The mission of the Bayfront Advisory Commission(BAC) is to review and make recommendations to the City Council regarding public and private projects and issues associated with the Bayfront area.
Thank you […] for reaching out as we navigate the upcoming holiday weekend. It is our hope that the information below addresses your concerns. We can understand how frustrating this situation is for you and your neighbors. We’ve worked to collaborate on a high-level synopsis of how the City is preparing for Memorial Day Weekend and the summer in general as it relates to the Shore Drive area and Bay Beaches.
We are excited to kick off the summer season welcoming locals and visitors alike to safely enjoy our many beautiful beaches and waterways. As always, City Departments have been planning months ahead of time in anticipation of the 2025 summer season.
What is the Public Safety plan for Memorial Day Weekend?
Police: The Virginia Beach Police Department is committed to proactively addressing the concerns surrounding the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp. Following an incident in March, Captain Gordon attended an Ocean Park Civic League meeting with Director Kirschman from Parks and Recreation. This engagement allowed us to hear directly from residents about their concerns and share our constructive response. In response to the community feedback, we have significantly increased our patrols in the area, asking officers to remain visible for a period of time when circumstances allow. This includes patrol officers completing paperwork on-site of the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp from prior calls for service which also enhance their presence within the community.
To further discourage any issues, we’ve strategically placed a police vehicle in the parking lot on occasions, serving as a visible deterrent. Additionally, the 3rd Precinct has conducted musters (shift roll calls) in the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp Parking lot which also increases visibility. Our Traffic Safety Unit has assisted with increased presence to ensure smoother traffic flow and enhance safety around the boat ramp. We have also intensified parking enforcement to effectively address violations. The feedback from the community meeting has been encouraging, demonstrating that our increased efforts are appreciated. We have also communicated our initiatives to those who couldn’t attend via outreach from the Ocean Park Civic League president. Since the March incident and the resulting increase in our presence, we are pleased to note that no further issues have been reported to the department.
Looking ahead to the upcoming weekend, we are deploying officers on ATVs, UTVs, and a Motor Carrier unit as additional resources for traffic management and beach oversight. Our marine unit, in collaboration with the Virginia Marine Police and Virginia Conservation Police, are resources that we can call upon to address boating violations. In addition, cameras at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp are being monitored by the VBPD Real Time Crime Center. We will do our best to monitor and address conditions at the boat ramp as they arise, realizing that this will be an incredibly busy weekend for the city with a significant number of events in all four precincts that will draw upon our finite resources.
Emergency Medical Services: through the Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad and Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad, will have EMS personnel conducting ATV/UTV safety patrols on the beaches at various times throughout the summer. In addition, the EMS Marine Rescue Team conducts weekend marine patrols off the beaches and in city waterways throughout the summer on Fridays through Sundays.
Emergency Communications & Citizen Services: ECCS is staffed 24/7/365 for informational calls, non-emergency reporting, and 9-1-1 Emergency Services. Information: 3-1-1 or 757-385-3111 Non-emergency: 757-385-5000 Emergency: 9-1-1
Fire: Fire is upstaffing to ensure Fire boats will be staffed for the holiday weekend and most weekends throughout the summer.
How will the City address Waste Management on our beaches, boat ramps, and parks throughout the weekend?
Public Works Beach Operations | Beaches Beach Operations is operating under normal conditions. Regular service for all beach waste containers (barrels) is being provided at beach entrances and those on the sand. Service for these containers occurs each morning around 5:30 a.m. Should Beach Ops receive prior notification of a large unauthorized party on the beach, they will arrange to have roll-off containers for beachgoers to utilize.
Parks and Recreation | Boat Ramps and Parks Boat Ramp staff are onsite from 5:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. Service for the ramp’s dumpster is provided by a contracted commercial waste hauler and performed on a set schedule. If needed, they can request a special pick-up. Parks Staff will be actively checking all parks and ensuring that waste containers are serviced as needed.
Public Works Waste Management | Residential Household Waste Waste and Recycling Collection Services for the residential homes in the Shore Drive/Bay Beach areas occur on Wednesday. To find when your next recycling service day will be, visit https://VirginiaBeach.gov/wastemgt and use the “Find My Trash Day” tool. For service day reminders, residents can sign up to receive text or email notifications at VB Connect To report a miss in service (trash, recycling, bulky or yard waste), residents can create a Service Request at https://vb311.virginiabeach.gov/assist/servicetypes
What happens if the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp Reaches Maximum Capacity
Ramp Signage: Parks and Recreation (PAR) will change all four ramp signs to full to indicate no availability. These are drop down “full” signs located on Shore Drive in the east and west bound directions. Staff at Entrance: PAR will place two staff members at the entrance to the boat ramp, equipped with radios for communication. Staff are there to assist with the notification to boaters that the ramp is full and to continue traveling on East Stratford Road to exit the neighborhood. If upon exiting the parking lot traffic becomes a problem, staff and/or residents are asked to notify Police to assist in either flushing the traffic out onto Shore Drive and out of the neighborhood. If a vehicle is unoccupied, Police will ticket the violator. Barricade Road: PAR will use crowd control barricades to close off Piedmont Circle access into the facility. Once open spaces are available then staff will let trailers begin entering. Car Lot and Trailer Monitoring: PAR is going to consistently check the car lot and trailer numbers to ensure proper parking and space utilization. Launch and Recovery Monitoring: PAR will ensure individuals who are launching and recovering boats are exiting the ramp area promptly and moving to the designated areas. Ramp Control Staff: PAR will station one staff member for ramp control to maintain order and assist with operations. Staffing: Parks and Recreation has hired an additional staff person to support the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp and Supervisors are scheduled proactively during the busiest times.
