Virginia Beach City Council Meeting - April 8, 2026
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Virginia Beach City Council Meeting - April 8, 2026
The Virginia Beach City Council met on April 8, 2026, for an afternoon session that included a planning staff briefing on 17 items for the April 21 public hearing, presentations on the FY 2026-27 budgets for Emergency Communications and Citizen Services (ECCS), Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and the Police Department, followed by council liaison reports, a consent agenda, public hearings, and resolutions honoring Captain David L. Gray and the Virginia Beach Mustangs. The meeting also featured a public hearing and council debate on the open-space acquisition of five lots near Crab Creek for $2.6 million.
Consent Calendar
- Ordinance authorizing a lease agreement with Virginia Pickleball Classic LLC for city-owned property at 928 South Birdneck Road.
- Ordinance to donate 75 Taser X2 handles and accessories to the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Department.
- Ordinance to accept and appropriate $23,055.20 from the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services for EMS training programs.
- Ordinance to accept and appropriate $5,000 from the Virginia State Police HEAT Program for motor vehicle theft reduction.
- Ordinance to transfer $3.2 million within the FY 2025-26 Department of Public Works operating budget for capital outlays.
- All consent items were approved by a vote of 9-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Crab Creek Open Space Acquisition (Item K2):
- Christy Everett (Hampton Roads Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation) spoke in strong support, stating the acquisition protects the integrity of Pleasure House Point, provides flood protection and habitat, and leverages $300,000 in state grants. She read comments from Wetlands Watch emphasizing long-term resilience.
- Diana Howard (citizen) opposed, questioning the $2.6 million price for a half-acre property assessed at $152,000 and expressing concern about property tax impacts.
- Karen Forget (Director, LRNow) spoke in support, highlighting public use, wildlife habitat, water quality benefits, and the careful vetting by the Open Space Advisory Committee.
- Ronna Marsh (WebEx speaker) opposed, arguing the price vastly exceeds assessed value and raising conflict-of-interest concerns because several council members received campaign donations from the developer. She suggested recusal was needed.
Discussion Items
Planning Briefing (April 21 Hearing Preview)
- Caitlin (Planning Staff) presented 16 items for the April 21 hearing, including:
- Modification of proffers for a 244,000 sq ft VA outpatient facility on Northampton Boulevard (622 employees, 1,250 parking spaces, height deviation to 64 ft). Planning commission recommended approval unanimously.
- Modification of proffers for an 81,000 sq ft retail center on the same parcel. No opposition; unanimous recommendation.
- Conditional rezoning and CUP for a bulk storage yard on London Bridge Road. Council member Barbara questioned the definition of “light industrial”; staff agreed to review.
- CUP for an indoor recreational facility parking lot expansion on Parliament Drive. Planning commission recommended approval with a condition on trail connection alignment.
- Conditional rezoning and CUP for a three-story self-storage facility on South Rosemont Road (one letter of opposition; recommended approval on consent).
- CUP for a home-based wildlife rehabilitation facility (one support, one opposition; recommended approval).
- CUP for a 160-unit multifamily development in the Pembroke SGA (planning commission 10-0-1).
- CUP for low-speed vehicle sales on Shore Drive (one opposition; recommended approval).
- Alternative compliance request for a 131-unit condominium project at Pacific Ave and 22nd St (height increase to 110 ft; planning commission unanimous with condition prohibiting short-term rentals).
- Ordinance to adopt the Imagined VB 2040 Comprehensive Plan; a modification to remove a Type 1 neighborhood from the Shore Drive North Great Neck Center boundary. Council member Barbara requested a transcript of prior discussion about the “green line” context area change.
- Ordinance to remove the NIMO Church Historic and Cultural District: Planning commission recommended denial (8-3) after receiving three letters of opposition and hearing eight speakers evenly split. Council discussed the high cost of historic maintenance, state budget funds ($500,000 proposed), and the voluntary nature of the district. Council expressed desire to explore financial assistance mechanisms.
