Shore Drive Community Coalition

City’s latest announcement about PHP

At SavePHP.org:

“The city anticipates working with citizens and partner groups to develop a plan for use of the public open space, building on the city’s existing plans to preserve land and improve water quality in the Lynnhaven watershed, including a return of the famous Lynnhaven Oyster fishery.”

PHP site partnership opportunity presentation at SDCC Meeting

July 26th we had a very exciting presentation from the City of Virginia Beach, the Trust for Public Land and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

View the 5 slides that were presented. (.pdf version)
View the 5 slides that were presented. (Google Docs version)

Op-Ed from Chairman of Dollar Tree thanks SDCC for work on PHP so far

Read entire Op-Ed by Mr. Macon Brock at ePilot.com:

But thanks to this partnership and the many groups such as Shore Drive Community Coalition, Lynnhaven River NOW and other members of the community who worked hard to prevent intensive development on this land, it is encouraging to know this treasure will have the best, most capable, caring environmental stewards — if the rest of the needed funds to purchase the property materialize.

“By the end of the meeting, Wells Fargo agreed to sell the property for $13 million”

Read and comment on article at Pilotonline.com:

On the other hand, if Wells Fargo held out for more money and sold to another developer, environmental permits would be needed before construction could begin and homebuyers would have to return to the market.

SDCC thanked for their work by Chesapeake Bay Foundation

From The Bay Daily:

The property, known as Pleasure House Point, has been the focus of extensive community debate, with local groups such as Shore Drive Community Coalition, Lynnhaven River NOW, and CBF vigorously opposed to development proposed for the parcel.

Thank you.

To the volunteers who protected 100% of Pleasure House Point

The incredible news you heard today:

“Mayor William D. Sessoms, Jr.  announced today that the 122-acre property known as Pleasure House Point may be acquired and protected under terms of a deal between Wells Fargo bank and The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national environmental group.  The property has been a top city open-space priority for a decade. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and The Trust for Public Land plan to partner with the city to pull together funding to meet the $13 million purchase price.

Pleasure House Point, located just west of the Lesner Bridge and south of the Chesapeake Bay, is at the confluence of Pleasure House Creek and Crab Creek, overlooking the Lynnhaven River. The property’s owner, L.M. Sandler & Sons, had planned to build a large waterfront development there known as Indigo Dunes.”

... is at the very least exciting for Hampton Roads residents and future generations.

Over the next days, and weeks you will undoubtedly hear more details about the possibilities of what Pleasure House Point will be.

From housing a wildlife refuge & rehab center to being part of the Lynnhaven River Blueway and being a leader in educational programs for disabled children & adults. Pleasure House Point will be home to an inspiring facility that will not only protect a jewel of Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads - but can just as assuredly, incubate big thinking on so many levels we have not had a chance to comprehend. Yet.

If it were not for countless hard working, selfless volunteers who dedicated an incomprehensible amount of time, energy, and effort to save Pleasure House Point from development and to raise the level of awareness to the property’s value for preservation, open space, and environmental education, we would not be having this conversation right now.

Without you, dear volunteer we would not be at this place in time.

Without you, dear volunteer, this opportunity to tell your grand children you were there when… would not be possible.

We hope a thank you is enough. But we know it’s not.

We know protecting 100% of Pleasure House Point is merely a starting point for something bold and grand that you will be proud of.

And in case you haven’t heard it enough, for the work you’ve put in to accomplish this feat - thank you. Thank you dear volunteer. You do and will continue to make a difference.

City Announces Partnership to Acquire Pleasure House Point

City Announces Partnership to Acquire Pleasure House Point
Plans include environmental education center and preservation of open space

City News Release Date:  Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:30 p.m.
 
...“Thanks to The Trust for Public Land, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the citizens of Virginia Beach, we have a plan to save the vast majority of Pleasure House Point from development,” Mayor Sessoms said. “The strength of this partnership gives us the best chance yet to preserve this unique property. Our persistence is paying off!”...
 

To read the entire news release, click on this link Partnership to Acquire Pleasure House Point

You can also check for additional updates on this topic at the Pilotonline’s article Virginia Beach to buy, preserve Shore Drive property

If you had to pick a neighborhood to test Google’s new 100x cable speed experiment….

More about Google Fiber:

Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We’ll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

From VBGov.com:

Release Date:  Tuesday, March 9, 2010 12:30 p.m.

The City of Virginia Beach is requesting citizen input regarding possible participation in a fiber broadband trial being conducted by Google.

Google is planning to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the United States. Google’s stated intention is for these proposed fiber networks to deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections.

To be considered for participation in this trial, the City of Virginia Beach must complete a Request for Information (RFI); as part of this process, the city is requesting that citizens complete a short survey in order to assess the level of community interest and support for this type of trial.

The city has a very short window of opportunity in which to respond, so citizens wishing to participate should complete the survey no later than March 23. Responses will be tallied and incorporated into the application RFI process.

To participate in the survey, please visit http://www.VBgov.com/surveys and select the Google Fiber for Communities survey. Citizens can learn more about the Google Fiber for Communities trial by visiting http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/overview.

Survey Questions to take at VBGov.com:

1. Do you feel our city and its residents can benefit from faster Internet connectivity?

2. How could you or your business benefit from this project?

3. Recognizing that new fiber infrastructure would have to be added to our city rights-of-way, would you still support this project if you personally would be impacted by the undergrounding or construction process?

