OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Virginia Beach City Council Meeting – January 7, 2026

City Council Meetings — Wednesday, January 7, 2026
BodyVirginia Beach, Virginia
SessionCity Council Meetings
DateWednesday, January 7, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:08:10

Transcript — Verbatim
0:08

Hey we're calling this meeting.

0:11

Welcome one, welcome all.

0:13

And happy new year to everybody.

0:16

And uh once again, welcome.

0:18

And uh Mr.

0:19

Dehaney, let's go ahead and get started.

0:21

All right, so Mr.

0:21

Mayor, members of council, the first briefing from the first session back from break would be from the Atlantic Avenue Task Force.

0:28

If council recalls, council um convened this task force to provide options on how best to address the Atlantic Avenue improvement project.

0:38

And the task force been meeting dutifully for several meetings, and this is where they're they're coming forward with their recommendation recommendations and their suggestions for your consideration.

0:46

The next voice you'll hear will probably be Julie.

0:49

And she'll kick off the presentation, followed by co-chair Mike Mauch.

0:54

Welcome.

0:56

Good afternoon, happy new year, Mr.

0:58

Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council, I'm Julie Brennan with Fountain Works, and happy to be here to talk about the Atlantic Avenue Task Force.

1:07

As the manager just said, the as a reminder, the council um uh passed a resolution to establish the Atlantic Avenue Task Force to develop recommendations for council.

1:20

Actually, I'm looking at this, I think it wasn't actually a council resolution, it was a mayor, mayor task force.

1:26

So I apologize, I've read this so many times, I forgot that.

1:29

So this is a mayor's task force, um, but the purpose of the task force was to look at how to allocate the 30 to 35 million dollars in capital improvement funds for the Atlantic Avenue capital improvements, looking specifically at the appearance, so things like facade, art and decorative elements of Atlantic Avenue, looking at mobility and safety.

1:56

Um those are sidewalks and transportation issues, and looking specifically at on street parking on Atlantic Avenue itself.

2:03

The council, um, the mayor's task force also was charged with looking at how to allocate funding across the different sections of Atlantic Avenue, breaking it up into three sections, North Beach 25th to 40th Street, Central Beach, 17th to 24th Street, and South Beach, 5th to 17th Street.

2:26

So the question in terms of how to allocate was do we want to do a little bit of something everywhere?

2:32

Do we want to concentrate something in different parts of uh Atlantic Avenue?

2:37

So the task force was asked to look at all of those things.

2:41

The members that were appointed to the task force, several of them are here today.

2:47

A few had conflicts, but if I can get those in the audience to raise your hand and wave.

2:55

Thank you for being here, and thank you for your dedication to the task force.

2:59

Mike Mach is also here with me.

3:01

He'll be presenting the task force's recommendations.

3:04

And um of the seven members on the first meeting, they voted and elected Mike Mach and Bill Graham Brell as co-chairs.

3:12

Um and Bill is one of the people that had an unavoidable conflict today, so he's not here.

3:18

Uh, Vice Mayor Wilson and Councilmember Remick served as City Council liaisons, and they were at almost every meeting of the task force.

3:28

In addition to the task force members, we had a tremendous amount of support from city staff.

3:35

Not everyone was at every meeting, but most of these people were at most of the meetings.

3:41

Uh, so we wanted to highlight that there is a lot of interest and support in the task force recommendations.

3:49

They served as subject matter experts, and we're able to answer a lot of questions and provide details and do some research to answer the task force questions.

3:59

I'll note we listed Clay Dills on this page.

4:03

He's clearly not city staff, but we invited him to one of our meetings to do a presentation, and it was um a sort of aha moment for the task force members.

4:13

So we wanted to acknowledge his presence.

4:16

Um Fountain Works, me and my team served as neutral facilitators for the meetings to make sure that we provided support and everyone was able to share their concerns openly and no one dominated.

4:31

The task force met five times between July and November for a total of 20 hours per person.

4:38

So that's a lot of time dedicated to this and recognition of the importance of these decisions.

4:45

Um you can see the schedule of how and when we met, and we are here today at the presentation to council.

5:00

We used human centered design as a framework in the beginning of the task force to ensure that different perspectives were represented on the task force.

5:06

So at the first meeting, we asked task force members to put on the hat.

5:12

If you were a member of council, if you were city staff, if you were a resident visitor, a tourist visitor, a hotel year, restaurant tour, a real retailer, what are their different perspectives and what are their interests in Atlantic Avenue?

5:27

What do they want out of the renovations, the capital improvements on Atlantic Avenue?

5:33

In addition, we asked all of the task force members to bring their own selves to the meetings.

5:40

They all were appointed because they represent important constituencies for Atlantic Avenue.

5:47

We also provided a number of opportunities for the task force members to bring in statements or resolutions or just share thoughts from their respective organizations.

5:57

So there were a lot of opportunities to share their own perspectives, their organizational perspectives, as well as think about the people that come to Atlantic Avenue as visitors and residents.

6:28

Whether it was some things that are kind of hidden, the bottom right of this slide shows some hidden bad electrical wiring and some of the light posts.

