Shore Drive Community Coalition

Grace’s letter to the Editor of the Pilot about the opportunity with PHP

It is not available at Pilotonline.com yet, so here it is here:

It is not sufficient to thank the present Mayor and City Council of Virginia Beach for their role in the recent negotiations to preserve Pleasure House Point, although it’s a good place to start.  This effort has been underway for so long, there are others who should be recognized, as well.  In addition to the sitting Council, previous Council members and past Mayor Meyera Oberndorf, are to be commended for maintaining the acquisition of this tract at the top of the Open Space wish list.

  The Virginia Beach Wetlands Board of 2006-07 demonstrated great courage and wisdom in challenging the environmental claims made by the developer.  Numerous respected organizations like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Lynnhaven River NOW, bayfront civic leagues and individual professional experts joined countless ordinary citizens to document and publicize the value of this parcel.  I am pleased to say that the Shore Drive Community Coalition was a part of this effort.

  I, for one, do not rejoice in the difficulties the Sandler brothers are currently facing.  No one should revel in the misfortune of others.  The economic hardship facing many Virginia Beach residents is personal devastation.  Small comfort to them, but without such financial conditions, it is doubtful that much, if any, of Pleasure House Point could remain in its natural state.  We are thankful that something good might come in the midst of bleakness
.

Thank you, all who have labored so diligently.  Mayor Will Sessoms, Vice Mayor Louis Jones and honorable Council members, take a bow.

“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

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.

U.S. District Court Judge in D.C. Finds Permit “Arbitrary and Capricious”

Not for pending provisional permit for Indigo Dunes, but after a 20 year fight, for a permit for King William Reservoir.

Significant case to follow for those involved with Indigo Dunes?

In his ruling yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. said the Army Corps “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” when it found that the reservoir was the least damaging practicable alternative. The judge also found arbitrary and capricious the Corps’ conclusion that the permit will not cause or contribute to significant degradation of the waters of the United States and that the permit complies with the public interest.

More at CBF.org.

Latest info[note date on post!] on pending permit with Army Corp of Engineers for Indigo Dunes.

The Bank is current point of contact for Pleasure House Point?

Question #8 – Do you think now is a good time to approach the Sandlers with some type of acquisition plan (cash, land swap, tax deferral, wetland bank creation) for Pleasure House Point (Indigo Dunes)? Louis Jones
– The City has approached the Bank about a possible outright purchase of the property.  The Bank is the current point of contact for the property and the City is discussing a possible all cash purchase of the property.  Whether it would all be maintained as open space or some of it sold off for smaller less dense development, would have to be determined after purchase.

From this Q&A.

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.

ACOE comment period for Indigo Dunes ends

Comment period for the ACOE to accept the public’s input ended today at 4:00pm.

No word on our pending FOIA. No word on a scheduled public hearing.

Wetlands Watch opposes ACOE permit app for Indigo Dunes

From Wetlands Watch:

We believe that this proposed project will result in irreversible adverse effects constituting a significant adverse impact to the Lynnhaven River watershed, as well as the Chesapeake Bay, when viewed against past impacts and those anticipated in the reasonably foreseeable future.

The applicant proposes to permanently impact 1.37 acres of tidal vegetated wetlands, 1.21 acres of nontidal vegetated wetlands, 2.44 acres of waters of the United States, and 0.77 acres of tidal non-vegetated wetlands. We maintain that these impacts are sufficient to deny the permit application given the significantly impaired state of the Lynnhaven River and the Chesapeake Bay. The avoidance of these impacts is to be considered prior to and independently of any proposed mitigation measures.

Wetlands Watch Comments. [4pg PDF]

CBF opposes Indigo Dunes application to ACOE

Thanks to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for submitting comments:

CBF opposes the issuance of this permit for the reasons detailed below, including its failure to comply with the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq., and urges the Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) to deny the application.  However, should the Corps not deny the permit at this time, CBF submits that the Corps must, at a minimum, hold a public hearing on the proposed project. 
The Project Fails to Avoid and Minimize Wetland Impacts

CBF Comments. [3pg PDF]

Ask the ACOE to either Deny Indigo Dunes’ request or have a Public Hearing

We have a pending Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] request for the info the Army Corp of Engineers{ACOE] is using to determine their decision on Indigo Dunes request for a provisional permit.

