Your voices made all the difference last year, but sadly we need to be heard again. Lake Conrd 2 is not protected...Since filling in the lake turned out to be outright undigestable for the general public AND the concientious Planning Commission, a creative solution was found that allowed the developer to take another stab at developing the site--this time squishing an office park within a residential neighborhood!
Now, a normal course of city business would have seen the VB City Council vote YAY or NAY on this project. A NAY vote would allow the developer to return in a year with a new version. But typical practices were cast aside, and backroom plans were coordinated (yes we know who). And just days before the hearing, we were told the application was being deferred and were discouraged from showing up at the hearing date. The attorney then INSTEAD requested a 'REFERRAL" back to the Planning Department for a revised version without the lake being filled in. After what should have been an embarrasing dressing-down given by District 8 Councilman Taylor, the referral was summarily granted by the majority on Council. This action allowed the developer to return to the Planning Commission with a new proposal in an expedited manner.
A gleeful developer and attorney for the church skipped into an office adjacent to the Council chambers to coordinate the next phase of their project.
Within two weeks, the pictured plan was produced by the developer, which is just shy of a miracle. It was recently submitted to the Planning Department to be heard before the Planning Commission next month. And the plan now not only squeezes 5 incompatible homes right on Great Neck Road, but introduces a new concept to the Great Neck corridor--a business district INSIDE of a residential neighborhood!
A 5 foot tall monument-style, lighted sign will be directly across from neighbors, if this plan is approved. A small historic church modified to serve the special needs community will become an office building utilizing 22 parking spaces and adding traffic to this already dangerous intersection. The health of Lake Conrad 2 and Great Neck Lake will become hostage to this office building. If you have looked at any storm drainage ponds owned by businesses, you will know what a trajedy this would be. We know the long-range plan... they will neglect their maintenance responsibilities, cite a hardship, and fill every inch of that office-zoned land and lake that they can create. If that wasn't the plan, they would have provided a deed restriction in their proposal or would have granted the community designated open space. The writing is on the wall.
This new plan directly contradicts everything about our city's Comprehensive Plan for Suburban Areas, removes the only "open space" a neighborhood has ever known, and provides no benefit to the community. Trucks will haul in dirt to fill the gently rolling land that is there, every tree will be removed, and the construction debris will flow downstream to Great Neck Lakes, harming the ecological balance that it has known for decades. The historic dam, quite possibly the nation's first attempt at aquacultural rice-farming, will be destroyed under the larger waterflow, uncontrolled by the earth and trees that once collected water.
Can we count on your support to write the Planning Commission and copy City Council to let them know that we expect them to uphold the city's blueprint and the character of our residential neighborhoods by denying this office space within a neighborhood? Lake Conrad 2 and the surrounding land need to be preserved and protected not only for their stormwater functions but also for the historic relevance to our city and the open space for a community.
nestaris@vbgov.com; jcromwel@vbgov.com; mlanders@vbgov.com; kbyler@vbgov.com; gealcaraz@vbgov.com; bplumlee@vbgov.com; shippen@vbgov.com; hcuellar@vbgov.com; jhcoston@vbgov.com; wparks@vbgov.com; mcmauch@vbgov.com; citycouncil@vbgov.com; gnecivic@gmail.com
Thank you again for your ongoing efforts to protect Virginia Beach Wetlands and the character of our community!
Team Red Bridge
(In the proposal, the property will be bordered with a 6' privacy fence and a 10' landscape buffer. The grey areas are new impervious surfaces of a private driveway and homes. brown is the existing A-frame former church. Highlighted yellow is the monument on an interior neighborhood street. And in red are the historic "log-cabin," bridge, and dam--none are registered due to their tax-exempt status belonging to a church).