Please donate! Jill Doczi tells the story of how our fireworks show came about:
In the past, neighbors celebrated the day of our nation’s independence starting at sundown and continuing into the early morning hours with their own fireworks on the beaches. From Little Creek Amphibious Base to First Landing State Park, we had a stunning array of light and sound from everything between small sparklers and thousands-of-dollars mini-shows, all illegal, but impressive as a whole for a community.
Over the years, the word spread, and people from outside the community flocked to participate. Sometimes those people showed up a little under-the-influence, excited to share their self-taught pyrotechnic skills. Sometimes they didn’t care as much about the safety of neighbors and sometimes they didn’t have the skills they thought they did — resulting errant shots into dry dune grass, onto roofs and into crowds. Hundreds of fireworks shooting in all directions up and down the beach did start to resemble a war movie.
In 2009, we experienced the Great Fireworks Crackdown. Due to some serious safety issues from the previous year, the city launched a very militant effort to stop the illegal use of fireworks on the Fourth of July along the Shore Drive beaches. In addition to increased beach patrols, they staged police and fire marshal staff at every access entrance. They checked coolers, bags and buggies for explosives and meted out severe penalties. It worked. Fireworks celebrations of Independence Day appeared to have ended on our beaches.
The community realized that maybe it had gotten out-of-hand and unsafe, but we weren’t willing to give up the tradition. How could we celebrate our country in the same patriotic way that centuries of Americans before us have, while not setting each other and our neighborhoods on fire?
In 2010, our then civic league president, Rick Mercadante, proposed we raise funds for a professional show. The city agreed. Word-of-mouth and a loan from the civic league launched our first authorized fireworks show in July 2010.
“Just a reminder that cleanups help our neighborhood and it takes people who are truly passionate about this precious asset, Pleasure House Point Natural Area, to do that!
Mary Faust reports: “What a lovely day for the cleanup! Little Silas here with his parents, Daniel and Madison, helped out as did the following folks, some of whom attended for the first time and others were just visiting but elected to grab a bag on their walk. Many thanks to: Ashley Milburn, Geoff Everts, Kathy Spencer Mary Vail, TO and Debbie Cohen. Andrea and Tim Lindemann, Camden Rosado, Robert Mititelu, The Bay Benefactors: Danny Murphy, J.D. Murphy and Jason Smith !!”
Kudos to our “special marine division”, Tim Lindemann and Mark Faust!
This was an extremely busy weekend with a total of 460 launches.
Friday, June 12 – 175 total launches, car parking did not fill but was sporadic availability throughout the afternoon. The overflow lot was used for 4-5 vehicles. We did not have to close using the barricades at any time.
Saturday, June 13 – 139 total launches, car parking did fill up around 10am and was full most of day. The overflow lot was used for approximately 25 vehicles with trailers. We did close the facility to trucks and trailers around 10:55am using the barricades. VBPD was notified that the ramp was closed to trucks and trailers. Several vehicles with trailers were asked not to park on the road and wait for entry into ramp. Most were not compliant and were very rude to staff. Police assisted staff with these people and pushed these boaters out of the neighborhood.
Sunday, June 14 – 146 total launches, car parking did fill up around 12:45 pm and there was limited available parking throughout the day. The overflow lot was used for approximately 25 vehicles with trailers We did not have to close the facility and barricade operations were not implemented.
Incidents to report:
On Friday approximately 8:20 pm, public safety arrived onsite for a report of a possible drowning in our area and heavy storms also came through around 8:45pm.
On Saturday, approximately 11:40 am,person in a vehicle with trailer, drove up to the barricades attempting to bypass staff to enter the Boat Ramp. Staff informed the man that the ramp was closed so he muttered some expletives and drove thru the neighborhood. He came back and parked in front of the barricade and refused to move. Staff informed him that he was blocking traffic and that he needed to move, the man refused and police were called. When informed about the police being called, he then drove off, called staff a name and then threatened staff. Police responded and found the boater causing the issue and gave them a warning.
