Virginia Beach City Council Meeting - August 19, 2026
Virginia Beach City Council Meeting - August 19, 2026
The Virginia Beach City Council convened on August 19, 2026, for a regular meeting that included presentations from a major defense contractor and a neutral briefing on offshore seabed mining, followed by a council decision to oppose the mining exploration. The council also addressed public decorum, adopting a strengthened speaker policy in response to recent disruptions, and approved a consent agenda with several routine items.
Consent Calendar
- Ordinance to amend workforce housing regulations (City Code sections 16-44, 16-46, 16-51, 16-52, 16-53, 16-56, and add 16-51.1) – approved.
- Resolution approving 2026 plan of financing with Virginia Beach Development Authority (not to exceed $175 million) – approved.
- Temporary encroachment authorization for a bulkhead at 700 Greensboro Avenue (District 5) – approved.
- Use of $75,000 from Sandbridge Special Services Fund for a water tower bureau – approved.
- Acceptance of $55,515 Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant for police narcotics testing equipment – approved.
- Street closures (Allison and Anthony Sitar, 33rd Street LLC) – approved.
- Conditional use permits:
- 232 Jersey Avenue LLC (bulk storage yard, District 4) – approved.
- City View Two LLC (mini warehouse, District 4) – approved with Councilmember Henley voting no.
- 1036 FP Road LLC (mini warehouse and bulk storage, District 9) – approved as amended (fence height limited to 8 feet).
- Ordinance amending zoning ordinance for workforce housing (sections 2100, 2102, add 2107) – approved.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Walter Camp spoke during the consent agenda on data center regulations, urging the council to align definitions and tax policies from 2017 with current zoning updates, and to update the city’s website messaging.
- Dylan Mason (Public Policy Manager, Lynnhaven River Now) testified during the seabed mining discussion, expressing strong opposition to the proposed exploration on behalf of his organization. He noted the 2,700-square-mile area, conflicts with military, fisheries, and tourism, and cited support from neighboring localities.
- Robert Fadovic (resident, 33½ Street) spoke on the senior living facility project (Planning Item 3), supporting the project but urging that pedestrian safety improvements at Pacific Avenue be included as a proffer, given increased traffic from nearby developments.
Discussion Items
- ADS Company Overview: Ryan Angold, CEO of ADS (headquartered in Virginia Beach), presented the company’s history from a dive shop to a multi-billion-dollar defense contractor. He highlighted 492 employees, $7 billion in products delivered in the last 12 months, and local impact: over $175 million in revenue from 50+ local companies in 2025. The council praised the company’s growth and service to warfighters.
- Seabed Mining Briefing: Dr. Richard Bishop (Virginia Tech, professor of practice) provided a neutral technical overview of critical minerals (titanium, zircon, monazite) in offshore heavy mineral sands, explaining exploration vs. mining, potential processes, and environmental baselines. Councilmembers expressed strong concerns about compatibility with tourism, fishing, military operations, offshore wind, and ecology. Councilmember Bellucci requested the city oppose seabed mining, citing previous stances on oil/gas exploration and uranium mining. The council agreed by consensus to have the mayor send a letter of opposition to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) before the August 22, 2026, public comment deadline.
- Council Decorum and Speaker Policy: Mayor Dyer introduced a revised speaker policy to address recent disruptions, including heckling and threats. The new policy bans disruptive sounds (clapping, booing, cheering) while a speaker has the floor, and prohibits threats and intimidation at all times. Councilmembers supported the change, noting incidents at prior meetings, including threats to a pregnant speaker. The policy took effect immediately.
- Other Discussion: Councilmember Bellucci proposed exploring an animal cruelty registry, similar to Chesapeake’s, to share information on convicted animal abusers. Councilmember Henley suggested a work session on data center zoning and taxation. Councilmember Hutchison announced his participation in “Dancing with the Stars” fundraiser for Virginia Musical Theater on August 22.
Key Outcomes
- Seabed Mining Opposition: The council directed the mayor to send a letter to BOEM opposing offshore seabed mining exploration, citing environmental, economic, and military concerns. This position aligns with neighboring localities (Accomack, Northampton, Chincoteague, Ocean City MD) and the Virginia Spaceport Authority.