Since the request, before Christmas, we have not received guidance nor the FOIA-ed material.

Without receiving the current material the ACOE is using for their decision, we obviously can’t comment with specificity, other than to make known our reasonable expectation that ACOE will hold a public hearing at a location accessible to the impacted community.  It is important to remember that ANY comment, on any aspect, will still become part of the public record of opposition.

The SDCC request to extend the deadline for comments, due to the pending FOIA request, doesn’t look like it will be approved.  The comment deadline as of the time/date of this email stands at Friday January 16th 2009 close of business.

The paragraph below explains some of the subjects that the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) has to evaluate as part of the permit review process:

FEDERAL EVALUATION OF APPLICATION:  The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest.  The decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources.  The benefits which reasonably may be expected from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments.  All of the proposal’s relevant factors will be considered, including conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use classification, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, consideration of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.  The Environmental Protection Agency’s “Guidelines for Specification of Disposal Sites for Dredged or Fill Material” will also be applied (Section 404(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act).

Here are just a few reasons from the community as to why the permit application should be denied:

Flood hazards and flood plain values -  The addition of 5 to 7 feet of fill (48,000 dump truck loads) on the property will create an increase in the flood plain values to the surrounding neighborhoods.

Economics - The current project is projected to make a $500 million profit for the developer.  A smaller project would eliminate the destruction of existing wetlands and still result in a reasonable profit margin for the developer.

Land use and recreation – Our area is lacking 82 acres of recreational space and the Virginia Beach Outdoor Plan lists this property as a high priority.  Also, the property’s current zoning (PD-H1) only allows a total of about 350 units to be built.

The needs and welfare of the people - The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission traffic studies show projected increase of 8000 car trips per day by the year 2015.  The HRPDC reports also state the need to increase Shore Drive to 6 lanes to accommodate this increase.  The construction of 1096 units with an average of 8 trips per day (VB city numbers) will result in this exact increase.  So simply putIndigo Dunes = 6 lanes.  Current estimates to purchase right of ways and businesses and construct a 6 lane Shore Drive would cost $500 million.  All paid for by taxpayers dollars at a time when funding for highway projects is being decreased.  In addition to taxpayer dollars, safety issues would increase with the increased traffic caused by an additional 8000 car trips per day.

If you are interested in commenting on this permit application, you can send an email to the ACOE today, its fast and simple.

Send your email to the following addresses:
Kathryn.A.Edgar@usace.army.mil Lynette.R.Rhodes@usace.army.mil tim@sdcc.info

Tell them your name and why you think the permit should be denied.

You should also request an extension on the official comment period due and that a public hearing be held if the permit isn’t denied.

Comments sent to Army Corp of Engineers re: Indigo Dunes yet?

Deadline Friday. Great place to start.
More info in right column >

No FOIA material yet & 33 CFR Part 327.4 re:Indigo Dunes

The current deadline to submit comments to the Corp is this Friday.

As of today, a few days away from the deadline, we have not received guidance nor the FOIA material requested.

In case you’re keeping track, it seems the ACOE, according to their Regs, requires a Public Hearing.

