travel – Page 2 – Ocean Park Civic League

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.

Please donate! Jill Doczi tells the story of how our fireworks show came about:

In the past, neighbors celebrated the day of our nation’s independence starting at sundown and continuing into the early morning hours with their own fireworks on the beaches. From Little Creek Amphibious Base to First Landing State Park, we had a stunning array of light and sound from everything between small sparklers and thousands-of-dollars mini-shows, all illegal, but impressive as a whole for a community.

Over the years, the word spread, and people from outside the community flocked to participate. Sometimes those people showed up a little under-the-influence, excited to share their self-taught pyrotechnic skills. Sometimes they didn’t care as much about the safety of neighbors and sometimes they didn’t have the skills they thought they did — resulting errant shots into dry dune grass, onto roofs and into crowds. Hundreds of fireworks shooting in all directions up and down the beach did start to resemble a war movie.

In 2009, we experienced the Great Fireworks Crackdown. Due to some serious safety issues from the previous year, the city launched a very militant effort to stop the illegal use of fireworks on the Fourth of July along the Shore Drive beaches. In addition to increased beach patrols, they staged police and fire marshal staff at every access entrance. They checked coolers, bags and buggies for explosives and meted out severe penalties. It worked. Fireworks celebrations of Independence Day appeared to have ended on our beaches.

The community realized that maybe it had gotten out-of-hand and unsafe, but we weren’t willing to give up the tradition. How could we celebrate our country in the same patriotic way that centuries of Americans before us have, while not setting each other and our neighborhoods on fire?

In 2010, our then civic league president, Rick Mercadante, proposed we raise funds for a professional show. The city agreed. Word-of-mouth and a loan from the civic league launched our first authorized fireworks show in July 2010.

Donate: www.opcl.org

Summer season is here and with it the issues at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp become more acute. Despite ongoing engagement with the COVB Police, Public Works and Parks and Recreation by Ocean Park residents, the civic league and now the Bayfront Advisory Commission residents are negatively impacted by the overwhelmed facility. Congestion on the narrow streets of Ocean Park, boat trailers waiting for access block driveways and often get lost which pose frustrating safety hazards for pedestrians and drivers.

Neighborhood safety is a priority and we will continue to advocate for solutions as we liaise with city leadership.

**For more information go to the LBR FAQ OPCL page.**

In response to pointed letters this week from many residents, the City Manager Patrick Duhaney offers the following information.

What is the Public Safety plan for Memorial Day Weekend?

Police: The Virginia Beach Police Department is committed to proactively addressing the concerns surrounding the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp. Following an incident in March, Captain Gordon attended an Ocean Park Civic League meeting with Director Kirschman from Parks and Recreation. This engagement allowed us to hear directly from residents about their concerns and share our constructive response. In response to the community feedback, we have significantly increased our patrols in the area, asking officers to remain visible for a period of time when circumstances allow. This includes patrol officers completing paperwork on-site of the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp from prior calls for service which also enhance their presence within the community.

To further discourage any issues, we’ve strategically placed a police vehicle in the parking lot on occasions, serving as a visible deterrent. Additionally, the 3rd Precinct has conducted musters (shift roll calls) in the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp Parking lot which also increases visibility. Our Traffic Safety Unit has assisted with increased presence to ensure smoother traffic flow and enhance safety around the boat ramp. We have also intensified parking enforcement to effectively address violations. The feedback from the community meeting has been encouraging, demonstrating that our increased efforts are appreciated. We have also communicated our initiatives to those who couldn’t attend via outreach from the Ocean Park Civic League president. Since the March incident and the resulting increase in our presence, we are pleased to note that no further issues have been reported to the department.

Looking ahead to the upcoming weekend, we are deploying officers on ATVs, UTVs, and a Motor Carrier unit as additional resources for traffic management and beach oversight. Our marine unit, in collaboration with the Virginia Marine Police and Virginia Conservation Police, are resources that we can call upon to address boating violations. In addition, cameras at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp are being monitored by the VBPD Real Time Crime Center. We will do our best to monitor and address conditions at the boat ramp as they arise, realizing that this will be an incredibly busy weekend for the city with a significant number of events in all four precincts that will draw upon our finite resources.

Emergency Medical Services: through the Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad and Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad, will have EMS personnel conducting ATV/UTV safety patrols on the beaches at various times throughout the summer.
In addition, the EMS Marine Rescue Team conducts weekend marine patrols off the beaches and in city waterways throughout the summer on Fridays through Sundays.

