A Virginia Beach Neighborhood Association Founded in 1944
Coastal Transplants has installed sand fences and planted American Beach Grass on the dunes. Sea Oats have now also been planted on the crest of the dunes. “Please Stay Off the Dunes “ signs remind beach goers to leave the grass and dunes undisturbed. Let’s give the grass a chance to get established!
President Danny Murphy packed a lot into the busy hour long meeting on Thursday, April 6th at the Brock Center. Thanks to District 9 City Councilman Joash Schulman for coming out to the meeting to give an update about the defunding of Western Shore Drive Improvements in the 2023-24 budget. Due to steeply rising costs, the city manager and the City Council want to concentrate available money on projects closest to completion-Phase 3 Eastern Shore Dr. Sadly we have heard this same rationale over and over: wait your turn, the last time in 2018. Councilman Schulman feels that we will be in a strong position in coming budget go arounds and pledges his strong advocacy to see this project through. City Staff Response to Mr. Schulman’s Question Regarding Reasoning behind Phase IV Defunding (provided by Mr. Schulman at the meeting).
In other business, a motion carried to ask the city to rethink truck hauling from the Lynnhaven Transfer Station as a method of sand placement given the considerable wear and tear on residential roads/ the new bridge and traffic congestion in the narrow residential streets where the transfer station is located. Other beaches like Croatan are replenished without truck hauling. In addition, the motion reflects our opposition to plans to extend truck haul activity over into the weekend time now that the project has had significant delays putting it in the high season not the quieter winter months. Another motion carried in support of the 10/1 voting district system that was in place for the 2022 election.
Update on Planting on Sand Dunes: “Please Stay Off the Dunes “ signs will be placed on the front slope of the dunes along the beach by May 5th. Sea oats planting should be done by April 21st.
Systems are go for 2023 July 1st Fireworks and upcoming social events: Pop Up Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 8 at 10:30, the first of our two blockbuster events of the year: Spring Fling April 22 4-7 pm at Taste and a new event: Sunset Beach Picnic on Piling Day May 6th (rain date: May 13th).
Further details available in Meeting Minutes to be posted shortly. Here are the slides from the meeting with information about Phase IV etc.
In spite of some brisk temperatures on Saturday, April 6th, Ocean Park families gathered for the first annual Pop Up Easter Egg Hunt at Loch Haven Park by the Brock Center. It was great to see so many neighbors! Huge thanks to the Easter Bunny who had the kids hopping with him to keep warm! He got lots of smiles, high fives and treats! “The kids were so generous-they kept giving me their candy!” he said.
Huge thanks to all the volunteers who came out to make it happen with only 2 weeks notice! Rose Hester brought her whole family to hide eggs! Thanks to all who donated eggs, candy, treats and their time!
What is this all about? Here is Jill’s story: When I moved to this neighborhood, my dad couldn’t believe I bought a house next door to a condemned home with a tree growing through the hole in the roof. It was surrounded by several similar old cinder block buildings. He saw it as a poor investment. I had heard there were plans for the area, and I could see the older, less-maintained buildings around me slowly being replaced by decent residences and businesses. I was excited to see the changes and watch my investment grow in value, not just monetarily, but as a neighborhood as well. Many other people started seeing the potential in our area. As I started a family I thought, “Wow, with these plans for structural improvements, one day my children will have a great place to walk, bike and enjoy the area. It would be safer, family friendly and would show off our wonderful community. Every year it got pushed off. My children learned to walk, then bike and later drive. Other things took priority for this city leadership (including a bike path through First Landing State park that barely gets used compared to the amount of pedestrian and bike traffic our dense area could have but somehow found immediate funding upon proposal). Well, my children grew up and went away to college. They never saw the improvements to our phase of Shore Drive. But we will have a fine surf park and some amazing music festivals that will help the restaurant and hotel businesses at the oceanfront (which has received some significant improvements since I bought my first home). I’d like to propose that I owe no more taxes to this city until leadership can figure out how to evenly allocate its attention. By choosing this wonderful neighborhood and believing in its potential, I invested in this city in so many ways but quite a bit financially. It hasn’t returned the investment.
