Shore Drive Community Coalition

2008 VB Outdoors Plan looks for your feedback - re:Pleasure House Point

As you know, Pleasure House Point is the #1 property to purchase for open space in the 2000 Virginia Beach Outdoors Plan.
Follow the info below and email your feedback to ensure it remains #1 for the 2008 Report:

Dear Valued Stakeholders,

On behalf of Parks and Recreation Director, Cindy Curtis, we would value your feedback on the final draft of the 2008 Virginia Beach Outdoors Plan.  The Outdoors Plan is the City’s guidance document for open space acquisition and outdoor recreational planning.  It is a significant component of the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan and a reference document to the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

We are providing a stakeholder review period from July 1, 2008 through July 31, 2008. Residents may also provide input on the Plan at the Open Space Subcommittee’s July 28, 2008 monthly public meeting.  We value your input and welcome your comments.  We realize and appreciate that your review perspective depends and will differ greatly on your relationship within or to Virginia Beach. If you have any questions as to what section of the Plan you should focus on, please call me (Brian Solis) at 385-1109.

In order to be “greener” in our planning and correspondence process, we are attempting a “paperless” review of the Plan.  Please follow, or have your staff follow, the following three easy steps to review the Plan:

Step #1 - Visit the website:  http://www.vbgov.com/OutdoorsPlan  to download the entire Plan or by section.

Step #2 - Review the Plan or sections that are of primary interest to your organization.

Step #3 - Email comments back to me by replying to this email address or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Hard copies of the Plan will be available at any Virginia Beach public library.

Your feedback will be considered with the final adoption of the Plan.  Parks and Recreation staff will be briefing the City’s Bikeways and Trails Advisory Committee, Parks and Recreation Commission, Planning Commission and City Council on the Plan this summer. The Plan will be considered by City Council for final adoption in September/October 2008.

Thank you in advance for your time and efforts.

Sincerely,

Brian S. Solis, AICP

City of Virginia Beach
Department of Parks and Recreation
Planning, Design & Development Division
2408 Courthouse Drive - Municipal Center, Building # 21
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Office:  (757) 385-1109   Fax:  (757) 385-1130   E-mail:  .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Our vision is a balanced, sustainable and value-focused system of parks, recreation and public spaces that creates a sense of community.

VB makes top ten in greenest places to retire list

If your idea of retirement is a permanent vacation, it makes sense to choose a locale with plenty of wide-open spaces. Parks not only provide refuge from the noise and bustle of the city, but they also strengthen neighborhoods, reduce pollution, and inspire lazy strolls and impromptu picnics.

Parks are especially vital for densely populated urban areas, says Peter Harnik, director of the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land. “The more crowded a city is, the more important parks are,” he says. “Fewer and fewer people have their own private green space, so they depend on public space.”

Hmmm… the Bayfront is the densest populated area in the City, an Open Space study showed we drastically lack open space & picked Pleasure House Point as the number one property to purchase to create more open space, it’s well known “empty-nesters” are a large portion of the residents & homeowners in the area & therefore contribute more to the “bottom line” of the City’s tax revenues. Did you also know First Landing State Park is the most visited park in the entire state? Wouldn’t that also mean we, at the Bayfront, need more open space?!
Read 10 Greenest Places to Retire at US News & World Report.