R-7.5 Residential to A-16 Apartment District 2) Bubba’s, 3323 Shore Drive, Conditional Use Permit for marina decking 3) Design by Eleni, Inc., 2416 Seaview Avenue, Change in Conformity 4) Eastern Shore Drive Drainage, Bradley Vanderwarker, Dept. of Public Works
We’ve been patiently waiting for feedback about the abrupt switch that happened last week. We’ve reached out to several people & added a Request using the Guest feature of VB Works and haven’t heard back yet.
A few of our questions are:
Will SeeClickFix Account be automatically migrated to VB Works?
Will custom maps created in SeeClickFix be automatically migrated to VB Works?
Will current open SeeClickFix issues be automatically migrated to VB Works?
What should SeeClickFix users do and when?
Will your office put out guidance about the switch?
We also have some questions about Privacy as the new company behind VB Works – Incapsulate, which is a subsidiary of Sales Force, asks for what appears to be an enormous amount of information to use VB Works. We could find no info about ThreeOneOneCapsule.
We’ve also asked about the details for each item Sales Force is requesting to use the VB Works app system.
We sincerely hope VB Works becomes as popular as SeeClickFix was!
Recent screenshot within the last week since SeeClickFix was stopped being used. Screenshot of VB Works moments before this post.
If you have any feedback about the switch, please let us know!
In the works since August ‘20, view Press Release, VB Works is new system to alert COVB of issues in your neighborhood.
We’ve been curious since last Thursday when apparently the switch from SeeClickFix was made.
Questions we have include if SeeClickFix issues will migrate to new system or if the data is gone. Do SeeClickFix accounts get migrated to new VB Works and if custom maps & automated alerts for certain locations can be customized. We’ll of course let you know when we know.
BAC Presentation for sand starts ~ 15 minutes in. Screenshots of slide show below. All aerials taken at low tide. Pretty cover of Ocean Park taken after sand restoration in 2013. LBR&BF currently has about 50,000 cu yards. Maple Street 15,000 cu yards.
Police Detectives are circulating the following flyer in hopes to find information regarding a recent shootout that took place early Sunday morning February 28th at 4504 Ocean View Ave. If you have any information, you are asked to contact Detective Pittman, epittman@vbgov.com
Summary: On 02/28/21, at approximately 0538 hours, an unknown type of sedan (possible Toyota Celica) occupied by at least two suspects pictured below appeared to stage outside of a party located at 4504 Oceanview Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA. That vehicle moved slowly westbound appearing to have shots come out the passenger side before driving away being shot at by at least two shooters in the front yard of 4504 Oceanview. The sedan stops at Fentress/Oceanview, driver gets out firing one shot at the direction of 4504 Oceanview; the passenger gets out firing multiple shots in the same direction. Another vehicle, Jeep SUV black in color, comes from the direction of the firing of gunfire to turn off into a parking lot at Fentress/Oceanview. The driver gets out of the black Jeep (pictured below, appears female) and switches to passenger side of vehicle. The Jeep then goes back to the direction of 4504 Oceanview Avenue. Please let Detective Pittman know of any information or identification related to this incident and/or pictures below.
The Planning Commission will be voting at their Wed. March 10th meeting to adopt a proposed ordinance change to Short Term Rentals. The meeting will be held at Noon Wednesday in the VB Convention Center. The Commission will recommend that Short Term Rentals(STR) be allowed in a Cape Story by the Sea overlay district that includes a section of the Cape Story neighborhood north of Shore Drive between First Landing State Park and the Food Lion shopping Center. See the image below for the supported overlay district.
All STRs outside of overlay districts will be prohibited in the future if this ordinance is approved. So that will make Cape Story’s overlay one of only 3 areas in the City that will continue to allow STRs for the future. The Bayfront Advisory Commission, Shore Drive Community Coalition and Cape Story by the Sea Civic Association have all voted to oppose STR overlays. So it appears that the Planning Commission and City Council are ignoring the residents and attempting to set up a process that will be detrimental to neighborhood communities.
Anyone opposed to the proposed STR overlay district in the Shore Drive neighborhood is asked to register to speak against the ordinance at the Wednesday meeting. You can register to speak in person or virtually at the following link. In-person set up will be limited and socially distanced, so virtual is probably the best option if you plan to speak.
