Category Archives: News

PROPOSED SHORT TERM RENTAL REGULATION CHANGES City Council Briefing September 15, 2020 are controversial in the new proposed Overlay Districts in Bayfront

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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.

“Where do we want to live in the years ahead? Older adults are asking this question anew in light of the ongoing toll of the coronavirus pandemic — disrupted lives, social isolation, mounting deaths. Many are changing their minds.”

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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.)”

A Call a Day Keeps the High Rise Away – Call City Council Campaign to Deny Proposed Westminster Canterbury 22 Story High Rise Development

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Dear Shore Drive/Bayfront Residents,

It’s been 9 months since the community first learned of Westminster Canterbury’s plans to build the monstrous 22 story, 217 unit precedence setting high rise structure in the Bayfront neighborhood.  Next week, on Tuesday September 22nd at 6:00pm, City Council will hold the final hearing and vote on this application.  Mountains of information has been obtained by SDCC and the adjacent impacted residents.  This data be reviewed here https://weloveshoredrive.com/category/wccb/

Suffice to say, it can all come down to the votes of 7 Council Members.  With 3 of the 11 members recusing themselves due to Conflict of Interests, the remaining 8 would require a 5 to 3 vote in favor to approve the application.  A 4 to 4 tie vote fails.  So the goal to stop this proposed plan is to get 4 “NO” votes from the remaining 8 members.  One member, Mr. John Moss, has gone on public record as voting “NO”, so that leaves 7 members and the need to gain 3 “NO” votes.

With 7 days remaining until the hearing, we are asking all Bayfront Residents to call a different Council Member each day and ask them to vote “NO” to this proposed application.  Seven days and seven Council Members, pretty easy.  The list of Council Members and their contact information is provided below.

It’s pretty simple, just ask the Council Members highlighted in YELLOW below (in person if they answer or on their voicemail) to vote “NO” to the proposed WC High Rise.  Tell them the development doesn’t comply with any of the CIty’s codes, plans or guidelines and ask them to facilitate a civic discussion with the residents, developer and City Staff that can work towards a smaller and less dense compromise that isn’t precedent setting.

Here is the list of Council Members and their phone numbers.  If you don’t feel comfortable calling them, please send them an email.  You can send the entire City Council an email by using the following address, CityCouncil@vbgov.com

“It’s so tiny that it’s going to immediately diffuse into the environment. And plastics last, depending on the plastic, hundreds or thousands of years. That’s why we say it’s effectively permanent”

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View WAVY.com for story.

“It was horrible. It was all bunched into all of the grasses, getting into the water. Just clearly a detriment to the animals around here. So, it was upsetting, to say the least.”

REWARD TO FIND PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE INFO HERE

“At our August monthly meeting of the Bayfront Advisory Commission, we discussed your upcoming consideration of the Westminster Canterbury expansion and determined it important to bring to your attention illustrations and descriptions of “Setbacks and Massing””

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Letter Bayfront Advisory Committee (BAC) sent to City Council about the WCCB enormous 22 story “iconic” building proposal & campus expansion.

Dear Mayor Dyer and City Council Members,

At our August monthly meeting of the Bayfront Advisory Commission, we discussed your upcoming consideration of the Westminster Canterbury expansion and determined it important to bring to your attention illustrations and descriptions of “Setbacks and Massing” on Page 111 of the Shore Drive Corridor Plan.

Specifically, at the bottom of the page, it depicts “Encouraged” and “Not Encouraged” images of building massing and relationships.

The adjoining text states:

“Low and moderate buildings in height should be encouraged throughout the corridor. Rationale: Building in moderate height may better reflect the residential character and neighborhood scale of the corridor.”

The Shore Drive Corridor Plan was adopted by the City Council of Virginia Beach on March 28, 2000.

A copy of Page 111 of the Shore Drive Corridor Plan is attached for your reference.

Respectfully,
Phillip A Davenport
Chairman
Bayfront Advisory Commission

Emphasis ours.

Marina Shores Apartments new 60 unit expansion proposal

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Here is some information regarding the proposed expansion of the Marina Shores Apartment complex.

A 60 unit building will be located where the tennis courts are now.