6:39

It also let the task force members see the differences between the North Central and South sections of Atlantic Avenue.

6:49

A lot of the task force members spend a lot of time at Atlantic Avenue, but most of them said they saw things on this tour that they didn't notice.

6:59

If you don't go looking for some of the issues, you don't notice them day to day.

7:05

So the tour was a helpful way to frame and highlight some of the differences between the different sections of Atlantic Avenue.

7:14

And some off, you know, some of us look at the ground while we're walking, but a lot of the issues are on the ground, and you might not be looking at the ground all the time.

7:24

So the tour was an important piece of the task force work.

7:28

So with that as background, the task force set a vision for what they wanted to accomplish as a task force.

7:35

And you can see on the screen, they set a vision for Atlantic Avenue as well as a vision for the task force.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure███████████████████19%
Tourism████████████12%
Public Safety███████████11%
Public Engagement███████████11%
Transportation Safety██████████10%
Procedural█████████9%
Zoning And Land Use████████8%
Arts And Culture███████7%
Economic Development███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Virginia Beach City Council Meeting – January 7, 2026

The Virginia Beach City Council met on January 7, 2026, and the primary focus was a presentation by the Atlantic Avenue Task Force, which provided recommendations for allocating $30–35 million in capital improvement funds to revitalize Atlantic Avenue. Council members also received a briefing on upcoming planning items, heard liaison reports, and addressed several administrative items.

Atlantic Avenue Task Force Presentation

  • Background: The mayor's task force, convened to develop options for the Atlantic Avenue improvement project, met for 20 hours per person across five meetings between July and November 2025. Co-chair Mike Mauch and facilitator Julie Brennan presented the recommendations.
  • Vision: The task force envisions Atlantic Avenue as a unique, memorable destination that is clean, safe, attractive, easy to navigate, and economically vibrant year-round.
  • Recommendations:
    • Citywide improvements: Road striping, milling and overlay, sidewalks and raised crosswalks, wayfinding and placemaking, uniform lighting, enhanced landscaping, bike lanes on the east side, and an Atlantic Avenue Facade Improvement Grant Program.
    • Prioritization: Central Beach (17th–24th Streets) is the top priority, followed by South Beach (5th–16th Streets) and North Beach (25th–40th Streets).
    • Parking: No on-street parking in Central Beach; year-round on-street parking retained in South Beach (west side); no on-street parking in North Beach.
    • Microcommerce zones: In Central Beach, the task force proposes replacing the trolley lane with raised parklet-style areas (microcommerce zones) for outdoor dining, permitted entertainment, and busking. Businesses would have first right of refusal for adjacent spaces. Revenue from leases would go into the TIP fund.
    • Non-capital improvements: Enforce regulations (building on a prior resolution to curb obscene merchandise), invest in maintenance, address quality-of-life issues for unhoused individuals, and hold exploratory conversations with HRT about trolley service.
  • Council Discussion:
    • Councilmember Worth noted the strong consensus (6-1 on parking, 7-0 on everything else) and highlighted the economic impact of Atlantic Avenue (14.1 million visitors, $3 billion in spending, 33,000 jobs).
    • Several councilmembers expressed concerns about microcommerce zones: Councilmember Cummings urged that only businesses in full compliance with city codes be eligible; Councilmember Wilson raised potential blocking of businesses that don't want a bump-out; Councilmember Ross asked about aesthetics and durability of parklets; Councilmember Henley (public safety hat) warned about overhead lighting and accessibility for emergency vehicles.
    • Public safety concerns were acknowledged: police and fire departments have reservations about on-street parking and physical elements that could impede ladder trucks. The task force noted they worked with public safety and that designs would accommodate safety needs.
    • Councilmember Rouse raised the issue of utility markings on sidewalks, which fall under state law; Councilmember Michael emphasized the need to address this before investing millions.
  • Task Force Conclusion: Vice Mayor Rosemary asked the task force to hold one more meeting focused solely on clarifying the microcommerce zone concept, with no revisiting of other recommendations. The task force agreed.

Other Agenda Items

  • Planning Briefing (January 20, 2026 agenda): Eleven items were previewed, including conditional rezonings, use permits (self-storage facility, home occupation, food truck, bulk storage yard, short-term rentals), and an ordinance to adopt the park system needs assessment. The self-storage facility at First Colonial Road was recommended for denial by staff (incompatible with the medical corridor) but approved 9-1 by the Planning Commission. The council will vote on these items at the next formal session.
  • Liaison Reports:
    • Councilmember Wilson reported on the Towing Advisory Board's request to adjust police tow fees (ordinance for January 20 formal session).
    • Councilmember Hammond highlighted Arts and Humanities grants (Creative Neighborhood Grants due Jan 16, project grants due Feb 6).
    • Councilmember Ross noted the opening of a new child development center on Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and condemned recent anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ graffiti, thanking city staff for prompt removal.
  • Council Comments:
    • Councilmember Berlucci requested that Smith Lane be added to the traffic calming program despite not meeting technical criteria, citing extreme safety concerns for children on a narrow, high-traffic road (750 vehicles/day, 16 houses). The city manager agreed to proceed while reviewing the criteria.
    • Councilmember Michael supported adding the 25th Street and 31st Street garages to the Rosemary Residential Parking Rebate program; no objections, so staff will implement.
    • Councilmember Ross announced the retirement of the deputy city auditor; the replacement position will be split into two lower-cost positions, supported by the Mayor and council.
  • Closed Session: The council recessed into closed session to discuss legal, real estate, and personnel matters.

