The developers for the Marlin Bay property (corner of Marlin Bay Dr. and Shore Dr.) have indicated that the owners were temporarily delaying the Street Closure Applications for the paper streets around the property: Ocean Tides and Clipper Bay following the OPCL letter in response to notification of that application and at Councilman Schulman‘s request. The civic league is working alongside Councilman Schulman to engage them in appropriate development ideas that can be supported by the community and the owners/developers. For information about the original proposal for the property turn to theMarlin Bay Page.
What is Phase IV? Long story short: it is substantial improvements to Shore Dr. west of the Lesner Bridge (Ocean Park) to include bike lanes, sidewalks, stormwater mitigation measures, enhanced lighting and crosswalks.
“The new roadways will include features such as bike lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, and bus shelters. The policy also requires that the roadways be designed to slow down traffic and make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.”
These promised Improvements are not in the cards for Shore Dr. anytime soon as the project was defunded in the 2024 Budget.
The poor condition of Shore Dr. is an old story. A new take on the story is provided in a short podcast by student Amanda Wong in her CrossroadsPodcast. She interviews pedestrians and bicycle riders on Shore Dr. and also talks to Hank Morrison from the COVB Planning Department. Have a listen!
How long has the wait been?
2006 Shore Drive Traffic Safety resolution passed by City Council 10-0 with almost none of the projects being completed today.
2023Councilman Schulman proposes temporary sidewalk improvements for Shore Dr. At the July Bayfront Advisory Council,Jeremy Kline, Asst. Public Works Director, reported that construction on the interim sidewalks would begin in late fall though funding and design have not been established.
There is a process for traffic calming measures. Recently the civic league explored this for Surry Rd. which many residents feel experiences dangerous cut through traffic. After analysis, it was determined that Surry does not carry enough traffic to be eligible for traffic calming measures (must carry 600 per day.) Here is a Quick Guide to the Traffic Calming Program which outlines the requirements and steps in the process. The improvements to Shore Dr. in the current draft Engineering Plan for Phase IVwill improve the situation on both Surry and West Stratford. When completed (sadly this is a long way off) Surry will no longer have an outlet onto Shore Drive. Surry Rd. will become a dead end so it will no longer serve as a cut through street. Access to Surry will be at the traffic light on Roanoke. Similarly the intersection at West Stratford and Roanoke Ave. will be simplified.
The city is transitioning from the previous website: vbgov.com to the new website virginiabeach.gov. During this time some links are not working. In addition the search function will not be fully operational until the end of the year. So if you are looking for information on the city website, you may need to delve into the menus for now.
All these awesome photos are from Chris Giersch. Thank you!
Our neighborhood enjoyed a spectacular show on July 1st! Thank you to our dedicated fireworks wizard Jill Doczi who knows all, sees all and brings it home! The list is long of what all goes into the fireworks planning and execution and we all deeply appreciate what you do Jill! Thank you to all the donors because this beautiful show comes off only through those donations. So many stepped up and even donated extra (which we needed). Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Maybe you’ve been thinking about it. Maybe you’ve been meaning to. Maybe you don’t remember if you paid this year?Please support the work and play the civic league brings to the community. (if you are not sure if your dues are current or have any questions about donating or you would like a sticker: communication@opcl.org). THANK YOU to all our wonderful Ocean Park residents who have paid to support the civic league! Let us know where to deliver your sticker!
Thanks to our helpers (esp the little ones!) who came out on Sunday morning to pick up trash left behind after the fireworks! The beach was pretty cleaned up already- thanks to all the fireworks spectators! You really tidied up behind yourselves! We met at Froggies afterwards and enjoyed an icy cold mimosa (juice for the little ones) ! Also thank you Froggies for delivering ice cold water at the beach access for our helpers! It hit the spot! Thanks to all!
The Weldon Cooper Center and its UVA partners briefed City Council on June 20, 2023 in their afternoon informal session on the community engagement efforts regarding the Election District structure for the City of Virginia Beach. A decision must be made prior to the 2024 election cycle about whether to keep the current 10 districts + mayor or go to a 7 district+3 super districts + mayor. Here is the PowerPoint from the presentation. Also here are links to the Briefing to the City Councilthat explains the powerpoint slides and also you can read the complete report: Full Report. The briefing describes the methodology for the probability based survey which provided the raw data which was analyzed in the report. They also conveyed the themes that were heard from the non-probability based open source survey. The comments from the public sessions and the online survey that were submitted to Speakup.gov through June 14, 2023 were downloaded and provided directly to City Council members. The City Council members will address this question in their August retreat and a decision on whether they will also put a referendum on the November ballot will be made. You can contact city council members with your view: citycouncil@vbgov.com
From Mary Faust: Thank you to the lovely folks who came out this morning to help with the cleanup of Pleasure House Point Natural Area! It was certainly a pretty day!! Debbie and Tetsuo were early arriving followed by Michael and Connie Pearman (he was under strict orders to avoid finding huge car parts this time!!) Our OPCL President, Danny Murphy, showed up ready to work as he always does!! Dori and Lindsey with their 4 littles eagerly headed out followed by Chili Cookoff Champ Josh Montgomery with his family Anita and Savannah with their mighty (little dog!!) Cujo!! Reid and Stephanie Baker showed up as did Sandy and Mike Dawe (I have got to find a vegan treat for you guys!), followed by Blair and Jeff Valdivieso and Beth King who spotted monofilament with bird feathers hanging over the pond (of course you did!! Haha!!) Everyone commented on how little trash there was but we ended with 10 bags and approximately 70 pounds of refuse. Many hands make light work!! Thanks to you all!!
Ocean Park Civic League 