Category Archives: News

Animal Control looking for exotic cat spotted near Shore Drive

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Have you seen Rocky the Serval Cat?

It’s been a few weeks since his last siting in First Landing State Park, so he may have moved on.  But be on the lookout for him if you frequent the Park during runs or walks.  I personally spotted him on the beach side of the Park in camping loop H which is just to the west of the visitor center.

Click here to read the Virginian Pilot article on the lost exotic animal in case you missed it.

April 10th – Virginia Beach Animal Control is looking for an exotic cat that was spotted Wednesday morning, according to a news release.They received a call about the cat at 8:15 a.m. It was spotted near the 2300 block of Shore Drive, according to the release. It’s believed to weigh about 25 pounds and has long legs, making it about 25 inches tall at the shoulders.

City Budget Public Hearings Scheduled – Last Chance for Input on Tuesday April 30th

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City Budget Public Hearings Scheduled
The City Council will hold two public hearings in April. Citizens can register to speak prior to the start of the public hearing. Speakers are limited to three minutes.

• April 24 – 6:30 p.m. – Old Donation School, 4633 Honeygrove Road (note, original (March 26) release incorrectly had start time as 6 p.m.)
• April 30 – 6 p.m. – City Council Chamber, 2401 Courthouse Drive

Comment by email
To send a comment to the entire City Council, contact citycouncil@vbgov.com
To send a comment to an individual City Council member, find email addresses here.
Got a question? Send it to budget@vbgov.com.

Review the budget
To review the complete budget, visit www.VBgov.com/budget.

• Open Budget – An online app that lets citizens review, compare, download, visualize and analyze data at the line-item level. http://www.VBgov.com/budget
• Full text of the budget – In three documents: executive summary, operating budget and six-year capital plan.

Virginia Beach sees jump in Airbnb listings, more than 500 are being investigated

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View article at Pilotonline.com:

Phil Kellam, commissioner of the revenue, said that’s about five times the normal rate of potential improper listings.

A city consultant is looking into every advertisement.

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.

SDCC General Meeting and Special Presentation on City’s Sea Level Rise/Flooding Study – Mon March 25th at 7:30pm

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Click here for a printable version of the agenda 3.25.19 SDCC Agenda

SDCC General Meeting Agenda
Monday March 25, 2019 from 7:30 to 9:00pm
Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad Hall – 3769 East Stratford Rd
(parking in back, on side streets and across Shore Drive)

Special Presentation –

Virginia Beach Comprehensive Sea Level Rise and Recurrent Flooding Planning Study

Charles J. Bodnar and Sue E. Kriebel of the city’s Stormwater Engineering Center will discuss the results of the $3 million City funded study being worked by Dewberry consultants. The study shows seven major areas of the City that could have heavy financial impact from future SLR and flooding. Suggested solutions include storm surge walls along the beach from Fort Story to Little Creek with gates at the Lesner Bridge. This along with others projects could cost the upwards of $2 billion. Mr. Bodnar and Ms. Kriebel will also discuss next steps for this study which will include public input and conversations regarding funding and project ranking.

Officer’s Reports
Secretary – Kathleen Damon
Treasurer’s Report –Tim Solanic
Vice President – Wally Damon
President – Todd Solomon

Old Business-
Bayfront Beach Replenishment Update – The bid has been awarded to dredge the Lynnhaven Inlet and to use the sand to replenish the Cape Henry Beach. Updates on the project start and finish dates will be provided as they are shared.
Community Rating System (CRS) – Official release of Virginia Beach status and initial ranking will be provided in April. Estimates show we should be in the 10% to 20% cost savings to a property’s annual flood insurance premium.
4th of July Fireworks for Cape Henry Beach – Cape Story by the Sea Civic Association officers and the Bayfront Advisory Commission Chairman met with Councilman Jones, Deputy City Manager Cover and City Entertainment contractor IMG to request that the 35 year old annual event become a City managed and operated show. State Fire Marshal regulations, lack of pyrotechnic company support and insufficient funding have become too restrictive for the event to continue to be held at the State Park and coordinated by residents.