On Sunday, we had a boat break down on ramp #1 and had to close that ramp for launching and recovering for approximately 15-20 minutes.
Parking Enforcement: Friday, June 12 to Monday, June 14, 2026
Total Citation Count: 58
Total Read Count: 469 (this is the number of vehicles scanned during enforcement visits)
Lynnhaven Boat Ramp Report from Parks and Recreation Dept:
Sail 250:
Ships will begin anchoring in the Lynnhaven anchorage beginning Tuesday June 16.32 total ships from 15 different countries.
Parade of Sail: Underway from Lynnhaven Anchorage at 0735 hours on Friday June 19.
The Lynnhaven Boat Ramp area has been identified as a Casualty Collection Point (CCP) should a mass casualty event occur on one of the ships or at the anchorage. Other than this it will be normal operations.
The boat ramp will be fully staffed for the Sail 250 weekend with anticipation of large crowds for the parade of sails and normal boaters and beachgoers. We also expect larger weeknight crowds with people trying to see the ships from the beach.
June 5-7: “This was an extremely busy weekend with a total of 480 launches.
Friday, June 5 – 165 total launches, car parking did fill around 1pm with sporadic availability throughout the remainder of the afternoon. The overflow lot was used for 4-5 vehicles. We did not have to close using the barricades at any time.
Saturday, June 6 –189total launches, car parking did fill up around 11am and was full most of day. The overflow lot was used for approximately 50 vehicles with trailers. We did close the facility to trucks and trailers around 10:30am using the barricades. We also changed the new electronic signs to full and notified the VBPD that the ramp was closed to trucks and trailers. This was a very busy day as we had to turn away about 40-50 boaters due to our trailer parking being full. In addition to the number of trailers turned away, most of the boaters that came early to launch remained on the water until late afternoon, so we had very little turnover throughout the day.
Sunday, June7 – 132 total launches, car parking did fill up around 10am and there was limited available parking throughout the day. The overflow lot was used for larger oversized trailers on this day. We did have to close the facility around 1030am-415pm, and barricade operations were implemented. Police were notified that our facility parking was full and patrolled the area throughout the day.
Incidents to report:
Other than increased attendance at the facility during the evening hours each night review of the camera footage from the weekend showed nothing except people utilizing the beach as intended. Security had no additional reports of issues during their scheduled times. On Monday, June 8 at approximately 9:41pm, I did get an update from security that the Real Time Crime Center alerted VBPD of some high school students gathering on the beach. Security reported that VBPD came onsite but no found no major issues or violations.
Notes:
1. The new digital signs were implemented this weekend. Although we had to turn away a lot of boaters the staff felt that the signs were very beneficial. Our hope being that people will do better about not turning off Shore Drive when they see we our full. This will take time.
2. We have noticed an influx of larger boats coming to the facility due to the perceived issues at the Owl Creek boat ramp. With this there have been many new citizens launching and recovering that are not used to our procedures. During the weekend of June 6-7, we had several incidents of verbal abuse towards staff, citizens not abiding by established procedures when launching and recovering their boats, and uncooperative drivers trying to circumvent our barricade operations for road closure. Even with a full complement of staff, users are not being compliant to what staff are communicating.
Parking Enforcement:
Total Citation Count: 42 Total Read Count: 416 (this is the number of vehicles scanned during enforcement visits) “
OPCL President Danny Murphy was one of 9 speakers at the June 10 Planning Commission meeting. There were 6 speakers against the project, 2 in favor and 1 neutral.
The 6 speakers who oppose the project noted that there have been 57 letters of opposition to the project citing density, building height, potential environmental impacts, increased traffic and associated safety issues, overflow parking into surrounding neighborhoods, and potential flooding impacts.
Terry Browning owns the adjacent property and business: Browning’s Marine Sales which was part of the 2021 Marlin Bay project. He spoke in favor of the project and noted that ownership of the property and business has changed since the first Marlin Bay Project. He spoke to address speculation that his property might also soon be developed. He has bought out his brothers and owns both now outright and stated that his and his son will continue to operate the boat sales business.
