Official Ridership Data including Route 35 from HRT.
Route 35 did not operate in FY20. Ridership in FY21 seems fairly strong considering everything that’s happened since Covid19 hit.
Maybe HRT & City of VB will market Route 35 more in the Bayfront area as it seems most are not familiar with how great Route 35 is for locals.
Check the details at OPVRS website!
You made this happen. Your continued support helped purchase the best and safest equipment for your community.
WAVY TV COVERAGE OF WCCB PRECEDENT SETTING PROPOSAL
“This is planned for a residential community on Shore Drive …”
View important article at CNN.com.
Some important parts of the article –
“Nervousness about senior living has spread as a result, and in July, the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care reported the lowest occupancy rates since the research organization started tracking data 14 years ago.
Occupancy dropped more in assisted living (a 3.2% decline from April through June, compared with January through March) than in independent living (a 2.4% decline). The organization doesn’t compile data on nursing homes.
In a separate NIC survey of senior housing executives in August, 74% said families had voiced concerns about moving in as Covid cases spiked in many parts of the country.”
“The potential for social isolation is especially worrisome, as facilities retain restrictions on family visits and on group dining and activities. (While states have started to allow visits outside at nursing homes and assisted living centers, most facilities don’t yet allow visits inside — a situation that will increase frustration when the weather turns cold.)”
Empsy Munden has volunteered with the Virginia Beach chapter of the Medical Reserve Corps since 2006!
Empsy recently assisted with COVID-19 testing. She is very passionate about the work that the Medical Reserve Corps does for her community and encourages fellow pharmacists to get involved.
If you are interested in the Medical Reserve Corps click here to learn more and apply.
Virginia Beach waste management employees protesting over hazard pay, trash collection suspended for Wednesday
New City Manager Patrick Duhaney, who came by to speak with the workers on Wednesday morning, sent a letter to city council on Tuesday asking for hazard pay for waste management and other “critical workers,” but through another source — savings from a recent hiring freeze.
SUPPORT YOUR VOLUNTEER EMS NEIGHBOR!
Email from Mark:
Good Morning,
Phil Davenport, Chairman of the Bayfront Advisory Commission, asked me to send out this email to the various civic league/homeowner association contacts to obtain written comments regarding two topics:
The Bayfront Advisory Commission (BAC) will be holding their annual Strategic Planning session prior to their regular meeting at 1 PM on August 20, 2020. Phil has requested that the various organizations provide BAC with their written comments/or concerns about the bayfront area in general to help with the strategic plan discussion.
At the regular meeting, BAC will be discussing the Westminster-Canterbury application. This item has been delayed until the August 25, 2020 City Council meeting. Please provide any written comments or concerns that your organization may have regarding this application.
Please email me your comments about these items no later than Monday 8/17/20 so I can compile and send to the BAC members prior to the meeting. BAC meetings are now being held at the Ocean Park Rescue Squad meeting room, 3769 E. Stratford Road to allow for more social distancing. However, due to the spacing requirements, there will be extremely limited seating.
Thank you for your help and please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Mark E. Shea, AICP
Comprehensive Planning Coordinator
City of Virginia Beach
Department of Planning and Community Development
Meshea@vbov.com
757-385-2908
Emphasis ours.
Obfuscation intentional or unintentional is not a good look for anyone involved in this process.
July 25th 2020 – SIGNAGE
They still haven’t fixed the conflicting times (12:00 noon on two signs and 6:00 pm on two other signs), and the convention center is listed for the planning commission meeting on two of the signs, rather than the city council meeting which still says council chambers. The lack of attention to detail is astonishing.
LATE JULY – PLANNING COMMISSION OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS FINALLY INCLUDES WCCB
As of the most recent Bayfront Advisory Committee Meeting July 16th 2020, Planning Commission WCCB Transcripts were not available to the public, nor on the public record.
Our original post of PLANNING COMMISSION MARCH 11 2020 OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS
Virginia Beach Planning Commission Public Hearing March 11, 2020 Minutes
PLEASE NOTE: Incomplete PDF file we downloaded that day excluding WCCB TRANSCRIPT and compared to link of PDF at VBGov.com. 40 pages were missing. Interestingly, the link to PDF at VBGov.com is not broken even though the PDF was changed adding WCCB TRANSCRIPT. In other words – the PDF was dramatically altered with no public record of alteration. Maybe it’s time the City time stamps all public records posted on the official record & when errors are made, add a description of the error and keep original incorrect document public.
Planning Commission Official Page at VBGov.com including Transcripts.
SDCC TOOK A SURVEY re: WCCB
77% oppose WCCB proposal “in its current form”.