New Business –
Windsong Apartments Redevelopment – The 14+ acre site located between Pleasure House Road and North Hampton Blvd. currently contains 272 units and are approximately 40 year old. The developer, Bonaventure, is requesting a rezoning to allow the number of units to increase by 160 to a total of 432. Along with the new units, the developer plans to renovate the old units that it will keep. A presentation of this project by the developer has been scheduled for our April 29th SDCC meeting.
Dog Leash Law for Beaches – The City’s Animal Control Department is asking for a change to the City’s Dog Leash Law that will require all dogs to be on a leash when on any City’s public beach. On Bayfront beaches, dogs would need to be leashed at all times during the off-season (Labor Day to Memorial Day) and between 6pm and 10am during the season (Memorial Day to Labor Day). Dogs are prohibited to be on the beach at all from 10am to 6pm during the season. A public hearing will be held on Wed April 10th at 630pm at the City’s Law Enforcement Training Facility.
Meeting of Three Commanders – A Virginia Historical Highway Marker commemorating the Sept. 18, 1781 meeting of Washington, Rochambeau and De Gasse was placed in the Lynnhaven Colony Park along Shore Drive and dedicated this past Wed. March 6th.
Community Concerns– Please share any issues or concerns your groups/organizations may have at this time.

***Next SDCC Meeting – Monday April 25, 2019.***
Special Presentation – Windsong Development Plans by Bonaventure

Historic Highway Marker Dedicated to 1781 Meeting of Three Commanders

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A Virginia Historical Highway Marker commemorating the Sept. 18, 1781 meeting of Washington, Rochambeau and De Gasse was placed in the Lynnhaven Colony Park along Shore Drive and dedicated this past Wed. March 6th.

Read more about this dedication in the Virginian-Pilot article by clicking here

 

 

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.

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.

SDCC General Meeting and Special Presentation on Shore Drive Improvement Project – Monday Feb 25th at 7:30pm

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click here for a printable version of the agenda – 2.25.19 SDCC Agenda

SDCC General Meeting Agenda
Monday February 25, 2019 from 7:30 to 9:00pm
Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad Hall – 3769 East Stratford Rd
(parking in back, on side streets and across Shore Drive)

Special Presentation –

Shore Drive Corridor Improvement Phase 3 (CIP 2-117) – Lesner Bridge to Great Neck Rd.

Come out and see the final designs, learn when construction will start and how long the project will last. Mr. Bill Purcell, City Project Manager, will provide an update on the next big construction project for Shore Drive and will hold a question and answer session after the presentation. This project begins at Vista Circle, near the eastern end of the Lesner Bridge, and extends eastward through the Great Neck Road intersection and terminates at Croix Drive. This project will improve vehicular and pedestrian traffic flow and safety in the roadway and intersections; improve storm drainage; include a multi-use trail, 5-ft sidewalk and on-street bike lanes; and enhance the corridor with aesthetic elements such as landscaping and lighting. For more information – http://cipstatus.vbgov.com/ProjectDetail.aspx?id=1833

Officer’s Reports

Secretary – Kathleen Damon
Treasurer’s Report –Tim Solanic
Vice President – Wally Damon
President – Todd Solomon

Old Business-
Dewberry Study on Sea Level Rise & ASERT Meetings – Ms. Sue E. Kriebel, PE, Stormwater Engineering Center Department of Public Works, has agreed to attend our March meeting and present an update on the study, details on recommendations for our Bayfront area and next steps that include public engagement.

Bayfront Beach Replenishment Update – Has the contract for the Cape Henry Beach replenishment been awarded and what is the start time.

Community Rating System (CRS) – Update on when we will know our rating and when it will take effect.

New Business –
Shore Drive 35 MPH Speed Limit 10th Anniversary – Update on request for fatality numbers over the past 10 years. Discuss on planning an anniversary event for Summer 2019. The speed limit was reduced as part of a trial study period in 2009 then followed by permanent implementation.

Development Updates – Delta by Marriott at old Resort Hotel location and new apartment development at old Marina Shores Marina site.

Community Concerns– Please share any issues or concerns your groups/organizations may have at this time.

***Next SDCC Meeting – Monday March 25, 2019.***
Special Presentation on Dewberry Sea Level Rise Study

VB City Council Needs Your Input – Take A Planning Survey To Help – Deadline Friday Feb 8th!!!

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Unfortunately we weren’t given a lot of notice on this one and the survey has been broken for the past 2 days, but you still have some time to take it.  It should only take 5-10 minutes and gives us Bayfront residents a chance to rank how you feel about sea level rise and storm water/storm surge flooding issues.

VB 2019 Planning and Beyond

The Virginia Beach City Council is seeking residents’ input on what they believe should be the City’s goals and priorities. The feedback will help the Council plan for and allocate resources.
Deadline for participation in this survey is Friday, February 8, 2019.

Click here to take the survey

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.