- Speaker Policy Adoption: The council adopted an amended speaker policy with immediate effect, adding civil decorum requirements, banning disruptive sounds, and prohibiting threats/intimidation.
- Consent Agenda Approval: Approved with Councilmember Henley voting no on City View Two (mini warehouse) and on FP Road as amended.
- Senior Living Facility Approval: Planning item 3 (33rd Street LLC) for an 85-foot senior living facility was approved unanimously (10-0). The project includes 10 affordable housing units and reduced height from 12 to 5-7 stories.
- Appointments: Approved multiple appointments to boards and commissions, including the Cannabis Advisory Task Force, Flood Prevention Bond Referendum Committee (two high school students), and others.
Meeting Transcript
We got some very good presentation coming up. So that's the mayor, members of the council at this time mayor at their request. We're gonna have um the come and present an overview of their company. But first you'll be introduced by Emily Archer, our development director. Welcome. Welcome. Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of City Council. It's my distinct pleasure to introduce the CEO of one of the top federal government contractors in the nation, located right here, CEO Ryan Angold of ADS, which is headquartered here in Virginia Beach. Ryan joined ADS in 2010, beginning as a naval sales vertical manager and advancing to serve as executive vice president of market sales before being named CEO in June 2022. Prior to beginning ADS, Ryan served as a Naval Special Warfare Officer for the United States Navy from 1997 to 2005 and was awarded a bronze star with V for valorous actions during combat. After a season significant spinal cord injury in 2004, cut his military career short. Ryan successfully transitioned to a career in the defense industry, leading business and product development efforts at Earl Energy, LLC, and Blackbird Technologies. Ryan has also worked with Exco Exoskeleton Technology to support rehabilitation, mobility, mobility, and military applications, has co-founded Tradewood and Technologies, a cybersecurity training company. Ryan earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Ryan, thank you for your service, and thank you for being here today. Welcome, Ryan. Good afternoon. Thank you. Mayor Dyer, thank you for the invitation to come and talk about our amazing company headquartered right here in Virginia Beach. Thank you for that introduction. I think I need to add that you know, people go, okay, Ryan, you served in the SEAL teams. Like, yes, I did. I love serving. If I didn't get hurt, I believe I'd still be serving today. Uh my service in the SEAL teams is what brought me to Virginia Beach. Uh, but I want to highlight that my spinal cord injury was a total recreational boating accident. People think it was combat related, so I'll never live this one down. But I was just back from Afghanistan. Uh very, very busy, dangerous deployment, a lot of activity, a lot of action. Come back home and I break my neck. My son would say it was parafailing instead of parasailing, but bad unfortunate injury on the Chesapeake Bay. I dislocated my C5C6, paralyzed from the neck down, made a cover recovery. No one would have expected a lot of time in the Richmond spinal cord injury VA, but uh lengthy length of recovery process that forced me to start a new career, which led to me serving in the defense industry. So CEO of ADS for four years, been at ADS for 15 years. Very unique relationship with ADS. Show of hands up until now. How many of you are familiar with ADS? Some of you. A lot of you know us as that dive shop, you know, formerly Atlantic Diving Supply, now we go by ADS. But I was an ADS customer in 1998, fresh out of SEAL training, checked into SEAL team two, and was told, hey, take this piece of paper, go down to the attic space above Live Lynn Haven Dive Center off Great Neck Road and go get your wetsuit. So I was an ADS customer. A lot of my initial equipment when I was at SEAL Team 2, where I had three deployments. I was actually deployed during 9-11. A lot of my equipment came from ADS. Then I went over to Naval Special Warfare Development Group, but damn next same thing, going through and getting issued great equipment, equipment from all these different awesome manufacturers and ADS behind the scenes supporting me. Fast forward, I have an injury in my naval career. I'm involved in different industry positions, and I work with a company where I get the opportunity to work with ADS as a manufacturer. I was building hybrid off-grid hybrid power systems, got to expose to ADS, and I was like, wow, ADS is doing a lot more than selling just diving equipment. Well, they're involved with everything. And I got to experience that value and what ADS provides to manufacturers, give me access to key customers within the Marine Corps and educating me more on the procurement side of the defense industrial base and supporting the military.
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