- Ordinance to regulate roll-off containers in residential districts (one container allowed for 30 days per six months; CVBIA supportive; planning commission unanimous).
Budget Presentations
-
ECCS (Jada Lee):
- Reported use of AI for non-emergency call handling (18 months) and new AI software for 100% quality assurance of 911 calls, described as a “game changer.”
- Staffing challenges: 7 vacancies reduced from budget due to longevity; using traveling dispatchers to fill gaps. Hiring and retention bonuses in place. Quarterly fireside chats and stay interviews conducted.
- Budget transfer for 311 after-hours public utilities calls increased from $83,424 to $141,396 with a 3% annual escalator.
- Projected academy starting July 9, 2026.
-
EMS (Chief Jason Stroud):
- Requested 12 positions: 10 uniformed paramedics, a fleet/facilities coordinator, and an administrative volunteer support position, all funded by the self-sustaining Compassionate Building Program (projected $14.5M annual revenue).
- Fleet of 47 ambulances on track; standardization policy endorsed by Rescue Council.
- Facility overcrowding noted (3 people in rooms designed for 1 in older shared stations).
- Staffing needs: 32 additional uniformed employees needed to reach goal of 20 ambulances during peak periods; incremental approach by adding 10 now.
-
Police Department (Chief Lantigate):
- Reported 86 sworn vacancies (up from 45 a year ago), partly due to the trauma of losing officers in 2025. New recruiting campaign with Studio Center showing 15% increase in initial applications.
- Funding requests: continued recruitment funding (initial allocation from asset forfeiture), Peregrine AI software platform (integrates 15 data sets for investigations), and 5 Special Conservators of the Peace (non-sworn) to handle transport of individuals under emergency custody orders (ECOs/TDOs), freeing up sworn officers. Currently 1.7% of CIT calls consume over 10-12% of officer time.
- Drones as first responders program expected within 30 days. School zone camera program expanding.
- Community engagement emphasized as key to trust and recruitment. Training facility needs (LEDA) noted as critical for future recruitment.
- Goal of 5% reduction in part-one violent crime in 2026.
Council Liaison Reports
- Barbara reported on the ITA committee meeting and requested status of the ITA plan update.
- Hutchison reported on COG grant committee: second round had $1.6 million in eligible requests; committee awarded $358,000 but seeks authority to add approximately $18,000 to fully fund recommended grants. Council agreed to allow budget transfer via city manager’s signature.
- Michael reported visiting the 531 Memorial construction site (unveiling May 31) and holding a District 3 community summit.
- Rosemary noted the voucher parking program is now live.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved 9-0.
- Crab Creek Open Space Acquisition (K2): Approved 10-0 after debate. Councilman Shulman defended the $2.6 million price as prudent due to strategic location, matching grant funds, and Open Space Advisory Committee vetting. No recusals despite campaign donation concerns raised by a speaker.
- COG Grant Funding: Council approved the additional $18,000 allocation via budget transfer to balance grants awarded from the COG fund.
- Direction to Staff:
- Staff to review and report back on the definition of “light industrial” in zoning ordinance (requested by Council member Barbara).
- Transcript of prior council discussion on “green line” context area change to be provided (requested by Council member Barbara).
- City manager authorized to execute grant agreements for open space acquisition.
- Honors:
- Resolution recognizing Captain David L. Gray on his retirement, proclaiming April 8, 2026 as “Captain David L. Gray Day.”
