Updated June 4th, 2007 at 8:44am.

VMRC Appeal Meeting Info from the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website which is sponsored by the Virginia Department of Planning & Budget.

[Note: if you are viewing this over the weekend…we checked on the statement we of course will be checking on the statement “This meeting has been canceled” that is posted there. No worries, we were assured we would be kept in the loop. According to Justin Worrell, the VMRC Rep, the hearing is still currently schedule for June 27th.]

According to SailVirginia2007.com Ships will begin to rendezvous at the official Sail Virginia 2007 anchorage location off East Beach, Ocean View, starting at 10 am on Thursday, June 7. Sooo….seems they might be visible from our beaches starting an hour or more before![?]

Uruguay’s tall ship Capitan Miranda, captured at Lisbon during the 50th Anniversary Tall Ships’ Race. [From Flickr.com] She’s one of the Tall Ships that’s coming.

Thanks for the info Susan & Empsy!

LRNow has a project on next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, June 4, 5, and 6 from 4:00-6:00 PM. They’re looking for volunteers who would help with transplanting Spartina alterniflora plugs into a wetland restoration area in Crab Creek at the Virginia Beach City Boat Ramp on the west side of the Lesner Bridge at the mouth of the Lynnhaven. 

The city has choices to make, too. Should we change how we evaluate development proposals? Do we need a new approach to stormwater management?
Tuesday, June 19 at 7:15 ? 9 p.m. in the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
Learn more at VBGov.com.

The state commission is tentatively scheduled to hear the Indigo Dunes case on June 27, said Justin Worrell, an environmental engineer for the agency.

Read & comment on article at Pilotonline.com.

Thanks to Mr. Joel Rubin for supplying us with their appeal notice of Wetlands Board recent decision on Indigo Dunes.

According to the letter, it appears their legal team has expanded to include Mr. John W. Daniel II and Mr. John K. Byrum Jr. of Troutman Sanders.

Yesterday, the group behind Indigo Dunes decided to Appeal the Wetlands Board decision.

As those who attended the Wetlands Board Hearing now knows, Indigo Dunes has attracted the attention of Environmental Attorneys, Scientists, Engineers & Planners from around the country who collectively have decades worth of experience in evaluating issues such as those that were presented at the Hearing.

Please view the 2 page PDF  which was an introduction for only one of the fact based arguments in opposition to the proposed project.

In the near future, we’ll be making public virtually all information presented at the Hearing.

I’m sorry to report that, for the third summer since I first wrote about this issue, …will not have the added protection these flashing signals would provide.

Read, comment on Pilot Warrior article at Pilotonline.com.

Apparently the author[s] of an editorial in today’s Virginian-Pilot wasn’t at the Wetlands Board Hearing Monday, hasn’t read the verbatim transcript & isn’t familiar with the City, State & Federal statutes that the Board is required to follow by law.

It also appears the Joint Permit Application for the proposed project, relevant & best science was not taken into consideration either.

Some highlights of the editorial include:

+ their focus on protecting wetlands that don’t deserve it undermines their credibility
+ The problem is that the wetlands being protected by the board’s decision do little to protect either the Bay or the Lynnhaven.
+ But in this case, by serving a smaller good – protecting wetlands – the board harmed the greater cause of water quality. And in order to halt Indigo Dunes, opponents – many of them residents of Ocean Park – must perversely advocate the continued pollution of the Lynnhaven.

Read & comment on the editorial at Pilotonline.com.

VMRC’s Section 28.2-1311 through 28.2-1313 of the Virginia Code re: wetlands board appeals is the code.

Deadline for Indigo Dunes’ appeal is Thursday, May 31st 2007.

About the clean up including info how to sign up at CBF.org.

?For me it?s a ritual. I?m dedicated and I?m going to do it. I enjoy it,? he said. ?It?s my small part, so I feel like it?s a necessity.?
An old friend explains why he does it.

Pilotonline.com article about a Number of Beach restaurants going smoke-free growing including our very own Chick’s Oyster Bar, Hot Tuna Grill & Bar, Shorebreak Pizza Sports & Billiards, & others. It’s ironic they chose the above photo for the article.

Dear Shore Drive Residents,

If you haven’t heard already, the Wetlands Board voted 4-3 against approval of the Indigo Dunes project on Pleasure House Point in Ocean Park.  The next step for the developer will be to either appeal to the VMRC or to submit a new plan via a Joint Permit Application to the Wetlands Board.

This disapproval of the proposed 1,063 unit plan would not have been possible without the overwhelming community involvement.  The residents of Shore Drive and those that treasurer the environment should be commended on a job well done.  The following is just a few examples of the broad range of opposition actions that were required to help make this decision happen.

  * 150 emails sent in opposition to the project.  (personal note: I was impressed that over 80% of these emails were written in the senders own words)
  * 120 residents attended the Wetland Board hearing as a sign of their opposition.
  * Over 20 Cape Henry Collegiate students attend the Wetlands Board hearing in opposition.
  * Over 20 residents spoke in opposition at the hearing.  (personal note: I was pleased with the professionalism of the community’s discussion)
  * Presentation, discussion and rebuttal required over 5 hours at the hearing before a vote was taken.  (personal note: I was impressed that a large number of residents were able to stay the duration)
  * Environmental groups expressed their opposition at the hearing.
  * Professor from Virginia Wesleyan expressed opposition via a letter read at the hearing.
  * A bus was chartered to take attendees to and from City Hall.
  * Thousands of dollars have been collected and are still being pledged to help defeat this project.

Once again, on behalf of the Shore Drive Community Coalition, thank you for your efforts in making this vote happen.  Please pass this on to your friends to let them know there is hope and to help motivate them into getting involved the next time we have to rally the opposition.

Sincerely,

Todd Solomon
Shore Drive Community Coalition – President

Visit http://www.sdcc.info for additional information regarding the Bayfront area.

If you missed the concert at Relative Theory Records on Sunday you can still listen to some of the bands that played there.

Just a reminder that the next Hearing currently scheduled for the proposed Indigo Dunes is before the Ches Bay Area Preservation Board on June 25th.

We imagine the project might not be heard. Stay tuned.
Previously at SDCC.info.

“I’m surprised,” said R.J. Nutter II, the attorney who represented brothers Art and Steve Sandler.

Read the entire article “Wetlands Board rejects Indigo Dunes project” and comment at Pilotonline.com.

A tragic accident where ?Either he had a big fish or something snagged it away from the bottom,? Nedelka said, ?but he went in the water for the pole.?

The man?s companion, watching from the boat, apparently became worried that his friend was in distress, so ?he went in after him.?

Shortly after, however, the second man slipped below the water?s surface.
Read entire article at Pilotonline.com.

Reprinted here with permission:

###

Imagine L.E.A.R.N. on Pleasure House Point

Imagine L.E.A.R.N. The Lynnhaven Environmental Area Research Network or the McLesky Center for Learning, or the Sandler Center for Learning or another appropriate name for it’s mission: Restoring historical Pleasure House Point[PHP] to its environmental glory.

July 1945 Princess Anne County Soil Survey. “T” = Tidal Wetlands
View larger image.
[Image added May 22nd.]

Though the applicant has stated in the joint permit application (JPA) that 1,063 residential units are necessary to make the project financially viable, no economic analysis has been provided to justify this level of build-out. The scale of the development directly affects the degree to which avoidance and minimization measures are successful in limiting impacts to tidal and nontidal wetlands.

Permit 06-2601 revised comments. [4pg pdf]