President Danny Murphy’s statement:
“Good afternoon, Chairman Coston, Commissions and staff. My name is Danny Murphy, and I serve as the President of the Ocean Park Civic League.
I am here to formally state that the Civic League has chosen not to take an official position for or against the Shore Drive Area Condo project application. Over the past five years of my tenure, this site and adjacent parcels have been the focus of redevelopment projects. The Civic League and community have strongly opposed those previous plans, as some of you on this commission may recall. Our community remains divided on this proposal, as confirmed at our recent June meeting. We believe it is important to prioritize residents’ voices by stepping back and allowing them to present their individual perspectives directly to you.
According to our Bylaws, the Civic League’s mandate is to ‘inform residents of issues of neighborhood importance, to provide a forum for discussion of concerns, and to promote participation in public affairs,’ such as this hearing. We operate ‘for the mutual beneficial interests of the Ocean Park community’ and promote ‘safety, and natural resource stewardship for the protection of property values of Ocean Park so it may continue and flourish.’ As noted, redevelopment of these parcels has been discussed at numerous meetings (recap) and open houses. I would like to thank the City of Virginia Beach Planning Department, especially Deputy Director Carrie Bookholt and staff planner Marchelle Coleman, for dedicating an evening to educate our members on land use and redevelopment as it relates to this project. The Q&A portion was extremely valuable, and the city of VB should be proud of their representation.
I also thank the developer, McLeskey Assoc., for addressing past concerns, working to mitigate them where possible, and continuing to seek input throughout this process. They will likely outline their community outreach, pre-project meetings, concept reviews, and efforts to incorporate feedback from the Civic League and Bayfront Advisory Commission, including features such as the designated pet relief area. Their good-faith effort is evident.
Redevelopment is inevitable, necessary, and welcome. As the Civic League observes the future of Shore Drive, we respectfully ask that you evaluate this application within the context of the long-term vision Virginia Beach has adopted for the corridor. We emphasize that this project is unique and should not set a precedent for other nearby redevelopment proposals, several of which may soon arise. All projects must meet the standards of the Comprehensive Plan, the Shore Drive Overlay District, the Shore Drive Corridor Plan, and design guidelines. A wise councilman once told me these represent the contract with the city’s citizens.
There are concerns that many of us share, regardless of our position on the project. I ask that these concerns accompany your recommendation to the City Council, which will make the final decision.
Scale, density, and massing are significant, documented concerns. To reach nearly 24 units per acre, the applicant is requesting variances to reduce the required 30-foot setback on Clipper Bay Drive to 15 feet and lower step-down height 33 feet adjacent to existing townhomes. We ask the Commission to consider these requests carefully before granting approval.
Neighborhood character and corridor alignment. The key consideration is whether the project reflects Ocean Park’s identity as a historic coastal community and aligns with the City’s adopted corridor plan.
Parking and traffic. The trade-off between building height and ground-level parking is significant, and neighbors are concerned that resident and guest vehicles may spill onto Marlin Bay Drive and nearby streets. As for traffic, Shore Drive already exceeds its designed capacity. The Shore Drive Corridor Improvements (Phase IV) project is not scheduled to begin until 2032. Additionally, without proper light cycling, Marlin Bay Drive remains a significant concern as it serves as a main conduit for the area.
Stormwater Management and the Lynnhaven watershed. This section of the Bayfront is already vulnerable to flooding. Any new development must demonstrate that it will not increase runoff or drainage issues, nor hinder the potential need for the west Shore Drive Phase IV Stormwater Pump Station.
Pleasure House Point Natural Area. This property is adjacent to the city’s crown jewel, which the entire community values. With 52 new units, increased use of the area is inevitable. We request meaningful & thoughtful protection for the habitat and trails.
We respectfully request that, regardless of your recommendation, these concerns be included in the record and forwarded to Council, and that residents continue to have a full and fair opportunity to be heard.
Ocean Park Civic League 