Emergency Communications & Citizen Services: ECCS is staffed 24/7/365 for informational calls, non-emergency reporting, and 9-1-1 Emergency Services.
Information: 3-1-1 or 757-385-3111
Non-emergency: 757-385-5000
Emergency: 9-1-1

Fire: Fire is upstaffing to ensure Fire boats will be staffed for the holiday weekend and most weekends throughout the summer.

How will the City address Waste Management on our beaches, boat ramps, and parks throughout the weekend?

Public Works Beach Operations | Beaches
Beach Operations is operating under normal conditions.
Regular service for all beach waste containers (barrels) is being provided at beach entrances and those on the sand.
Service for these containers occurs each morning around 5:30 a.m.
Should Beach Ops receive prior notification of a large unauthorized party on the beach, they will arrange to have roll-off containers for beachgoers to utilize.

Parks and Recreation | Boat Ramps and Parks
Boat Ramp staff are onsite from 5:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Service for the ramp’s dumpster is provided by a contracted commercial waste hauler and performed on a set schedule. If needed, they can request a special pick-up.
Parks Staff will be actively checking all parks and ensuring that waste containers are serviced as needed.

Public Works Waste Management | Residential Household Waste
Waste and Recycling Collection Services for the residential homes in the Shore Drive/Bay Beach areas occur on Wednesday.
To find when your next recycling service day will be, visit https://VirginiaBeach.gov/wastemgt and use the “Find My Trash Day” tool.
For service day reminders, residents can sign up to receive text or email notifications at VB Connect
To report a miss in service (trash, recycling, bulky or yard waste), residents can create a Service Request at https://vb311.virginiabeach.gov/assist/servicetypes

What happens if the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp Reaches Maximum Capacity 

Ramp Signage: Parks and Recreation (PAR) will change all four ramp signs to full to indicate no availability. These are drop down “full” signs located on Shore Drive in the east and west bound directions.
Staff at Entrance: PAR will place two staff members at the entrance to the boat ramp, equipped with radios for communication. Staff are there to assist with the notification to boaters that the ramp is full and to continue traveling on East Stratford Road to exit the neighborhood.
If upon exiting the parking lot traffic becomes a problem, staff and/or residents are asked to notify Police to assist in either flushing the traffic out onto Shore Drive and out of the neighborhood. If a vehicle is unoccupied, Police will ticket the violator.
Barricade Road: PAR will use crowd control barricades to close off Piedmont Circle access into the facility. Once open spaces are available then staff will let trailers begin entering.  
Car Lot and Trailer Monitoring: PAR is going to consistently check the car lot and trailer numbers to ensure proper parking and space utilization. 
Launch and Recovery Monitoring: PAR will ensure individuals who are launching and recovering boats are exiting the ramp area promptly and moving to the designated areas. 
Ramp Control Staff: PAR will station one staff member for ramp control to maintain order and assist with operations. 
Staffing: Parks and Recreation has hired an additional staff person to support the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp and Supervisors are scheduled proactively during the busiest times.

The Ocean Park Civic League Board of Directors was approached in late November 2024 regarding the Virginia Beach City Council’s decision to pursue the Wetlands Mitigation Project at Pleasure House Point. Understanding the considerable impact this project would have on our community, we quickly reached out to our partners at Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Lynnhaven River Now (LRNow), Friends of Live Oaks (FOLO), and others to gauge their expertise on strategies moving forward. We also took the time to discuss the project with, and learn details from, our elected officials, local experts, and our residents.

Those discussions confirmed that local environmental experts (e.g. CBF, LRNow, etc) support of the project. Their statements are available on our website (www.opcl.org). We also learned the City intended to quickly move forward with this effort despite the significant impact to the maritime forest to advance flood mitigation efforts across the Lynnhaven River. Our understanding is that wetlands restoration was the intent for this property since 2012. Over the years, the delays in moving forward with the wetland restoration project resulted in profound tree growth in the area as nature took its course, creating the space we all know today.

While this project will have considerable impacts to our neighborhood, the long term outcomes will result in an accessible, preserved natural area that encourages a healthier Lynnhaven River. We are saddened at the loss of the maritime forest and habitat in these 12 acres and appreciate the help of our many neighbors who have volunteered their time to preserve the space, from moving saplings to undergoing trainings to help wildlife in the area. We also appreciate the efforts of our neighbors who have worked with us to hold our representatives accountable.

Collectively, our passion for our neighborhood is unparalleled and speaks volumes to how special we know this area of Virginia Beach to be. We appreciate everyone’s dedication to this effort and look forward to our continued partnerships on behalf of our neighborhood.

Respectfully,
Ocean Park Civic League Board of Directors