Hearing on Indigo Dunes development postponed

May this project join its brethren at the Duck-In site and Willoughby Spit: another 'victim' of the economic downturn. Coupled with rumours of the Sadlers' financial difficulties, maybe things will get bad enough for them that they'll have to dump the site entirely.

start with upgrading all of the roads, bridges, sidewalks, schools, sewers, and water supplies needed to support what has already been developed, second, improve that infrastructure . . .bury the power line

Who is supposed to pay for this? The developer? Can we back charge all of the people that own homes along Shore Drive? I wonder how many hosues the developer can build by right.

If you want open space, that a trip south past the courthouse. You can find as much as you like...

I'd like open space next door to my house too but there happens to be a house sitting on that lot. the only way to get open space at my house or yours is for us to purchase it. I don't want to by the lot next door and I'm guessing you don't want to buy the land from the Sandlers either.

solve problems, not create them. Adding this many residents to an area with inadequate infrastructure and no means to upgrade the infrastructure is an example of the poor planning that has Virginia in its current transportation bind. If Indigo Dunes is to ever be developed, start with upgrading all of the roads, bridges, sidewalks, schools, sewers, and water supplies needed to support what has already been developed, second, improve that infrastructure to handle the "Dunes", and only then allow the "Dunes" to be built. While you're at it, lets get all those power lines along Shore Drive buried. That alone would do more for the area than any development.

It is a nice thought, but I think you are 400 years late. We have destroyed all traces of Native Americans and forced them into poverty on reservations. Kids can't even sit "indian style" anymore. My 3 year old son asked "Is that how applesauce sits?" I'll teach him the truth. Any reference to their culture will soon be gone completely.

Check out the NOAA storm surge map for a cat. 1 hurricane. The whole area is under water. We had a healthy nor easter two years ago that flooded the area west of Marlin Bay Drive which the Dunes would cover. You can't walk across Shore drive safely now and then throw another 3500-5000 people in the mix,totally unacceptable. There are fox, raccon, osprey, and turtles that would have their habitat destroyed with no where to be pushed to. We need to preserve the last piece of the bayside wet lands in VABCH and not give into developer greed. The planned abortion of Ocean Park by the Sandler developers needs to be canned now and forever.

It costs too much and it would be better served if the 1,063 homes were added to the tax base to keep the citywide RE-rate lower...
Clearly that is false.
Ignoring all the environmental laws/regs.
Ignoring the desperate need for more open space.
Ignoring all the problems another speculative 1063 units brought to Shore Drive would bring...

Adding the speculative 1063 would clearly never pay for itself by "adding" to the tax base... it will in fact subtract from it.

Frankly the only way your going to save this land is to buy it from the current owners. They have invested tens of millions and are going to want it developed. I can't blame them for that. If the Shore Drive community doesn't want it built upon, then buy it. As a taxpayer in Kempsville, I do not support the city buying it for you. It costs too much and it would be better served if the 1,063 homes were added to the tax base to keep the citywide RE-rate lower...

So the ball in in your court. Buy it or live with what you get...

This may be the last opportunity for the "powers that be" to decide, once and for all, whether they finally stand with the residents of Virginia Beach, or with the builders. I'm not taking bets. I personally don't think we need this project, and feel for the people who already live in the area, whose quality of life will be adversely effected by such a large undertaking.

If I may personify our City: over the last twenty or so years, we have taken a bright, promising young lady, and turned her into a middle-aged, well-dressed, but garish street person, who only lives for her next "development fix"....the next buck....to be covered with yet more concrete, blacktop and uninspired buildings. It's sad, and my response is to move to rural North Carolina, where you can still find acres of land, and peace and quiet, and Country People who care more about the land, than bowing to the builders.

I know many of the pro development folks out there don't want to realize or even believe this but some land (according to the American Indian beliefs) is considered sacred. Dunes, seashores, marshlands, swamps and other great expanses of forested area (i.e., rainforests, etc.) are in that category.

We need to have respect for this ancient belief system and start looking at the Earth as a living, breathing entity and not something to exploit, rape and develop. Virginia Beach is a sacred space in terms of the richness of the topography but consistently this city sells out to the developers and anyone else who wants to come in a rape and pillage. Once it's gone you can't get it back.

Have some respect and wake up in regards to how people treat the Earth. It isn't about money anymore. Those days are gone. It's about having a higher consciousness about nature and how important it is to keep the balance. Greed will not make a city a better place to live but natural beauty will.

"Dump The Dunes"

We don't need this project. The preservation of this area is far more important than the houses and traffic that would be generated. The greed of man is NOT greater than the need of nature.