- Resolution honoring the Virginia Beach Mustangs Youth Football Organization for their 2025 national championships and community impact.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome all. We're ready for our afternoon session. It's that fun time of year with the budget presentations, and uh we're gonna look forward to them. Uh Mr. Deheny, if we go ahead and get going. All right, so Mr. Mayor, members of council. Before we get the first um string of budget presentations going, we're gonna have our planning staff give City Council a briefing on depending planning items that will come before you on April 21. Go ahead, Caitlin, the floor is yours. All right, good afternoon, Mayor Vice Mayor, members of council. As the city manager just stated, I will be running through the planning items that will be up for consideration at your April 21st hearing. So there are a total of 17 items on that agenda, including consideration of the imagined VB 2040 comprehensive plan. So looking first at item one, this is a modification of proffers request for a parcel located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Premium Outlets Boulevard in District 4. This property, which is located in the Burton Station SGA, was conditionally rezoned to B2 in 2018 for the development of a 250,000 square foot retail center. The current applicant is seeking a modification of proffers to develop the northern 20 acres of the site with an approximately 2440,000 244,000 square foot veterans administration outpatient facility. The facility will employ approximately 622 full-time employees. A total of 1,250 parking spaces are proposed to support the use, exceeding the 903 spaces required by the ordinance. A 15 foot wide landscape buffer, shown in green on the slide here, is proposed along the northern and eastern property lines adjacent to the R5D properties. Various pedestrian connections are proposed with this development, including an eight foot wide side path along premium outlets boulevard, an eight foot wide multi-use path along the eastern and northern property lines connecting to the Lake Wright Linear Park, and a 10 foot wide multi-use path along the proposed Tolliver Road extension. As seen in the images on the slide, the building will include a mix of brick veneer, aluminum paneling, and glass. Since the building height is limited to a max of 35 feet when within 100 feet of a residentially zoned property, the applicant is requesting a deviation to allow a height of just over 64 feet. I will note that the proposed building is approximately 325 feet from the nearest single family dwelling. While the average daily trips are lower than the retail only development that was approved in 2018, the morning and afternoon peak hour traffic will be increased with this proposal. The recommendations of the traffic impact analysis include retiming of several signals along this corridor, including two signals in the city of Norfolk and two in Virginia Beach. The development is proposing a full access on Premium Outlets Boulevard at the northern edge of the site, as well as a traffic signal at the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and the Tolliver Road extension. Staff is unaware of any opposition to the request, and the planning commission recommended approval by unanimous vote. Item two is another modification of proffers for the same parcel that was discussed in the previous item. Again, this is in district four. So this request is related to the southern 12.9 acres of the parcel, which was also included in the 2018 conditional rezoning. It is now proposed to be developed with an 81,000 square foot retail center. The modified proposal, which will be located immediately south of the VA facility discussed in item one, includes a significant reduction in the overall retail space. 325 parking spaces are required to support the retail use, and 416 are proposed on site. As with the previous application, several pedestrian connections are included with the overall development, including a 10-foot-wide shared use path along Northampton Boulevard. The images on the screen here show the renderings approved with the 2018 application, which are not subject to change with this request. And this concept plan here shows both developments together along with the proposed Tolliver Road extension. The traffic impact analysis that was discussed with item one included the retail development that is proposed with this application. As with the previous item, staff is unaware of any opposition, and the planning commission recommended approval by unanimous vote. The next two items include a straight rezoning and a conditional use permit for property at the northwest corner of London Bridge Road and Hornet Drive in District 5. The site is just under four acres and is located within the greater than 75 decibel noise zone as well as the special economic growth area or Sega 2 West Oceana. The applicant is requesting a straight rezoning of the site from AG1 and AG2 to I-1 Light Industrial, along with a conditional use permit for a bulk storage yard. The development will consist of 26 fenced storage lots, ranging in size from 2400 square feet to just under 5,000 square feet, and will be be leased individually for the storage of equipment and materials. No buildings or on-site employees are proposed with this request. Barbara, do you have something? Yes. Light industrial. And it's just sort of up to somebody's opinion, I think. Could we look into that? Because we're having an awful lot of this come up. So I since we're really having this come up quite often, I would like us to look at this issue of what is light industrial, what is allowed there, and and so forth. Yeah, we could we can certainly do it.
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