A Virginia Beach Neighborhood Association Founded in 1944
On Saturday from 9-12 April 20th! Organizer Mary Faust will have her delicious warm cornbread and chocolate muffins waiting for you! Come help clean up- gloves, grabbers and trash bags provided! Stroll around the nature area and snag some trash!
What are your top 3 concerns about development guidelines in Ocean Park? The BAC will take up this discussion and needs to hear from you! Email: communication@opcl.org
While the Shore Drive Corridor Plan and the Shore Drive Design Guidelines may be more familiar, the Urban Land Institute study that they were based on is also available. The study was done in 1997 and does contain outdated information. Several suggested developments: Waterman’s Walk, Fisherman’s Village did not prove viable.
“The questions the panel was asked to address were divided into four major topic areas: market potential, development and marketing strategies, planning and design and implementation. The panel was asked to evaluate potential development in the corridor and how these sectors differed from markets in the oceanfront resort area.” The Executive Summary shows that many of today’s issues were already clear then: “The absence of a vision results in unclear plans for the future and a tendency toward hodgepodge development patterns. The city has many of the tools necessary to implement a plan but in the absence of a clear vision it is hard to find the basis for consistent administrative action and strong political will, especially when pressures to accommodate narrow interests are significant. ” Issues listed for the west side of the bridge (Ocean Park) include: Density, Development Standards, Road and Parking Standards, Future development impact on wetlands.” In 30 years not much change.
The final recommendations called for the city to better control development by requiring compliance with environmental regulations , site design criteria and landscape and parking design regulations. The city “should use these tools aggressively to improve the overall quality of development in the area. The city has the capacity to better communicate with developers regarding design issues and show endeavor to work more closely with the development community to achieve better design outcomes. The Bayfront Advisory Board could be instrumental in this effort.” It draws a parallel between the powerful Resort Advisory Committee and the Bayfront Advisory.
As a part of the Comprehensive Plan update, the Shore Drive Corridor Plan will also be updated. The same consultant firm will address the Shore Drive part of the Comprehensive Plan later next year. In the coming months, the BAC will work toward laying a foundation for that work by reviewing the old plan: its vision, goals and purpose and welcomes input from residents. Many opportunities will be planned for public engagement. The Ocean Park community is invited to review the current guiding Shore Dr. documents included in this post and think about needed changes.
COVB Codes and Ordinances: Article 17 Shore Drive Overlay District
Comments: president@opcl.org
Added to our Social Calendar: Movie Nights on the Beach tentatively: June 15, July 13 and August 10! Holiday Lights Neighborhood Bike Ride Saturday, December 7th!
Next Social Committee Meeting: Monday April 29th 6:00-7:00 pm. Hopefully we can sit outside!
Thursday afternoon, Parks and Rec. are installing multiple speed bumps at the boat ramp entry and in the parking lot. Workers said we almost got speed tables but they are pricey. The workmen were great and showed us the diagram.
Our speaker for the April meeting, Mike Benedetto, President of TFC Recycling gave a great presentation about recycling now and what’s ahead. Did you know that we actually paid more for recycling in 1996 than we do now? This was before China entered the business and brought down prices but they pulled out in 2018. Mr. Benedetto answered lots of questions about what was actually recyclable (labels ok, staples/ tape ok on boxes, bottles need to be clean etc.) He also relayed that he plastics industry often falsely labels their products with a 1 or 2 symbol so folks think they can recycle the item but only plastic bottles currently are recyclable. For details go to: Virginiabeach.gov/trash-recycling/recycling-information
Mr. Benedetto relayed that the results of the City survey about preferences showed an overwhelming support for continuing the recycling program but the City Council needs to hear from residents during the Budget Comment Period. Go to Speak Up VB to comment on the budget.
FAQ’s about Membership:
Thank you to all who paid 2024 dues!!! Join your neighbors! If you are a resident or property owner in Ocean Park please consider supporting the Ocean Park Civic League with your $20 membership or renew your membership for 2024! Join or Renew OPCL today-only $20 per household! We have more than 1300 households in Ocean Park and in 2023 we had 335 paid memberships. Let’s get to 400 in 2024! We will not raise dues but our costs: IT costs and event costs have gone up like everything else. We really need our neighbors to support the civic league. If you can give more than $20- that helps so much!
What does your membership pay for? The civic league budget pays for the costs of getting information out – website costs, email blast Mailchimp services, snail mail post office box, IT services. We make contributions to Lynnhaven River Now, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and we give a four year $1000 college scholarship every year. With your membership you will also have free entry for your household to our Fall Fest (October 15th this year!) and Spring Fling– a great opportunity to meet your neighbors! Please help support your neighborhood civic league!! If you are new to the Ocean Park neighborhood- welcome! We look forward to getting to know you!
What a great turn out for the second annual Easter Egg Hunt at Loch Haven Park by the Brock Center. Special thanks to our volunteers!! We had generous donations of candy, prizes, decorations (loved the garland and bunny feet)and of course time and effort!! Thank you to our beloved Easter Bunny! The kids love him! Thank you to Beach Built for collection donations for us!
There are more pieces of the puzzle out there! We would like to include more stories! The plan is to include new chapters in an addendum to the book and republish an anniversary edition. If you or your family have information, documentation, memories, photographs or are interested in working on the project: please contact communication@opcl.org. Talk to your neighbors! We have identified some interesting new resources!
In 2024 the Ocean Park Civic League marks the 80 year anniversary since its founding on Nov. 28, 1944. As a part of this celebration, we would like to continue the work of The Ocean Park Story: a soft cover book published in 2015 by a committee headed by Nadine Isaac Hook Costenbader after five years of work piecing together the history of Ocean Park with articles, documents, photographs and oral history from residents and descendants.
On Thursday, March 21, the BAC met at OPVRS. Vice Chair Bob Magoon had raised concerns with the new beach access being constructed by Westminster Canterbury that will ultimately be turned over to the City of Viriginia Beach. The ramp construction is being built into the dune. To answer the concerns brought up by Mr. Magoon, Mr. P.J. Scully from the Dept of Planning and Community Development and Mr. Seth Edwards, P.E. Development Services Administrator joined the meeting. Mr. Scully related that the city has not accepted the ramp as constructed and mediating work is being undertaken. There is a suit brought by a citizen in regard to the ramp.
Derek Dubay presented his plan to restore the Ocean Park Baptist Church and turn it into a wedding and event venue. He addressed concerns of noise and parking as he had at the Ocean Park Civic League meeting on March 7. The plan will require a zoning change from R5b to B-2 and require a conditional use permit restricting use for assembly only. Mr. Dubay is working now with the city about proffers and expects that the plan will be reviewed by the Planning Commission and then the City Council in June or July.
Discussion of the update to the Shore Drive section of the Comp Plan was tabled until the next meeting.
In the public comment portion of the meeting, a representative from the Active Transportation Committee noted that approval for bike racks at some beach accesses had come through including several in Ocean Park.
We collected 25 pounds of trash! Thank you to all who helped and especially to Mary Faust who organizes the effort and bakes the chocolate muffins and cornbread! YUM! Next clean up will be Saturday, April 20 9-12 am.
Ocean Park Civic League 