Please let me know if you need anything additional.
Thank you,
CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE
Desk | 757.385.4242 | CMOffice@vbgov.com
City Hall, Building 1, Suite 2017
2401 Courthouse Drive | Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Hopefully these plans works this holiday weekend and the entire summer before people die.
The mission of the Bayfront Advisory Commission(BAC) is to review and make recommendations to the City Council regarding public and private projects and issues associated with the Bayfront area.
The duties of the Stormwater Management Implementation Advisory Group shall be to:
Further review the topic of stormwater management and its impact and consequences on land use and redevelopment issues.
Identify whether there are any opportunities, advantages, or disadvantages to strengthening regulation alignment and specificity based on the City’s varied drainage basins, and a property’s land use and zoning characteristics.
Formalize a cost-sharing program relative to stormwater infrastructure and policy to include developing criteria for cost-sharing eligibility.
Determine whether there are any opportunities to …
SUBJECT: City of Virginia Beach Public Works VMRC #2024-2851 The application for permit, referenced above, will be heard by the Marine Resources Commission at their public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, February 25, 2025, beginning at 9:30 a.m., at 380 Fenwick Road, Building 96, Fort Monroe, Virginia.
CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH, #24-2851 requests authorization to mechanically dredge a 20-foot wide by 63-foot long subtidal area to a maximum depth of minus two (-2) feet mean low water within Pleasure House Creek to create a shallow water channel necessary to provide the hydrological connection to the proposed municipal Pleasure House Point Mitigation Bank in Virginia Beach. This project is protested by nearby property owners.
We believe the “purpose & need” of this fast moving project could be violating the spirit of “avoid, minimize, mitigate” in general. Therefore, we humbly request a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment and a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment are completed before approving the Nationwide 27 Permit.
“Please provide the list of projects that have required the city to buy wetland mitigation credits since the bond referendum passed November 2, 2021 and how many wetland mitigation credits are required now for future projects.” From 11/21/2021 to To 12/23/2024. Your request was forwarded to Public Works. I have been advised that they do not have a list in response to your request. Source: FOIA Request response January 13 2025
Three(3) samples of material was presented at City Council public hearing which was acknowledged by the Public Works Director – a piece of pavement, concrete with gravel & an unknown petrochemical material all presumably dumped on the spoils site – Pleasure House Point in the area Wetlands Mitigation Bank is proposed – in the 1970s. Was material being tested before dumped? After it was dumped? Video of City Council public hearing January 7th 2025 is provided here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D_T1v0rI3A
As you know, the Brock Environmental Center and Macon & Joan Brock Classroom campus is literally feet away from this project. Pre-schoolers thru senior citizens routinely spend time there. Meetings with visitors from national & international governments & NGOs also are held routinely. However, this project rolls out. It’ll certainly garner national news. Over 140,000 people have visited the campus since it opened.
In property acquisitions, it is customary for due diligence investigation(s) to be completed before a fee simple property transfer is finalized. It seems reasonable that such an investigation would have reported the obvious; materials of generally unknown origin were dumped on the PHP property as far back as the 1970’s.
These findings would have been followed up with Phase II soil and/or groundwater sampling and testing to screen for regulated substances (hazardous and petroleum constituents). If the investigations were completed, they should be made available to evaluate the potential effects on the proposed PHPWMB project.
Of principal concern is the transport of these dredge materials to the City’s Oceana disposal site, especially if they remain untested. Once removed from PHP, the material becomes a waste, and is subject to VDEQ regulations for transport and disposal. Secondly, possible exposures to regulated substances may result when construction workers are exposed to any contaminated soil, dust, and groundwater. Especially with workers involved in the planting process where hand work is proposed, and the incidence of physical contact with regulated materials may result.
Additionally, considerations for the sampling, testing and handling of regulated materials should be included in the project plans and specifications for the PHPWMB project. This information should be made available for public review and comment.
Therefore, we humbly request a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment and a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment are completed before approving the Nationwide 27 Permit.
What will be the “reasonably foreseeable effect” if the environmental site assessments haven’t successfully been completed for a spoils site used in the 1970s?
Thursday, January 16, 2025 3:30 P.M. Ocean Park Fire and Rescue Squad Building 3769 E. Stratford Road. Enter door opposite Shore Drive.
The mission of the Bayfront Advisory Commission is to review and make recommendations to the City Council regarding public and private projects and issues associated with the Bayfront area.
