Virginia Beach will spend $2.66 million to buy five undeveloped lots and add 0.57 acres at Crab Creek to the Pleasure House Point Natural Area.
Most of the money will come from city funds set aside to preserve open space and the city secured $300,000 in grants toward the purchase.
The property is a small gain for the 118-acre natural area, but proponents said it’s worth the price to prevent development.
“The protection of this parcel plays an outsized role in preserving the character of the broader Pleasure House Point site and preventing further development along the waterfront,” Christy Everett, Hampton Roads director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, told City Council.
Councilmember Joash Schulman said the purchase is the result of years of discussions, getting costs down and finding grant funding.
“It’s been three years of work, a lot of support in the community and it’s conserving spaces that are important to neighborhoods and important to our environment,” he told reporters after Tuesday’s vote, which was unanimous with one absence.
Virginia Beach will buy the land from Riverwalk LLC, which is affiliated with developer McLeskey & Associates, according to a city summary.
The property is near the entrance of Pleasure House Point Natural Area, and the public already uses the property the city will buy as though it’s part of the park. The city summary notes “informal” trails connect the two areas.
Development would “compromise the environmental and recreational value of the area and the viewshed from the park,” the summary says.
Members of the council addressed the price tag, which was questioned by two speakers prior to the vote. During an earlier meeting Tuesday, Councilmember Stacy Cummings said people should consider the value of the location, calling it a “strategic spot.”
“It’s going to enhance it and protect it,” Mayor Bobby Dyer told WHRO, saying the property would add to the park and resources such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center, which is home to the city school division’s Environmental Studies Program.
In 2012, the city collaborated with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Trust for Public Land to purchase the land for the natural area, which faced possible development. The foundation assisted with pursuing grants for the new property.
Everett told WHRO land in the city is expensive and that can make conservation difficult.
“If it weren't for the City of Virginia Beach protecting this parcel, there would be multiple duplexes or single family homes there and the park’s integrity would be compromised, no doubt,” Everett said.
The Virginia Beach Open Space Advisory Committee evaluated the new lots and recommended the acquisition.
“It adds the increased opportunity for water access from Pleasure House Point on deeper water,” Clay Bernick, the committee chairperson, told WHRO before the vote.
“Of course, Pleasure House Point is surrounded by water but this would increase the amount of shoreline where people could access the water formally for fishing, potentially for canoeing or kayaking. It also creates more protection for a sensitive part of the area with a tidal marsh and the adjoining riparian forested area.”