The Planning Commission will hold it’s 2nd virtual workshop on Tuesday Feb 23rd at 6pm to continue discussion on the topic of Short Term Rentals and City Council’s recommended ordinance change to create overlay districts which include East Shore Drive (Cape Story by the Sea) neighborhoods.
Residents will not be permitted to talk, but can watch all the action virtually by registering at the link below. You can submit questions prior to the meeting that the Planning Commission may read and discuss.
Members of the public may view the Workshop in real time as noted above. The public may submit comments to the Commission by sending an email to STR@vbgov.com no later than 5:00 p.m on February 22, 2021.
The Short Term Rental (STR) ordinance proposed by City Council will be heard by the Planning Commission at their Wed. Feb. 10th Noon meeting. Due to COVID restrictions, the meeting will be virtual only. Anyone wishing to participate needs to sign up to speak by 5pm on Tuesday Feb. 9th. You can sign up by clicking the following linkhttps://vbgov.webex.com/vbgov/onstage/g.php?MTID=e0aca5338abc082119d4666dda389d9a1
The City Council proposed ordinance recommends a “by right” overlay district for East Shore Drive that covers 60% of the Cape Story by the Sea neighborhood. “By right” means if approved, all 450 homes in this overlay can apply to run STRs through the City permitting process. More information about the ordinance can be found here https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/planning/Pages/Short-Term-Rentals.aspx
The Shore Drive Community Coalition opposes the current ordinance change that would allow all homes to be used as short term rentals. Unlimited creation of STRs will lead to demise of the neighborhood character that is so special along Shore Drive.
The Cape Story by the Sea Civic Association, the Bayfront Advisory Commission and the SDCC have all voted to oppose “by right” overlays for any Shore Drive neighborhood. Vice Mayor Jim Wood has stated he will request the removal of East Shore Drive as an overlay when the ordinance comes back to City Council from Planning Commission review.
SDCC has sent the following letter to the Planning Commission asking for the East Shore Drive overlay to be removed. The letter is copied below with the email from Vice Mayor Jim Wood as an attachment
January 27, 2021
Subject:. Request to Remove “East Shore Drive” as an overlay district from proposed STR Ordinance Amendment
Dear Planning Commission Members,
On behalf of the Shore Drive Community Coalition, I formally request that you recommend the removal of the East Shore Drive (ESD) “Cape Story by the Sea” Overlay District from the proposed Short Term Rental (STR) Ordinance amendment sent to you by City Council on October 21, 2020.
East Shore Drive, like any neighborhood in the Shore Drive Corridor, is not compatible for the large volume “by right” proliferation of weekly rentals that this recommendation would create. There are many specific reasons why this overlay district is a bad idea, but I am just going to list a few of the most overarching ones.
Vice Mayor Jim Wood, the creator of this proposed overlay, has stated he will ask for this overlay to be removed from the amendment. Mr. Wood’s email has been attached for information.
The West Shore Drive overlay, originally proposed by Councilman Louis Jones, was removed prior to the amendment being finalized and sent to the Planning Commission. All of the same reasons the West Shore Drive overlay was eliminated are the same reasons the East Shore Drive overlay is unacceptable.
The Cape Story by the Sea Civic Association voted unanimously to oppose the ESD overlay.
The Bayfront Advisory Commission (BAC) voted unanimously to oppose the ESD overlay and any STR overlay in the Shore Drive Corridor.
The Shore Drive Community Coalition (SDCC) voted unanimously to oppose the ESD overlay and any STR overlay in the Shore Drive Corridor.
The Shore Drive Corridor Plan states, “The Shore Drive area is first and foremost a residential community, comprised primarily of residential neighborhoods…It is envisioned that this predominance as a residential community should continue to form the backbone of land use for the area.”
Thank you for your consideration of this request and I hope you see the wisdom in making the recommendation to remove the ESD overlay from the STR Ordinance Amendment.
If you have any questions, I can be reached at 667-8533 Cell or todd@sdcc.info
Sincerely,
Todd R. Solomon
Shore Drive Community Coalition, President
Attachment to SDCC Letter to Planning Commission dated January 27, 2021
Previous 60 unit expansion, now 49 unit that requires a Conditional Use Permit as they’re proffered at maximum units allowed right now.
New traffic light at North Great Neck and Lynnhaven Drive still turned down by CoVB even after more lobbying for it in spite of added minimum dozens of trips per day through that intersection from new condo & apartment development.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 