It will be a 65 foot, 5 story building with 4 floors of apartments over top covered parking. This building will be one story taller than all the existing buildings which have 3 floors of living space over 1 of covered parking. It also looks like this new building will be about 25 feet closer to North Great Neck Road than the closest existing building.

We’ve asked the City Planner who will be performing the traffic study for the extra car trips that will result at the intersection of Lynnhaven Drive and North Great Neck Road.

Also will this increase when added to the traffic coming from The Pearl apartments be enough to require a stop light at this intersection?

The tentative date for the Planning Commission hearing would be Wed Nov. 11th.

View 3 page PDF of proposal.

CASH REWARD TO FIND THE PEOPLE WHO TRASHED PHP

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How to PLEDGE:

Visit Facebook, COMMENT at bottom, Email Tim or use Instagram below.

Previously:
Thanks to the great people who came out for LITTER REVEAL CLEANUP at PHP today!

BAYFRONT ADVISORY COMMISSION Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad 3769 E. Stratford Drive (enter on side opposite Shore Drive) September 17, 2020 2:30 pm

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Agenda Thursday:

STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION – 2:30-3:30 pm (Prioritization of items from last month’s discussion)

 

REGULAR SESSION CALL TO ORDER – 3:30 pm

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Review and Approval of Minutes from 8/20/2020

 

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Welcome Guests and Introductions – Phil Davenport, Chair

 

STAFF REPORTS & UPDATES

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS & UPDATES

Design – Bob Magoon, Faith Christie, Joe Bovee (volunteer)

Communications – Vacant

Public Safety, Transit, Parking & Pedestrian Access – Charles Malbon

 

PROJECT BRIEFINGS/DISCUSSION ITEMS

Conditional Use Permit for 7/11 with gas pumps – 4493 Shore Drive

Discussion of short term rental districts along Shore Drive

OLD BUSINESS

COMMUNITY REPORTS & UPDATES

ADJOURN

Thanks to the great people who came out for LITTER REVEAL CLEANUP at PHP today!

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It meant a lot to the people who love PHP VB Parks & Rec also sent out people to help!

Everyone agreed the people who trashed PHP should be held accountable.

Ocean Shores Condominium Board Fundraising for Legal Fees to Oppose Westminster Canterbury Proposed Expansion

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The following letter is from the Ocean Shores Condominium Board requesting support to help cover costs for legal fees to help them oppose the current proposed 22 story tall expansion of Westminster Canterbury.  Ocean Shores Condos are located directly to the east of the proposed high rise and will be impacted the most by the massive structure.  If you believe the proposed iconic landmark hire rise is not in keeping with the neighborhood character of the Bayfront area, Please help by donating and/or forwarding this post to others.

Ocean Shores Condo Legal Fees Fundraiser Letter

 

Dear Shore Drive Community members:

We are writing you concerning the expansion of Westminster Canterbury.  Most of you have gone to meetings opposing the expansion of Westminster Canterbury, or have expressed personal interest against the expansion as it stands now.

This letter/email is from The Ocean Shore Condominiums.  We are a 63 unit condo directly to the east of Westminster Canterbury on Ocean Shore Avenue.

The board of Ocean Shore Condominium, has been fighting to mitigate some of the most egregious design plans of Westminster Canterbury’s expansion since the details were presented to Ocean Shore Condominium owners December 17, 2019, by WC management; the expansion plan was presented as final.   We have attended many meetings, written numerous letters to the planning commission, and made presentations to that commission March 11, 2020.  Now we are actively in contact with the City Council and are prepared to attend their meeting on September 22, 2020, in order to voice our concerns.  Beginning with the Dec. 17, 2019, presentation, Ocean Shore hired an attorney and an architect to help represent us and the community through this entire process.  Many of us have attended meetings with the attorney, and she helped voice our opposition in front of the planning commission.  In addition, she will be making a case against aspects of the expansion plan at the City Council Meeting.

To date, we have spent over $19,500 on legal fees and another $6,000 for the advice and representation we have gotten from our architect.  We have more costs coming as our attorney and architect will be representing all of us at the City Council Meeting upcoming on September 22, 2020.  We are trying to protect the housing values and the wonderful lifestyle of the entire Shore Drive Area and therefore we are all in this together.