4. Do you currently subscribe to a high speed Internet service provider (DSL, cable, fiber)?

Please take some time to consider how you’d answer #2 - then click here to take the survey.

More about the experimental project from Google:

Or downloading a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3D video of a university lecture. Universal, ultra high-speed Internet access will make all this, and more possible.

More from CBS News:

Submit your comments to The Mayor’s Alternative Energy Task Force

Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads and Virginia need a more sustainable, intelligent energy future. The Mayor’s Alternative Energy Task Force has been exploring options since June. Now it’s your turn.
To view briefings and documents from previous meetings, visit www.VBgov.com.

For more information, or to make your opinion known, contact Bob Matthias at 385-8267 or rmatthia@vbgov.com on or before October 26, 2009.

SDCC’s October 26th meeting includes one idea how to make PHP public space

You’ve heard rumors about Indigo Dunes, preserving PHP as a public park, that the City should pay $25M to buy it, etc.

Attend SDCC’s Meeting October 26th to find out:

the latest on Indigo Dunes & Pleasure House Point.
ask your questions and get answers about how to make PHP public open space.
view an idea to create an environmental learning center on PHP and how it could affect our beloved neighborhood.

Rumors of the Mayor, City Manager and the President attending are, as of the date of this post, unfounded rumors.

Watch this website and our eNewsletter for official info.

Executive order expanding grants to protect Ches Bay

From the Official Website:

Federal agencies have released seven draft reports on protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

They include:

develop focused and coordinated habitat and research activities that protect and restore living resources and water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed (U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Interior).

Hampton Roads short on preserving open space in Virginia plan

“If we continue as we have, Virginia will develop more land in the next 40 years than we have in the last 400 years,” the governor said in a speech.
If he did not take action in this way, Kaine added, “the opportunity to do it will not be there for future governors and future Virginians.”

Only 5,000 acres of 339,000 preserved are in Hampton Roads.
Read & comment on article at Pilotonline.com.

How about adding Pleasure House Point as public open space for future generations?
Here’s one idea how to do it.

Report shows Hampton Roads lacks public parkland

Check new report, Bracing for Change at The Trust for Public Land.

By comparison, much more crowded New York City actually has more parkland than all five of the Hampton Roads cities combined. And even though the five Hampton [Roads] cities cover a much larger area than New York, Boston or the main cities of San Francisco Bay, the other three regions all have more parkland as a percentage of their cities’ land area than Hampton Roads.

LRNow comments on ACOE consideration of Indigo Dunes

Visit Lynnhavenrivernow.org:

In the interest of the Lynnhaven River’s health, we endorse the City’s Outdoors Plan (2000 update) in its recommendation to preserve Pleasure House Pont as open space, on which the report places, “Top Priority”. Open space provides critical ecological benefits to the Lynnhaven River, such as water filtration, pollutant removal, water percolation and habitat provision. Open space would also provide valuable public access to the river, giving citizens of Virginia Beach the opportunity to appreciate the Lynnhaven River and feel invested in the river’s health and its future.

As stewards of the Lynnhaven River, we strongly support the existing wetland and Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area regulations that are in place to protect the health of the river. Therefore, we believe that any development that is proposed within the Lynnhaven River’s watershed, including the proposed Indigo Dunes project, must avoid impact to wetlands and to the existing buffer (100’ minimum) that falls within the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area.

LRNow Comments. [2pg PDF]

ACOE comment period for Indigo Dunes extended

Thanks to Ms. Kathryn Edgar, regulator with Army Corp of Engineers, for letting us know the public comment period for Indigo Dunes has been extended until end of business January 16th.
More to follow.

Indigo Dunes’ Public Comment period for renewal of ACOE provisional permit open

Official Notice from Army Corp of Engineers.

The Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity.  Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal.  To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above.

We’ll provide more details, answer questions & more soon.

Happy Holidays, Indigo Dunes not on SWCB December agenda

The official word is:

Indigo Dunes is not on the agenda for the Water Board December meeting.

Indigo Dunes on State Water Control Board Hearing on Oct 16th

You remember Indigo Dunes will be heard by the State Water Control Board in Richmond on October 16th.

Check out agenda. [4pg PDF]

Kudos to Va Pilot’s editorial promoting acquiring open space at today’s reduced real estate values

Then-Councilman Will Sessoms, also now running for mayor, said the council would “really regret it down the road” if it didn’t buy the land when it had the chance. Sessoms was right.

I’d wager which ever elected official[s] is[are] part of acquiring Pleasure House Point and/or the “Duck-In property” would get [re]elected for as long as they want to hold office.

The editorial continues:

For example, high-end condo projects proposed for magnificent waterfront properties on either side of the Lesner Bridge sit idle, their prospects dimming each day as the real estate slide accelerates.

Wow!

Read entire editorial at the Pilotonline.com.

Just because the open space fund might be diminished doesn’t mean there aren’t other creative solutions if the will is found to make it happen.

Special note: I happened to have been part of a dedicated group of people who worked diligently to get the Lake Ridge project mentioned in the editorial much reduced in size, scope & impact.

City should aggressively pursue purchasing PHP for open space

Daphne Atkins, a civic leader in the Shore Drive community, hopes the city aggressively markets the open space acquisition program to developers such as L.M. Sandler & Sons Inc., the owners of the Pleasure House Point property.

Read article & comment at Pilotonline.com.