July 25th 2020 – CITY COUNCILMAN CONCERNS ON HOW THIS PROCESS APPEARS TO THE PUBLIC
Subject: Concern on City Manager Briefings
This email content has three parts:
1. City Manager
2. Mayor
3. City CouncilPatrick,
Why did you place West Minister and Thalia Wayside that are Planning items on City Manager Briefings?
Who will be giving said Briefings?
The briefing material is just a repackaging of the developer’s proposals. I did not see any of the opposition material being included. Is there a reason it is an unbalanced brief?
This comes across as sales pitch for the developer where the other side does not get equal time.
This is an example of the very issue I discussed with you last Wednesday evening.
Bobby,
I will raise a vigorous objection to what is a less than balanced presentation of these two developments. If we are going to indirectly give the developers advertising for their developments than the opposition being the neighborhoods deserve to have their views represented as well with equal quality of graphics and content.
Council,
This is not an approach that promotes unity or conveys neutrality by the staff.
Since this email is subject to FOIA on this coming Sunday I will be posting the basic content of this email on Facebook.
I requested sometime ago additional analysis on the Thalia Wayside project from staff, and I have not seen it yet on shared parking.
Let me be clear, I take major exception to unbalanced briefing materials that undermine the public’s confidence on the neutrality of the staff and by our silence conveys City Council’s concurrence with an approach that at best is only the appearance of advocating for developers and at worst, well I leave that to your imagination.
Now, if we are had two briefings representing the developers’ proposals and that of the opposition of equal length, quality, and time that would be a different story. Sadly that is not the case.
We can do better than this. The voters, Council employers, expect more of us. This briefing should not happen. Whatever the motivation or perceived benefit that gave rise to the City Manager briefing, the political capital it wastes and the distrust of Council’s governance it promotes makes the presentation a major error of judgment.
I trust that upon reflection between now and Tuesday that this an error of judgment we avoided versus executed.
View the perception of the City Manager’s proposed briefing through the eyes of the voters and ask yourself as Council Members do you want to own that perception. I think not.
For my colleagues on the ballot in November, some of whom I have endorsed, sustain the integrity of the judgment behind your vote (yeah or nay) by not remaining silent on what will be seen as a lack of impartiality in our governance.
Warm regards
John [Moss]
JULY 27 2020 – PROPOSED CHANGES TO WCCB. WHEN IS THE PUBLIC INPUT ON THIS TAKING PLACE IN A PUBLIC HEARING?
Following the Planning Commission hearing, the applicant looked at ways to further mitigate the impact of the 22-story building on the adjacent properties to the east. As such, they are now proposing to move the building 15 feet on the ground level further to the west, away from the property line, as well as another 11 feet on levels 2 – 5. The dock area for the same building has been redesigned to confine trash operations behind doors with compactors within the building itself. Walls and ceilings inside the dock area will be lined with heavy duty sound attenuation panels. Along the eastern property line, an 8’ tall masonry wall is now proposed along with additional landscaping. The elevated bridge proposed over Starfish Road has been reduced in length by almost 60 feet and the bridge over Ocean Shore Ave has shifted slightly to the north. My apologies for the confusion about the Planning Commission date noted in the letter you received. That was a typo. You’re quite right in that the application was originally reviewed and recommended for approval on March 11th.
BillWilliam R. Landfair, AICP
Planning Evaluation Coordinator | Planning & Community Development | Planning Administration
2875 Sabre Street, Suite 500 | Virginia Beach VA 23452
(757) 385 – 8745
JULY 24 – BAC CHAIRMAN CORRECTS THE OFFICIAL RECORD re: BAC POSITION ON WCCB
To: CityCouncil@vbgov.com
Subject: Westminister Canterbury
I am writing you on behalf of the Bayfront Advisory Commission. City Council is scheduled to discuss and vote on the proposed addition to the Westminister Canterbury site on August 4. During the presentation to the Planning Commission the developers made statements to the effect that the Bayfront Advisory Commission approved their proposed project. In fact, the BAC, as a general rule, does not vote to approve or deny projects. We do provide advisory comments.
The BAC did receive a presentation from WC in November. This was early in the project, and the developer had not yet contacted all of the neighboring residents. One of the BAC concerns was that the 22 story tower was too high and not in accordance with other development in the Shore Drive corridor. We were advised this was a “by right” design because it was for senior housing. This remains a concern with most of the residents in the corridor. There are other design concerns of the neighboring residents that the BAC has not vetted.