Section 327.4 - General policies.
Page 2
a. A public hearing will be held in connection with the consideration of a DA permit
application or a Federal project whenever a public hearing is needed for making a
decision on such permit application or Federal project. In addition, a public
hearing may be held when it is proposed to modify or revoke a permit. (See 33
CFR 325.7).
b. Unless the public notice specifies that a public hearing will be held, any person
may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in the public notice
on a DA permit application or on a Federal project, that a public hearing be held
to consider the material matters at issue in the permit application or with respect
to Federal project. Upon receipt of any such request, stating with particularity the
reasons for holding a public hearing, the district engineer may expeditiously
attempt to resolve the issues informally. Otherwise, he shall promptly set a time
and place for the public hearing, and give due notice thereof, as prescribed in
Section 327.11 of this Part. Requests for a public hearing under this paragraph
shall be granted, unless the district engineer determines that the issues raised are
insubstantial or there is otherwise no valid interest to be served by a hearing. The
district engineer will make such a determination in writing, and communicate his
reasons therefor to all requesting parties. Comments received as form letters or
petitions may be acknowledged as a group to the person or organization
responsible for the form letter or petition.
c. In case of doubt, a public hearing shall be held. HQDA has the discretionary
power to require hearings in any case.
d. In fixing the time and place for a hearing, the convenience and necessity of the
interested public will be duly considered.

[Emphasis ours.]

Another example email to the ACOE opposing Indigo Dunes

Thanks to Liz for having us post this:

January 11, 2009

Dear Army Corps of Engineers:

I am writing to urge you to schedule a public hearing so that the general public can comment on the negative effects of Mr. Sandler’s proposed Indigo Dunes development in Virginia Beach, Virginia. There are many negative effects surrounding this project: Loss of existing infauna with no replacement for a period of time Loss of brackish areas, and the wide range in the diversity of plant and animal species. These many species depend on this habitat for their feeding, productivity and reproduction. Loss of nutrients which would affect the larger ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.

Loss of setback allowing imperviousness, damage to trees and the Existing natural habitat. The project would diminish the eco-tourism value of the property. There is a great need for Open Space in this part of Va. Beach. The traffic would increase dramatically. Think of the additional cost for roads, sewer, water and bridges. The applicant has also failed to comply with the White Housel Office on Environmental Policy, and with Executive Order # 11988, concerning Flood Management.

The City of Virginia Beach Wetlands Board has already denied building to the applicant due to the unnecessary impact on threatened wetlands. Finally, the applicant has failed to comply with 404(b) guidelines. The benefits are far outweighed by the negative impacts. This project is NOT in the public interest.

Again, I am requesting that you schedule a public hearing so all the critical issues involving the building of Mr. Sandler’s Indigo Dunes can be fully discussed by the general public.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth D.
Virginia Beach, Va

First in a series of reasons the ACOE must deny even a provisional permit for Indigo Dunes

Over the next several days we’ll be posting clear & logical reasons why the Army Corp of Engineers must deny even a provisional permit for Indigo Dunes.

According to ACOE regs:

33CFR Part 320(j) states: 

“Other Federal, state, or local requirements. (1) Processing of an application for a DA permit normally will proceed concurrently with the processing of other required Federal, state, and/or local authorizations or certifications. Final action on the DA permit will normally not be delayed pending action by another Federal, state or local agency (See 33 CFR 325.2 (d)(4)). However, where the required Federal, state and/or local authorization and/or certification has been denied for activities which also require a Department of the Army permit before final action has been taken on the Army permit application, the district engineer will, after considering the likelihood of subsequent approval of the other authorization and/or certification and the time and effort remaining to complete processing the Army permit application, either immediately deny the Army permit without prejudice or continue processing the application to a conclusion. If the district engineer continues processing the application, he will conclude by either denying the permit as contrary to the public interest, or denying it without prejudice indicating that except for the other Federal, state or local denial the Army permit could, under appropriate conditions, be issued.

Denial without prejudice means that there is no prejudice to the right of the applicant to reinstate processing of the Army permit application if subsequent approval is received from the appropriate Federal, state and/or local agency on a previously denied authorization and/or certification. Even if official certification and/or authorization is not required by state or federal law, but a state, regional, or local agency having jurisdiction or interest over the particular activity comments on the application, due consideration shall be given to those official views as a reflection of local factors of the public interest.”

Because the permit was denied by the local Wetlands Board and CBLAD has indicated the project is inconsistent with State law, the Corps must conclude that the project is not in the public interest.

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]