Beach proposal for dredging station draws angry rebuke from residents

VIRGINIA BEACH

The residents along Shore Drive had one message for the city officials who want to build a dredge spoils transfer station off Long Creek: Don't do it.

Nearly 200 squeezed into a recreation center room Thursday night to voice their opposition to a city proposal to put a permanent dredge transfer station on Maple Street next to the Marina Shores marina.

"I think it's a terrible idea," said Andy Friedman, a resident who lives across the water from the site.

The Beaches and Waterways Commission, an advisory group to the City Council, has recommended in a draft report that the Long Creek site remain part of the plan, but with restrictions. The commission, which will present its final report in the coming months, suggested that the city use the site for only 90 working days a year, avoid bringing in barges during the summer, and haul 30 truckloads a day of dredge spoils out of the site.

"There are methods of mitigation and opportunities for controls that will eliminate or significantly reduce, many of the issues of concern," the draft report states.

The city launched its neighborhood dredging program last year to help residents deepen their channels if they agree to a tax rate increase. Dredging can mean greater access for boats and higher property values, and residents in about a dozen waterfront communities are interested in participating.

Each neighborhood dredging project requires City Council approval, and the Beach needs to find multiple sites to unload the dredge spoils from the barges.

The proposed Maple Street site has caused the most controversy.

The city wants to use the property because it already serves as a spoils site for Army Corps of Engineers dredging projects every few years. The city's plan, however, calls for a more intensive use with a barge, excavator and the need for a bulkhead.

Residents complained that the station is more industrial and incompatible with their neighborhood, would bring in truck traffic and could reduce the value of their properties. They have argued that dredge spoils from other neighborhoods shouldn't disrupt their community.

The opponents collected more than 1,400 signatures for a petition against the station and created a website to draw attention to their cause. Last month, the Virginia Beach Board of Zoning Appeals ruled in the residents' favor that the city couldn't use the site for a permanent spoils station because it only leases the land and doesn't own the property. The city is appealing that decision in court.

"For anybody to say there's not going to be an impact is insane," said Chris Varva, who lives near the site.

Thomas Fraim, the chairman of the commission, said the city should limit the use of all the transfer stations, including Long Creek, to only the nearby neighborhoods that want to participate in the Beach's dredging program.

Beach officials believe that neighborhoods such as Baycliff, Bay Island and Cape Henry Shores would be able to use the Long Creek transfer station. However, none of those neighborhoods has requested to participate in the dredging program yet, said Phil Davenport, the interim public works director.

The Beaches and Waterways Commission will consider the comments from Thursday's meeting as it completes its final report, Davenport said.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com