The BAC is more than willing to provide more analysis of the project, including recent changes to the design, and to offer a specific recommendation to City Council, but that will require a one month deferral of City Council action.
The BAC will await your direction regarding this issue.
Phil Davenport
Chairman, Bayfront Advisory Commission.
View link at VBGov.com to JULY 28th 2020 CITY MANAGER’S BRIEFING FOR ITEM #7 WCCB
Download PDF of JULY 28th 2020 CITY MANAGER’S BRIEFING FOR ITEM #7 WCCB (24 pages)
No sun outlasts its sunset, but it will rise again and bring the dawn.
~ Maya Angelou
Emphasis ours.
From the organized group in opposition to the WCCB Proposed Expansion, which if approved, will set a negative precedent in Shore Drive Community for the foreseeable future.
Time To Take Action
The City Council will now be addressing the Westminster Canterbury expansion on August 4th, 2020. As of now it looks like the meeting will be at The Virginia Beach Convention Center, but we do not have specifics as of yet. Please take the time to write and call all of the City Council members below and express the following.
Let them know they are not making a smart decision by having a meeting of 200 to 250 seniors in one room to discuss such an important issue even with social distancing.
Please let them know your concerns even if it means just sending the same or a similar letter that you sent the last time.
We understand that phone calls are even more impactful than emails so please feel free to call the City Council members to voice your concern.
Finally, we would like to suggest that you contact Governor Ralph Northam and encourage him to contact The Virginia Beach City Council and ask them to postpone such an important meeting and not risk the health of seniors that wish to voice their opinions about the Westminster Canterbury expansion plans.
Please use the emails, links and phone numbers below to contact our representatives.
Governor Ralph Northam https://solutions.virginia.gov/communityrelations2018/form/email
or call him at (804) 786-2211.EMAIL MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL HERE
Use email below to communicate directly with individual Councilmembers & Mayor.
Robert M. “Bobby” Dyer – Mayor – bdyer@vbgov.com (757) 385-4581
James Wood – Vice Mayor/Council Member – jlwood@vbgov.com (757) 366-1011
Jessica Abbott – Council Member – Jabbott@vbgov.com. (757) 344-3407
Michael Berlucchi – Council Member – mberlucc@vbgov.com (757) 407-5105
Barbara Henley – Council Member – bhenley@vbgov.com (757) 426-7501
Louis Jones – Council Member – Lrjones@vbgov.com (757) 583-0177
John Moss – Council Member – jdmoss@vbgov.com (757) 264-9162
Aaron Rouse – Council Member – arouse@vbgov.com (757) 319-1398
Guy King Tower – Council Member – gtower@vbgov.com (757) 600-4567
Rosemary Wilson – Council Member – rcwilson@vbgov.com (757) 422-0733
Sabrina Wooten – Council Member – Swooten@vbgov.com (757) 797-5625
Read title of the post again:
Note: We apologize for the inconvenience. We weren’t able to share video at the point presentation started. Scrub to 8:20 for beginning.
Update from Governor.Virginia.gov:
July 14, 2020—Governor Northam stepped up enforcement of guidelines and restrictions as cases in the Hampton Roads area show a troubling increase.
According to local health officials, the rise in cases in the region is driven partly by people gathering in groups, often without wearing face coverings.
To increase enforcement of existing restrictions in restaurants and other places where people gather, Governor Northam is directing teams made up of members from the health departments, the Virginia ABC, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and other licensing agencies, to conduct unannounced visits to establishments as needed.
Governor Northam is also asking mayors of beach towns for an update on how they are following through on beach access plans put forth in May, and has directed Virginia ABC to develop a plan to impose an earlier cutoff for alcohol sales at restaurants.
Governor Northam will consider additional actions as needed.
Emphasis ours.
As example:
UPDATE: June 8, 2020
Virginia Department of Health Point of Prevalence Survey Results Show Westminster-Canterbury COVID-19 Free: More than 1100 Residents and Staff Tested
On June 2-3, 2020, Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay voluntarily accepted an offer by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to test all residents and staff for the COVID-19 virus. None of the more than 1100 residents and staff that participated in the survey tested positive.
Because Westminster-Canterbury is a large campus of over 1100 residents and staff and has remained COVID-19 free, the VDH was extremely interested in performing this survey with our population. The campus’ experience runs contrary to the experience of other senior living communities of similar size.
“While we are extremely thankful that our community is COVID-19 free, we will continue with the protocols that got us to this point, including social distancing and wearing masks,” said Westminster-Canterbury President and CEO J. Benjamin Unkle, Jr.
Check for mailer
Check out the Germ Mold Buster being used by OPVRS.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 