Our city has an incredible website for reviewing the history and adaptative strategies being used to protect our city from flooding in the decades to come. After hundereds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funded investments in studying, planning, educating, presenting, and implementing these programs, the LEAST EXPENSIVE and MOST POPULAR protections for natural mitigation and green infrastructure are literally NO WHERE ON THE MAPS of the Virginia Beach Sea Level Wise plan: Natural Mitigation Strategy Sea Level Wise.
Our neighborhoods do not want wetland credits bought outside of their area serving OTHER properties. THEY want to be protected from flooding. Our businesses want roads to stay open. Our residents don't want their home insurance canceled. When it costs on average $60,000 to restore one acre of marsh, why are the protections for our neighborhoood wetlands non-existent in 2023?
Take a look at the Dewberry Study presented to the City in 2019...
Is our city actually preparing for 2080? Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be serving as Planners and Leaders of our beautiful city then. What will they think about the timeline presented in this photo? How do we get ahead with resiliencey and sustainability projects while still allowing natural protections to be destroyed? Or are those just taglines and campaign slogans?
We have 10 elected Councilmembers and 1 elected Mayor who make land use decisions. And occassionally, like with the Wycliffe Development, they have an opportunity to say they do not accept filling in our wetlands to construct new developments. Will they? Why are we worried?
After multi-millions of investment by our city to protect Virginia Beach's AAA Credit Rating, what would Moody's think about our City planners and leaders approving of wetland infill projects throughout areas that have been identified as most vulnerable to the heavier rainfall and sea level rise that is here now? Thousands of our natural waterways have been developed over the last 50 years while sea level rise has consumed a foot of available land. Our marshes and lakes retain water and hold it back from flooding our neighborhods on an average of 4 days and give wind-driven water a chance to change course. An average tree absorbs 150 gallons of water per day! If you want our city leaders to change course on infill development, please sign and share this petition and visit www.NoBuildVBWetlands.com for more ways you can help turn the tide. For the future of Virginia Beach, our grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.