Virginia Beach City Council Formal Session - May 20, 2026
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Virginia Beach City Council Formal Session - May 20, 2026
The Virginia Beach City Council met on May 20, 2026, for a formal session that included a presentation on a proposed parking garage, discussion of a new Mayor's task force on safety, approval of a consent agenda, a public hearing on a planning item, and recognition of community members through proclamations and appointments.
Consent Calendar
- The council approved the consent agenda as read (9-0), which included nine ordinances and resolutions and 14 planning items. Key items included: authorization for the mayor to execute an eighth amended charter agreement of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council; approval of the assignment of the tourism development finance program performance agreement for the Cavalier Hotel; several temporary encroachments for docks and bulkheads; acquisition of 7.04 acres from the Navy for Midway Manor; budget amendments for housing vouchers, preschool services, and the Marcus Alert liaison position; and a transfer of funds for the Sheriff's Office food and medical costs. Planning items included variances, street closures, conditional use permits, and a zoning ordinance amendment regarding crematories. Item #1 (Lighthouse Development LLC) was pulled for separate public hearing and later approved.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Wayne Beagle (property owner two doors from the proposed development) spoke in favor of the Lighthouse Development item but raised a long-standing flooding issue in the neighborhood. He stated that the stormwater system is inadequate and has caused flooding in his building and a neighbor's house for decades. He requested council attention to the problem, noting that even if funding were approved immediately, a project would take two to four years.
- Tanya Gatling (neighbor behind the development) expressed concern about large, dying trees on the property that pose a risk during hurricanes. She asked that the development plan include removal of the distressed trees. The applicant's attorney noted that the owner plans to remove the trees.
Discussion Items
- Proposed Parking Garage at 19th and Parks Avenue: Acting Director of Economic Development Emily Archer presented an overview of the RFP process for a 1,048-space public parking garage with 18,000 square feet of retail (sports bar, restaurant, coffee shop) on a 1.73-acre city-owned parcel. The garage would be owned by the VBDA and operated by the city. The total city cost is not to exceed $37.7 million ($36,000 per space). The council was asked to authorize a pre-development phase (35% design documents, firm GMP, schedule, leasing strategy) capped at $1.9 million, with the developer contributing up to $308,000. Council members discussed the need for parking, the retail space allocation (capped at around 80 spaces), the cost, and the plan to implement paid parking for the convention center area to offset operational costs and incentivize shuttle use. The pre-development agreement is expected to return for a public hearing and final vote in June 2026.
- Mayor's Task Force on Safety: Mayor Dyer announced the formation of the Mayor's Task Force on a Safer Virginia Beach, to be co-chaired by Senator Chrissy Newcraig and Delegate Michael Faggins. The task force will include representatives from various stakeholders (Atlantic Avenue Association, Commonwealth's Attorney, faith-based organizations, schools, police, etc.) and will hold six meetings over the summer, with listening sessions in the villages. The goal is to deliver a legislative package by October 2026. The mayor emphasized the need for a long-term strategy, including de-escalation education in schools and parent engagement.
- Recognition of Students: Councilmember Henley introduced two juniors from Green Run Collegiate (Serena and Aaron) who were attending the meeting to learn about city government.
- Announcements: Councilmember Henley announced a joint community meeting on May 27, 2026, at Cox High School regarding the Coastal Storm Risk Management Study, and a District 9 town hall on June 8, 2026, at Williams Farm Rec Center about the Pleasure House Point Wetlands restoration project. Councilmember Stacy announced a town hall on May 21, 2026, at Central Library on small business support.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the consent agenda (9-0).
- Approved the planning item for Lighthouse Development LLC (variance to subdivide six parcels into five single-family lots) (9-0).
- Approved the reappointment and appointment of numerous board and commission members as read (9-0).
- Council directed staff to proceed with the pre-development phase for the parking garage, with a public hearing and vote expected in June 2026.
- The Mayor's Task Force on Safety will begin its work with the goal of a legislative package by October 2026.
- Proclamations were presented: Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Mental Health Day (May 10, 2026) and a resolution honoring Carolyn Garrett for her decades of service to the community.
- The council recessed into closed session to discuss real property acquisition, public contracts, and personnel appointments, then certified the closed session (9-0).
Meeting Transcript
This meeting the order of Vice Mayor Wilson and Dr. Ross Hammond will not be with us today. So Mr. Dehaney, we're ready to roll. All right, so Mr. Mayor, members of council. At this time, Acting Director of Economic Development, Emily Archer will provide City Council an overview of an exciting opportunity to address our parking issues around a convention center sports center area. So Emily Archer, go ahead. The floor is yours. Good afternoon, Mayor. Members of City Council, thank you for having me. Here to update you as the manager mentioned on our RFP process to date on the public structured parking garage at 19th and Parks Avenue. Next slide. Pardon our technical difficulties. The purpose today is to go over the review of the 19th Street Parks Avenue garage RFP process. Provide an overview of the proposed concept and development turns negotiated and seek your direction on next steps. Excuse me. The site in question is the red star on the graphic on the right. It's a 1.73 acre city owned parcel at the southeast corner of Parks Avenue, 19th Street, just cat a corner from the convention center. It's currently a surface parking lot with 109 spaces. I think it's working. How we got here. Starting the past couple years, as a result of the increased activations occurring at the convention and sports center, parking challenges are routinely experienced, particularly during concurrent events. There's limited inventory, there's parking delays for guests coming and going, and enforcement creates unfavorable impressions with our guests. Shuttles and overflow lots are routinely employed at added costs. And these challenges are inhibiting our ability to recruit and retain large events. Also, last spring in April 2025, a future vision plan was presented for this area as part of the Central Beach Small Area Plan. And that red, the little red box kind of category in there, a public parking garage was envisioned with complementary uses to support the convention center parking challenges as well as Central Beach area as a whole. So following that small area plan, we were given directed by you to release the RFP. That went out in July of 2025 and was advertised for 90 days for a public parking garage with other complementary uses. We received six submissions in October 2025. Three respondents were shortlisted after an evaluation convened and reviewed with council review as well. Interviews were held in December. Negotiations began with the top respondent after further evaluation committee and council review in February. Supported by lead architect and designer Hanberry, lead engineer Kimley Horn, and the general contractor WM Jordan. The proposals for 1,048 space garage, 18,000 square feet of two-story retail. The image on the right is from Parks Avenue looking southeast. So that retail two-story, you can kind of see there situated on the corner. A sports bar, uh restaurant, coffee shop are all envisioned at this time. Parks Avenue will continue south to 18th Street and Punch Through, and Underground Stormwater Management Facility is envisioned as well. So about the eight 18,000 square feet of retail will use about 80 spaces in the garage, depending on the retail mixture. So that's 968 public parking spaces available in this garage. If you subtract out the 1099 surface spaces that are there now, it's 859 net new spaces of inventory for the convention and sports center. There's about 2,513 spaces there today. So that would bring the total inventory of the convention sports center to 3,372 spaces. More on the concept plan. Currently, the Old Beach Farmers Market meets in Vibe Park and 18th Street, and the idea is on rainy days, they would have a shelter, shelter place to hold the market events still in the ground floor of that bay of the garage. And the idea is on rainy days, they would have a shelter, shelter place to hold the market events still in the ground floor of that bay of the garage. Also in the bottom right corner of the image, there's a screen envisioned on the facade of that garage. So from Vibe Park, which is on the bottom right of the screen, would have a place to project movies or other community uh activations there.
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