The City of Virginia Beach Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget process is underway. The long planned and promised improvements to Shore Dr. from the Lesner Bridge to Marlin Bay Dr. have again been postponed. Among other topics, the Phase 4 Capital Improvements for Shore Dr will be discussed at the April 6 OPCL meeting at 7:00 pm at the Brock Center. For more information on the project: Opcl.org/phase-iv-long-promised-west-shore-dr-improvements/
District 9 Councilman Joash Schulman said that he was caught unawares that this proposal was being made (2024 FY defunding of Shore Dr. Phase 4 & both Pleasure House Rd. Phase I & 2). He is talking with city staff to determine how the recommendation came about and exactly what it means going forward before publicly commenting or take an strong stance. He will communicate and engage with the district in the future when he has thorough and accurate information
The first Town Hall Meeting took place at the Bayside Rec Center on Saturday, March 25. The City Council seeks input from voters about what election system they want to see in Virginia Beach. The city charter must be updated even if the 10 district system used in the 2022 election is continued. At the meeting on Saturday, the meeting began with a short video presentation about the background of changes in how elections have been handled in VB. The majority of the meeting time was for people to give input about their views on the election system. District 9 Councilman Joash Schulman was in attendance to listen to these views. The speakers overwhelmingly favored the 10/1 system. One speaker expressed support for having some at-large seats saying that he wanted to be able to vote for more than one member of council. The rest of the speakers spoke in support of having 10 districts (10/1 system) many voicing similar reasons: accountability, feeling more represented. Many also cited the advantage of the reduced role of money when a candidate does not have to raise money to campaign in the entire city allowing more candidate diversity. Two candidates from the last election spoke to that as their experience. A former councilman, who worked on the voting referendums in the 90’s, made the point that voters do not vote on all members of the House of Delegates or State Senate, they elect their representative. He also mentioned that the court decision in Alabama due in April or May will have an effect. Another concern mentioned often was redrawing district lines. The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service is organizing the meetings on behalf of the City Council and they will compile the input and present it to the City Council.
From our wonderful Pleasure House Point Clean up Organizer, Mary Faust: “He’s little but mighty!! Holden and Jillian Howe were out today clearing refuse from Pleasure House Point Natural Area today along with 28 other volunteers who graciously gave their time and energy to help out!! Another approximately 200 lbs. including more rusty car parts (thanks Mike and Connie Pearman!), a rusty twin boxspring (looking at you Mike Kreckel) and a broken office chair (ok Jennifer!!)!! Lots of young ones with their parents -the kids love it!! Fortunately the weather was a bit nicer today than last time!! Thanks everyone!!”
Coastal Transplants is putting up sand fences and planting American Beach Grass on the dunes. There will be a truck or two on the beach as work goes on. They will return in mid-April to plant Sea Oats when the Sea Oat sprigs will be ready for harvesting and planting.
STAY OFF THE DUNES!! The beach grass and sea oats are fragile! It will take 2 years for them to fill in. Give them a chance to get established and grow!!
The Louise and George Lyon Memorial Scholarship for high school seniors in Virginia Beach is open for applications until March 31! While special consideration is given to Ocean Park residents, the scholarship is open to any qualified resident of Virginia Beach. The scholarship award is $1000 @year and can be awarded for up to four years to students who remain eligible. The deadline for submission is March 31, 2024. Applications should be mailed to OPCL Scholarship/ PO Box 55385/ Virginia Beach, VA 23471. Here is the link to the application: OPCL.org/scholarships/
The Ocean Park Civic League is humming along with new ideas and fun projects! Would you like to join in and help? Go to opcl.org/aboutopcl for more information or contact president@opcl.org or communication@opcl.org. Here are the committee descriptions as laid out in our bylaws:
At the March 9th Ocean Park Civic League Meeting at the Brock Center in the Pleasure House Point Nature Center. We got new information about several topics! Officer Schonbach updated us on the new technology being implemented and latest statistics in our neighborhood.
District 9 Councilman Joash Schulman joined us and explained the background of the need for City Council action before January 2024 on the election system in Virginia Beach. He also talked about the school budget and the new property assessments. He encourages residents to contact him with questions and concerns: jschulman@vbgov.com.
The Virginia Beach City Council will have to formally adopt a new system for elections in Virginia Beach prior to the 2024 election. The changes that were made for the 2022 election have not been formally written into the city’s charter. The City Council wants to look at various options for structuring the election system in Virginia Beach. In order to educate the public and get feedback about the options, the city is organizing mail surveys, television and newspaper advertisements, a website and 12 town halls, including one in each district and two at centrally located sites with virtual attendance opportunities.
President Danny Murphy gave updates on several recent informative meetings: Town Hall with Chris Taylor, City Manager’s Listening Meeting and the Bayfront Advisory Commission. Also noted were upcoming Social Events: Spring Fling on April 22 at Taste, May Piling Event and a planned Beach Cleanup with details to follow!
For full details: see the March General Meeting Minutes which will be posted shortly. You can access the recording of the meeting also: Zoom.us/OPCL March 9 General Membership Meeting.rec/play. Passcode: 7U?MJ!We
Ocean Park Civic League 