ITEM: CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH AGENDA ITEM An Ordinance to Transfer Funds Within the Capital Improvement Program for the Pleasure House Point Mitigation Bank, to Provide Limitations upon the Use of Mitigation Credits Created by the Pleasure House Point Mitigation Project, and to Provide for Efforts to Reduce Tree Loss MEETING DATE: January 7, 2025 Background: Capital Project 100304, ” Pleasure House Point Mitigation Bank”
Please note: at the time of this post, currently proposed wetland mitigation bank details of the “90% design”, water budget and other info are still not available on official website.
Things learned last night: tidal wetland bank credits are available to purchase, 60,000 cubic yards (about 6,000 dump trucks) of fill will be removed, over 5,200 trees including live oaks over dozens & dozens of years old will be destroyed (number of dump trucks to move destroyed trees unknown).
Email your questions or concerns to: phpwetlands@vbgov.com
Note: this project does not include the controversial kayak launch which will potentially be located on western border of this project when built. It’s visible in graphics above.
Previously, several related links on this website here, here and here.
I’ve attached the 1997 ULI Study and the text from Zoning Ordinance pertaining to the Shore Drive Corridor Overlay District. Below are links to the following:
Comprehensive Plan (Section 1.3 – Suburban Area; Page 1-69 – Suburban Focus Area 1:
I believe this covers the current applicable documents with guidance on the Shore Drive Corridor, but if there are other documents that I may have missed in regards to the Shore Drive/Bayfront area, please let me know and I will be happy to pass them along as well.
My name is Lisa Leidig and I am the president of the Lynnshore Condominium HOA. I am travelling on business and will unfortunately not able to attend the vote on Tuesday. I am speaking on behalf of my community that we oppose the closing of the public beach access at the end of Starfish Road for many reasons:
First: a public right-of-way should only be closed when there is no other alternative. Westminster has admitted that they do have a plan that would not involve closing the access. Since this is the case, this should be an easy decision to make – deny the request. You should not have to decide who is more important – the public or residents of Westminster and who is going to be inconvenienced. The only reason that Westminster wants to close the public beach access is that a handful of people expressed concern about walking through a parking garage. I am sure that Westminster has a contingency plan to protect the residents and prevent public access to their buildings. So is it better to inconvenience the thousands of people that use the Starfish beach access to accommodate a few people by making them walk through a garage? Why is it constantly ok to impact the public and residents but not Westminster?
Second: With the pier remaining, there is a problem when we have persistent northeast winds or a storm off our coast – the winds push the waves up to the point that during the periods around high tide (2 hours before and after) the beach west of the pier is inaccessible due to the water rising and being pushed up past the fencing under the pier. This has happened 5 times this year since September (once this past week) and even resulted in significant dune loss in front of Casa de Playa.
Third: Perception. Closing this access provides the perception that the beach in front of Westminster’s property is now private. I have had conversations with residents of Westminster and they stated that they “couldn’t wait until the beach is private and THOSE people (pointing to fisherman/crabbers) won’t be able to come down here anymore”. WC is also leaving the stairs from the bulkhead to the beach, further cementing the perception that the beach is now private. Surf Rider foundation advocates that public beach access remain public – https://www.surfrider.org/pages/policy-on-beach-access – excerpts such as “Development must not be allowed to interfere with public access”, “The public should be afforded full and fair access to beaches which are public trust resources by minimizing the possibility of impediment including development”, “Should not be burdensome for the potential beachgoer to utilize”.
Fourth: Ben Unkle has said that this new beach access is more convenient to “everyone”. That is simply not true. Anyone that lives on Starfish road – the access is more inconvenient. For anyone riding HRT route 35 which drops off in front of Westminster, this is not more convenient. For anyone wanting to access the beach and are crossing Shore Drive at a crosswalk (there are two – one at Starfish, the other at Great Neck) – this is not convenient. For anyone wanting to sit west of the fishing pier, this is not convenient. Ben Unkle has also said that the beach access bisects Westminster property – while that is now a correct statement, the access was in existance long before they bought the properties. Westminster took a chance by buying these properties with full knowledge of the public access. Do not punish the public for a risky venture made by Westminster.
Fifth: The sidewalk on the south side of Ocean Shore and Starfish Road is almost impassible. It has not been maintained for years and the sidewalk is blocked by shrubs and growth. The City had also just spent public dollars to repair the beach access at Starfish road so those improvements are wasted money if you allow the access to close and be torn up.
In closing – this should be an easy decision to make as Westminster has a plan to work around the public beach access. Deny the request and keep our beach access public and open.
Sincerely,
Lisa Leidig President, Lynnshore Condominiums xxxx Starfish Road 757-xxx-xxxx
[T]he City is set to realize about $20MM in proceeds from the sale of easements to Dominion Energy for their Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, and Staff is recommending that nearly half of those proceeds be appropriated to Shore Drive Phase IV ($6.98MM) and to Pleasure House Road Phase II ($1.36MM) & Shore Drive Phase III ($ 2.24MM).
Please email Mayor & City Council to support this vital funding: citycouncil@vbgov.com
#WeLoveShoreDrive 