We are asking you to help support us financially.  Please consider contributing to our bills in the quest to get Westminster Canterbury to change their expansion.  If you are an individual and can afford $10, $25, $100, or any other amount we would appreciate your help.  If you represent an association or a civic league and you have the same passion as Ocean Shore to continue this fight, then we ask you to financially support us as a community with as much as you deem appropriate.  Ocean Shore Condo is fighting for the entire Shore Drive Area.  We need your financial help and cannot continue to fight without your help.

 

To contribute, please write a check made out to Ocean Shore Condominium and forward it to the address below:

Ocean Shore Condominium

Attn: Jay Frieden, Treasurer

2416 Ocean Shore Crescent #401

Virginia Beach, Va. 23451

 

Whether you contribute financially or not we still need your support.  Please keep contacting the City Council, your Congressional representative and the Governor to keep the pressure on our City Council.  We want to protect everyone in The Shore Drive Area.

Very Truly Yours,

Ocean Shore Condo Board

City’s Community Rating System (CRS) Continues to Save Citizens 15% on Flood Insurance

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The City’s Community Rating System Coordinator, Ms. Whitney McNamara, recently sent the above letter to all homeowners living in flood prone areas of our City.  The CRS is a national program and almost all of the cities in Hampton Roads are participants.  One of the requirements of the program is civic engagement.  The outreach letter contains a lot of helpful information, so please read it and its reference documents if you live in a flood prone area.  Being part of the CRS program also brings along benefits for citizens in the form of reduced flood insurance premiums.  The % saving is based on a points scale based on what actions the City is implementing.  Virginia Beach is currently at a 15% savings rating and is continuously working towards improvement and more savings.  You can click on the link below or the image above to read the entire letter.

2020-PLN-CRSOutreachToResidents-LTR

THE BRUCE W. EDWARDS VIRGINIA BEACH EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES HEADQUARTERS AND TRAINING CENTER

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View more about Chief Emeritus Bruce W. Edwards at OPVRS website.

REQUESTED BY CITY COUNCIL
A RESOLUTION RENAMING THE VIRGINIA BEACH EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES HEADQUARTERS AND TRAINING CENTER AS  “THE BRUCE W. EDWARDS VIRGINIA BEACH EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES HEADQUARTERS AND TRAINING CENTER”

Passed Unanimously this evening by City Council.

Delta Hotels Virginia Beach Bayfront Suites is set to open in November in the former home of the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel & Conference Center

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More pics & info at Pilotonline.com:


An aerial view of the new Delta by Marriott in Virginia Beach. As seen Friday, August 21, 2020. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

HERO HIGHLIGHT about Empsy !

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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.

Thanks for all the volunteer work you do!

Virginia Beach Waste Collections Resume

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View press release at VBGov.com.

Wednesday routes are being collected today, Thursday, Aug. 20. Thursday routes will be serviced Friday. Friday routes will be serviced on Saturday. Recycling collection remains unchanged and will occur on your normal collection day. Routes not completed on Tuesday, Aug. 18 are being serviced today.

City of VB installs new Your Speed Radar Sign on Shore Drive

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The City of Virginia Beach listened to the community and has installed a “Your Speed” radar sign on Shore Drive to help slow motorists coming out of First Landing State Park.  The sign is located in the median just as you exit the State Park and enter the Cape Story by the Sea Neighborhood.  The sign is solar operated and permanently mounted.  It shows speeds up to 45mph.  Anything over, it will post a “Slow Down” warning.  This is a big step toward the community request to have several of these types of signs that are portable and can be set up and moved in a random pattern to keep focus on speeding issues.

 

“[We are] emergency employees and deal with hazardous materials on a daily basis,” said Sam Brown, a waste management collector.”

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News at WAVY.com:

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.

New schedule will be at VBGov.com/WasteManagement.

Thank you for your service on the front lines of the covid19 pandemic.

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SUPPORT YOUR VOLUNTEER EMS NEIGHBOR!

Volunteer for EMS.