camping – Ocean Park Civic League

During the high season in Virginia Beach, Parks and Recreation staff share weekly updates regarding weekend activity at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp (LBR):

“Overall, the weekend was a bit slower for launches due to the marine forecast and expected late afternoon thunderstorms, but the car parking continues to be very heavy throughout the day. We had a total of 468 launches over the 3 days. Below is a breakdown by day:

Friday, July 18: 85 total launches, car parking did not fill up. The overflow lot was used for 4 trailers. We did not have to close using the barricades at any time.

Saturday, July 19: 208 total launches, car parking was full from 9:15 am until around 8:00pm. The overflow was used for 56 vehicles with trailers. Barricade operations was not needed. Heavy car traffic all day through 9pm.

Sunday, July 20: 175 total launches, car parking was full from 11:00am – 8:15pm. The overflow was used for 25 vehicles. Barricade operations was not needed.

Incidents to report:

On Friday night around 8:45pm, a person on a jet ski was reported to have been traveling at a high speed on crab creek and creating a large wake. When the rider came to the ramp, a resident whose home backs up to crab creek, approached the rider about the wake she created and potential damage to his boat that was moored on his dock. Staff and security intervened and it was de-escalated and the resident left the boat ramp.

Review of video data from Friday until Monday morning showed heavy car traffic after hours until after midnight Friday and Saturday night but no visible loitering in the parking lots. Police were onsite Saturday night/Sunday morning from approximately 11:30pm-10:50pm walking around and keeping cars out of trailer parking. Police also came through the lot Sunday morning around 12:50am.

Garda Security is working well. We have been working with the contractor and Emergency Management to fine tune the standing orders. Approximately 6 residents were out last Thursday, first night of security, to introduce themselves.”

This data comes from Michael Parkman, Parks and Rec Supervisor.

Friday, June 13 – 91 total launches, car parking did not fill. The overflow was used for 2 vehicles with trailers.

Saturday, June 14– 135 total launches, car parking was full from 10:45 am until around 5:45pm. The overflow was used for 3 vehicles with trailers.

Sunday, June 15– 75 total launches, car parking was full from 1:30pm-3:00pm. The overflow was used for 3 vehicles with trailers.

At no point during this weekend did we have to close access to the facility.

Review of video data from Friday until Monday morning showed about 10-15 cars in the parking lot closest to the bridge until around 11pm on Friday night. Saturday night was a bit slower overall after hours. Police real time crime took control of cameras around 2-3am Saturday morning. Appeared to be watching a small group of individuals milling around their cars.

Friday, May 30 – 93 total launches, car parking did not fill.

Saturday, May 31 – 189 total launches, car parking was full from 11 am until around 5:45pm. The overflow was used for about 48 vehicles with trailers.

Sunday, June 1– 59 total launches, car parking did not fill.

At no point during this weekend did we have to close access to the facility.

Saturday was a very busy day not only with launches but also lots of beachgoers. Staff did receive a complaint from a couple citizens on the beach about loud “inappropriate” music coming from a specific group on the other side of the bridge from the boat ramp property. Staff investigated but found the group to be very large and did not feel safe approaching them. Staff did advise the citizens that complained to also call police non-emergency if it continued to be an issue.

Review of video data from Friday until Monday morning showed about 20-25 cars in the parking lot closest to the bridge between 9:30pm and 12am Friday and Saturday nights. All these cars were parked legally and there were very few people milling around the lot during this time. My assumption is that people were on the beach.

Tag: camping

LBR Activity Report: July 18-20

LBR Data for Recent Weekends