Alternate Beach Replenishment Update Briefing presented to City Council

On September 22 the City Council heard a briefing from Mr. Philip Roehrs concerning an alternate plan being moved forward for replenishment of the bay beaches. In this proposal sand dredged from Norfolk Harbor will be used to replenish Cape Henry, Ocean Park and Chesapeake Beaches.

The advantage of the new proposal would be the significantly lower cost to the city.

Several disadvantages were also cited. The timeline of this project would push back replenishment of the Ocean Park Beach until beyond Nov. 2022. The dredging work would begin in Nov. of 2021. In Nov. 2022, according to the timetable in the presentation (slide 10), they will “initiate agreement with Corps of Engineers for the placement of sand.” It is not clear when sand placement would actually happen. Several other concerns were mentioned: the product of dredging may not be acceptable for beach use. “Material quality and quantity is not yet confirmed”. Another disadvantage (slide 8) mentioned in the presentation: “Norfolk also has plans to use sand from the project; final available volume for Virginia Beach may not achieve all goals.”

Following the presentation there were some follow up questions. Councilwoman Barbara Henley asked whether Ocean Park residents are expecting to have relief sooner. Mr. Roehrs replied that they have been in touch with the Civic League. OPCL has received updates on the bidding process for the stand alone Ocean Park beach replenishment, however not about this alternate plan. Mr. Roehrs said that the Ocean Park beach has a “robust dune system” and implied that this means Ocean Park could wait with no ill effects. Mr. Moss noted that beach replenishment is also part of flood control and therefore important. Mayor Dyer indicated his awareness the the dunes were unstable. The stated purpose of the update briefing was “seeking informal Council concurrence to proceed with negotiations on a Memorandum of Agreement with the Virginia Port Authority.” Concurrence to proceed was implied though no roll call vote was taken. This would mean deferral and probably suspension of the rebid of the Ocean Park project which Mr. Roehrs said was slated for a Dec. 2020 timeframe.

Here is a copy of the slide presentation about the project: http://Presentation to City Council Beach Replenishment

Residents who would like to express an opinion on the choice between this project and the stand alone Ocean Park Beach Replenishment can contact:

Robert Dyer, Mayor bdyer@vbgov.com

City Council Members CityCouncil@vbgov.com

Patrick Duhaney, City Manager cmoffice@vbgov.com

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Ocean Park T-shirts and Sweatshirts for sale!

These shirts and sweatshirts are awesome! The short sleeve cotton t-shirts colors are white, blue, gray and pink sizes S-XL. The sweatshirts are gray hoodies (no zipper) in sizes M-XL and a few 3X. To gauge sizes for children: the S size has chest measurement of 34 in. and is 24 in. long.

You may have seen previous post picturing how they can be customized by tie dye- a fun project! So the tie dye ones pictured are not for sale but you can create them like our Tessa Cochran did!

T-shirts are $15.00 and sweatshirts are $40.00. If you would like to buy a great shirt and support OPCL, click on the buy now button. We are also compiling an album of people wearing Ocean Park shirts! So send a picture in and be included in the slideshow to be posted on the website! communications@opcl.org

Buy now!
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Good News!

We can all use some good news these days! At the July 9th virtual OPCL meeting, Jill Doczi provided an update from the City about the sand replenishment for Ocean Park beach. James White from VB Public Works wrote Jill that the plan is to rebid the project with a longer performance period, and the funding was not impacted by the new fiscal year budget. Hurray!

Virtual Welcome Wagon! Welcome to all new Ocean Park Residents! We would like to get to know you! If you have a new neighbor, let us know. We can’t leave our Welcome to Ocean Park Cookie bags right now (hope to soon!) but we’d like to introduce new folks to the neighborhood.

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Rezoning Request for developing Marlin Bay Apartments

Developer’s request to rezone to allow for 227-unit apartment structure goes to planning meeting soon.

