Shoreline Workshop

Eastern Shore:

“The Eastern Shore Resource Conservation and Development Council (ES RC&D) and The Nature Conservancy are in the final stages of installing a 1000-ft living shoreline project at Occohannock on the Bay Camp and Retreat Center (Camp Occohannock) in Belle Haven to protect property from coastal erosion. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate how marsh plants, sand, and limited rock can both effectively protect shorelines from erosion while also creating critical coastal habitats that support clean water and wildlife. We’d like to share our experience on this project with local landowners and interested citizens by inviting you to a workshop and optional volunteer work day at camp, which is located near Belle Haven. 

You are invited to a workshop about living shorelines for homeowners on Thursday, May 1st at 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., including lunch, followed by an optional opportunity to help us finish planting marsh grasses along the camp’s shoreline.  The objective of the workshop is to give landowners, community members, resource managers, and other interested persons the opportunity to see and hear about the camp’s living shoreline project and learn more about what is involved in planning, permitting, and implementing living shoreline projects on private property.  Scott Hardaway, Director of the Shoreline Studies Program at VIMS, and Walter Priest, president of Wetland Design, Inc. (and formerly of NOAA) will help us to lead the workshop and will answer questions about your shorelines during the homeowner clinic portion of the workshop... 

Marsh grass planting will continue on Friday, May 2nd from 2:30 until 5:30 p.m.  Participants are welcome to come for the workshop and lunch only, and encouraged, though not obligated, to stay for the planting on either dates. 

Please note that we are requesting advanced registration for the workshops and volunteer days!  Please contact Gwynn Crichton (gcrichton@tnc.org or (434) 951-0571) or Sara Reiter (esrcd.sara@gmail.com or (757) 757-710-7266) to register for one of the workshop dates...”

~ Gwynn Crichton – Senior Project Scientist, The Nature Conservancy

~ Sara Reiter – Projects Director, Eastern Shore Resource Conservation and Development Council

Digging into the Virginia Beach dredging project

Virginia Beach:

“In 2011, Virginia Beach introduced a program to help waterfront residents dredge waterways. Currently, there are more than 20 areas in different stages of the program… In the first step of the program, residents approach the city expressing their interest.

Three sources fund the program: a city contribution, a surcharge on real estate taxes for waterfront property owners who are serviced by the channel system, and through lump sum payments by waterfront residents if they choose to have individual access channels and turning basins.

If 80 percent of potential district members consent through a petition process, Public Works presents City Council with an ordinance to create a special tax district to help fund the dredging. Residents in the district will pay the surcharge on real estate taxes for 16 years.”

~Writes Stacy Parker of The Virginian-Pilot

Click here to learn more

Project seeks to smooth way for offshore Va. winds

Coastal Virginia:

“The state is teaming up with Dominion Virginia Power in a research project that is intended to smooth the way for the development of an offshore wind industry. The Virginia Offshore Wind Technology Advance Project proposes putting two 6-megawatt wind turbines on platforms designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. The turbines would be located 24 nautical miles (27 statute miles) off Virginia Beach.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced Thursday it is seeking written public comment on the project as it prepares an environmental assessment. It scheduled a meeting for April 3 in Virginia Beach for the public to speak out on the proposal. Last September, Dominion submitted a successful bid of $1.6 million bid to lease nearly 113,000 offshore acres for the development of wind power. Full development of the area could produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 700,000 homes. Besides the turbines, the project would also include cable linking the turbines to the electric grid in Virginia Beach. The project is expected to be operational by 2017. The so-called demonstration project received a $4 million grant from the U.S. Energy Department.”

~Writes The Associated Press

Click here to learn more

Maryland’s CoastSmart Community Scorecard: A Community Self-Assessment

Coastal Communities:

“With varying technical capacity and the demands placed on local planning staff, providing resources to identify and implement adaptation strategies is essential. Our goal is to help local governments determine how well they are currently positioned to plan for coastal hazard impacts through a simple, practical self-assessment. The Scorecard also provides a mechanism for planners, natural resource managers, emergency management professionals and other local officials to identify specific, realistic ways that they can prepare for these impacts by integrating coastal hazards into existing planning, management, and regulatory programs. Because each Maryland community is unique, the Scorecard is intended to identify areas that need improvement, not serve as a basis for ranking or comparing among communities.”

~University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Click here for the Scorecard

Rudee Inlet path will connect to Va. Beach Boardwalk

Virginia Beach:

“Picture walking to the Boardwalk from the Rudee Inlet marina district without dodging cars on Atlantic and Pacific avenues. Then, imagine catching a ride on a water taxi to visit the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. That vision is expected to become a reality in June. Construction is to begin the week of March 17 on a 10-foot-wide path connecting Rudee Loop, the gem of the resort’s south end, to the Boardwalk. The $1.4 million project includes a dock for a water taxi and a park where those waiting for the boat can relax.

The taxi, to be managed by the city, will take passengers from Rudee Inlet through Lake Rudee to the aquarium, on Owls Creek. It may be expanded in the future to include destinations along the marina district and Marsh View Park, said Dan Adams, city project manager.The handicapped-accessible path will meet the Boardwalk near 1st Street and Grommet Island Park, a playground with equipment for people with disabilities. A metal guardrail that runs along Rudee Loop will be replaced with wood, and LED pedestrian and street lights will be installed. Carolina Marine Structures is the general contractor on the project, which is scheduled to be completed some time in June.”

~Writes Stacy Parker of The Virginian-Pilot

Click here for more information

Hearing set on massive zoning overhaul for Northampton

Northampton County:

“Northampton County’s Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission will hear what the public thinks about its proposed massive overhaul of the zoning ordinance at a joint hearing scheduled for March 11 at 7 p.m. at Northampton High School. Economic Development Director Charles McSwain received marching orders from the Board of Supervisors shortly after being hired just over a year ago to streamline zoning requirements as a way to promote business development. ‘The Board (of Supervisors) wanted a new code that is more enabling,’ McSwain said last October.

One provision garnering significant public interest is a modification that would effectively cut in half the area regulated under the Chesapeake Bay/Atlantic Preservation district, which applies Chesapeake Bay Act requirements to the entire county. McSwain, who also oversees the county’s planning department, noted the shoreline would still be protected on the sea side by 100-foot-wide ribbon of conservation zoning along the shore, except ‘where there are existing, developed, water-dependent communities,’ such as Willis Wharf and Oyster.

The proposal would no longer regulate properties east of U.S. Route 13, unless they drain into the Chesapeake Bay. The proposal would also delete the district as an zoning overlay district, and place it in a separate section of the land use code with a different name: Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area.”

~Writes Connie Morrison of Delmarva Now

Click here to learn more

Living Shoreline Workshop

Living Shoreline Workshop:

On Thursday, March 13 a partnership of coastal organizations will hold a Living Shoreline Workshop for Landowners. The workshop will be located at Occohannock on the Bay Camp and Retreat Center in Belle Haven. Advanced registration required. Workshop from 10am-1pm and optional volunteer planting 1pm-5pm. The workshop topics cover:

• Shoreline design, permitting process & timeline
• Planting, materials and installation
• Costs and contractors

Please contact Sara Reiter (esrcd.sara@gmail.com or (757) 757-710-7266) or Gwynn Crichton (gcrichton@tnc.org or (434) 951-0571) to register

The workshop is brought to you by:

• The Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation
• The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Climate Adaptation Fund, and
• The Chesapeake Bay Trust