From the City of Virginia Beach's web page on the Bow Creek Stormwater Park (currently under construction to the tune of $68.1 million taxpayer dollars), the property will provide water storage to protect the surrounding neighborhoods from flooding:
"The Lakes, Princess Anne Plaza, and Windsor Woods are neighborhoods located in what was once the undeveloped headwaters of the Lynnhaven River. According to aerial photos from 1949, the area was originally forest surrounded by farmland. Much of the area has relatively low elevations. Low elevations coupled with increasing sea levels (approximately one-foot over the last 50 years) and the increasing frequency of storms with significant tides and rainfall amounts, has resulted in severe flooding of the neighborhood during extreme events."
Most of us remember the massive flooding from Hurricane Matthew in 2016...
And further on the city's Bow Creek Stormwater Park web page:
"Creating storage to manage rainfall from intense storms is critical to mitigating flooding of homes and streets within these neighborhoods."
The same Planning Department that is delivering the Bow Creek Stormwater Park with this giant price tag has indicated that Lake Conrad 2 and the Wycliffe parcel (the undeveloped headwaters for the Lynnhaven River) are inconsequential. The Stormwater Division of the Planning Department believes the 4 acres of land, 140 mature trees, and nearly one acre of lake can be replaced with...wait for it...a pipe. 36 acres of storm drainage off Great Neck Road and surrounding neighborhoods and businesses are currently managed by Lake Conrad 2. Do you wonder why it has a number behind it? Because it is part of 3 lakes that were dammed for residential purposes back when Great Neck was all farmland. They WERE part of the Lynnhaven River and still today flow into the Lynnhaven River. Lake Conrad 2 has always been an integral part of the stormwater drainage system on Great Neck Road, identified in work orders for various taxpayer repairs over the decades as "SU2408090000," a "city asset" and has been identified as our state's MS4 Receiving Waters, all technical aspects to assure you that the city has acknowledged the importance of this necessary stormwater drainage system prior to the Church owning this land. And suddenly, a pipe can replace it? Will that be the same pipe that didn't serve the Bow Creek neighborhoods (now costing $68.1M)? Or will it be the same pipe that didn't serve the Ashville Park neighborhood (now costing over $11M)?
These are taxpayer dollars to add water storage and trees that already existed before bad decisions were made...
The only entity that can stop this nonsense is our City Council, on November 21 at 6PM at a public hearing, when 9 district representatives and 1 mayor will vote on this application.
The question: Can Wycliffe Church remove it's Conditional Use Permit to operate as a church in order to sell their land to a developer? There is no comma separting that sentence even though the attorneys involved will try to tell you there is. They cannot isolate the truth that the hearing is taking place only BECAUSE a developer has been delivering plans to our Planning Department since 2020. The Purchase Contract has existed since 2021 (the same year that City Council refused to institute the Stormwater Resolution). There is no need to remove the CUP unless it is to build houses on top of the city's existing storage and drainage system and that is proven by the time stamp on the city's correspondence with the developer. One cannot pretend the other doesn't exist.
When the land was bought by the church, the CUP was granted because the city and the community benefitted by the church operation. There are two entities that will benefit from the removal of the CUP: the developer Bishard Homes and Wycliffe Church. The public does not benefit from the removal of the CUP and therefore it should be denied. If the City Planners, the City Manager, and the City Council work for us who pay their salary then the city *as a collective body* has every right AND obligation to protect Great Neck Road and surrounding neighborhoods from removing this CUP.
If anyone tells you that the only option before City Council is to approve this application, they are misled and ill-informed. YOU are not. Land Use and Real Estate attorneys on the Planning Commission, who are experts in this field, voted against the application. Per city code, City Council can vote to MODIFY or DENY the application on the grounds that the city needs this land to be part of our stormwater drainage system. Not just the lake but the land. As they needed it in Bow Creek but on a much, much, much cheaper scale because a pipe hasn't replaced it yet.
And per our State code, a stormwater plan is required to "ensure the general health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the City of Virginia Beach and protect the quality and quantity of state waters from the potential harm of unmanaged stormwater, including protection from a land disturbing activity causing unreasonable degradation of properties, water quality, stream channels, and other natural resources, and to establish procedures whereby stormwater requirements related to water quality and quantity shall be administered and enforced."
These are the irrefutable facts and the law. In two weeks, City Council will DENY the facts and the law, or they won't.
When ALL residents pay for the costs of pipe mistakes surrounding Ashville Park and Bow Creek, ALL residents will pay for the mistake in Great Neck. We need ALL 9 district representatives to vote to DENY this application. To vote any other way has a proven direct consequence on tax payers. Please share this information with every neighbor, colleague, and resident of Virginia Beach and ask them to ask their district representative and the entire body of our City Council to DENY the Wycliffe application on November 21st.
Please find your District Representative through the below link, address him or her directly, and copy all of CityCouncil@VBgov.com. Thank you for caring!!
https://virginiabeach.gov/city-hall/city-council-districts