Contact City officials and let them know your concerns! Click on linked email addresses below

“Hi, my name is __ and I am an Ocean Park (resident, homeowner, business owner). I oppose the request to increase density and rezone Marlin Bay Apartments on Shore Dr. and Marlin Bay from B2/PDH1 to conditional B4. I am not opposed to all development but I want to ensure it is in line with the community and quality of life here.”

Mayor Bobby Dyer — 757-385-4581 — bdyer@vbgov.com

Mark Shea — Comprehensive Planning Coordinator— meshea@vbgov.com

VB Planning Commission

VB City Council

Louis Jones — 757-583-0177 — lrjones@vbgov.com

Jim Wood — 757-366-1011 — jlwood@vbgov.com

Bayfront Advisory Commission

Charles Malbon Vice Chair — tanklines@aol.com

Morgan Ayers— ayersmorgan@gmail.com

Faith Christie— Fchristie3@cox.net

Wallis Damon— walkatdam@aol.com

Philip Davenport — Pdavenport9@cox.net

Charles Faison Jr. — geefaison@gmail.com

William Hearst — whearst@verizon.net

Stacey Shiflet — Sshiflet35@yahoo.com

Martin Thomas — Mthomas2001@gmail.com

Negative Impacts on Ocean Park

In accordance with the Shore Drive overlay a parcel of 4 acres or more can have 36 units per acre which is 144 not 227. The apartment complex would occupy 4 acres. Including Lynnhaven Marine, it is a 6 acre parcel so they have planned 227 units.

Environmental study needs to be performed to determine the impact on PHP .

Parking spilling onto Marlin Bay and surrounding neighborhoods

Emergency service response serving Ocean Park

Here is the Marlin Bay development website to get information from the company developing the project. https://www.marlinbayvb.com/

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Beach Replenishment Update

The following comes from the City of Virginia Beach Public Works concerning the Ocean Park Beach replenishment project slated for this spring/summer:

The city received three bids on April 7, 2020 for the beach nourishment of Ocean Park Beach. Unfortunately all bids were over 50% higher than the available budget for the project. The primary driver as to why the bids came I’m significantly higher than the available budget is due to industry capacity related to high demand for dredging along the east coast and Gulf of Mexico for the next six months.

No additional funding has been identified and not likely in the immediate future given the current uncertainty in the City budget. Therefore, a contract cannot be awarded based on the current bids. Public Works staff has recommended rebidding the project with a longer period of performance to incentivize more favorable bids. Staff is waiting on final direction from upper management. For now, we are in a holding pattern until revised City budget is determined.

Coastal Section Project Management, City of Virginia Beach Public Works

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Apartments proposed for Ocean Park at Marlin Bay Drive

About a week ago a local developer made an (on-line via Zoom) presentation proposing an apartment complex to replace the boat dealership at the corner of Marlin Bay and Shore Drive to members of the Ocean Park Civic League Board and the Shore Drive Community Coalition Board. The Ocean Park Civic League (OPCL) would like to have your opinion on the proposal. Attached is the PowerPoint slides that were presented outlining the project overview to include renderings of what the completed project would look like. Look it over, tell the OPCL board what you think. Are you for, against or somewhere in between?

The presentation highlighted that the complex will be 227 total units, 4 stories in height, to include 1, 2, and 3-bedroom apartments, offering what they consider high-value amenities with a starting target rental price at $1200.

The residential area surrounds a parking garage of 400+ spaces and a swimming pool. Most significantly, the Zoning for the property must be changed to B4 to accommodate the planned higher density dwelling, as well as closing existing paper streets. Property entrances are planned for Shore Drive and Marlin Bay Dr. There will be on site management company, Drucker & Falk.

The developer has established an introductory website: https://www.marlinbayvb.com/ . The project has not come before the Planning Commission yet, and they hope to in May depending on where the city is with the COVID-19 restrictions. Optimistically, they would like to break ground in 2021, and hope to have the approval of the surrounding community….But that’s up to you.

Your input to the Civic League leadership has great value. The board intends to carry the message forward from the residents of Ocean Park to the developer and the City. You can leave comments to this email address: communication@opcl.org or add to the discussion below. The OPCL Board will be looking to you for your input.

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