Key Outcomes

  • The Atlantic Avenue Task Force will convene one additional meeting to refine the microcommerce zone concept, after which the findings will be communicated to council via memo; a resolution to codify recommendations will follow.
  • The council approved the consent agenda (nine ordinances/resolutions) by a vote of 11-0, noting one abstention on December 9, 2025, minutes.
  • The council approved the minutes of formal/informal sessions of December 2 and December 9, 2025.
  • The council authorized the city manager to expand the residential parking rebate program to the 25th Street and 31st Street garages.
  • The council directed staff to include Smith Lane in the traffic calming program.
  • The council supported restructuring the deputy city auditor position into two lower-grade roles.

Meeting Transcript

Hey we're calling this meeting. Welcome one, welcome all. And happy new year to everybody. And uh once again, welcome. And uh Mr. Dehaney, let's go ahead and get started. All right, so Mr. Mayor, members of council, the first briefing from the first session back from break would be from the Atlantic Avenue Task Force. If council recalls, council um convened this task force to provide options on how best to address the Atlantic Avenue improvement project. And the task force been meeting dutifully for several meetings, and this is where they're they're coming forward with their recommendation recommendations and their suggestions for your consideration. The next voice you'll hear will probably be Julie. And she'll kick off the presentation, followed by co-chair Mike Mauch. Welcome. Good afternoon, happy new year, Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council, I'm Julie Brennan with Fountain Works, and happy to be here to talk about the Atlantic Avenue Task Force. As the manager just said, the as a reminder, the council um uh passed a resolution to establish the Atlantic Avenue Task Force to develop recommendations for council. Actually, I'm looking at this, I think it wasn't actually a council resolution, it was a mayor, mayor task force. So I apologize, I've read this so many times, I forgot that. So this is a mayor's task force, um, but the purpose of the task force was to look at how to allocate the 30 to 35 million dollars in capital improvement funds for the Atlantic Avenue capital improvements, looking specifically at the appearance, so things like facade, art and decorative elements of Atlantic Avenue, looking at mobility and safety. Um those are sidewalks and transportation issues, and looking specifically at on street parking on Atlantic Avenue itself. The council, um, the mayor's task force also was charged with looking at how to allocate funding across the different sections of Atlantic Avenue, breaking it up into three sections, North Beach 25th to 40th Street, Central Beach, 17th to 24th Street, and South Beach, 5th to 17th Street. So the question in terms of how to allocate was do we want to do a little bit of something everywhere? Do we want to concentrate something in different parts of uh Atlantic Avenue? So the task force was asked to look at all of those things. The members that were appointed to the task force, several of them are here today. A few had conflicts, but if I can get those in the audience to raise your hand and wave. Thank you for being here, and thank you for your dedication to the task force. Mike Mach is also here with me. He'll be presenting the task force's recommendations. And um of the seven members on the first meeting, they voted and elected Mike Mach and Bill Graham Brell as co-chairs. Um and Bill is one of the people that had an unavoidable conflict today, so he's not here. Uh, Vice Mayor Wilson and Councilmember Remick served as City Council liaisons, and they were at almost every meeting of the task force. In addition to the task force members, we had a tremendous amount of support from city staff. Not everyone was at every meeting, but most of these people were at most of the meetings. Uh, so we wanted to highlight that there is a lot of interest and support in the task force recommendations. They served as subject matter experts, and we're able to answer a lot of questions and provide details and do some research to answer the task force questions. I'll note we listed Clay Dills on this page. He's clearly not city staff, but we invited him to one of our meetings to do a presentation, and it was um a sort of aha moment for the task force members. So we wanted to acknowledge his presence. Um Fountain Works, me and my team served as neutral facilitators for the meetings to make sure that we provided support and everyone was able to share their concerns openly and no one dominated. The task force met five times between July and November for a total of 20 hours per person. So that's a lot of time dedicated to this and recognition of the importance of these decisions. Um you can see the schedule of how and when we met, and we are here today at the presentation to council. We used human centered design as a framework in the beginning of the task force to ensure that different perspectives were represented on the task force. So at the first meeting, we asked task force members to put on the hat. If you were a member of council, if you were city staff, if you were a resident visitor, a tourist visitor, a hotel year, restaurant tour, a real retailer, what are their different perspectives and what are their interests in Atlantic Avenue? What do they want out of the renovations, the capital improvements on Atlantic Avenue? In addition, we asked all of the task force members to bring their own selves to the meetings. They all were appointed because they represent important constituencies for Atlantic Avenue. We also provided a number of opportunities for the task force members to bring in statements or resolutions or just share thoughts from their respective organizations.

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