The City Council met on March 28th and spent almost an hour reviewing the information received from surveys, stakeholder interviews, and open house events.
To see the city's synopsis of the information presented at the meeting, CLICK HERE.
To view the entire meeting, CLICK HERE.
Please find an overview of the city's meeting below:
Rudee Loop – Updates from the City Council Meeting on March 28, 2023: *This information was obtained from the Virginia Beach City Council Meeting held on March 28, 2023 at 1:30pm. To view the entire meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WVXWqTlx4U&list=PL31A7A8D73F3976B9&index=1 *A synopsis of the Rudee Loop portion of the meeting can be found here: https://virginiabeach.gov/whats-up/whats-the-scoop/the-future-of-rudee-loop-resident-input- revealed
Results of the Online Survey: 84% of respondents use Rudee Loop on a regular basis. 4203 residents completed the survey, 827 from the 23451 area code. Most popular current uses were walking, biking, beach, parking, and surfing. Most popular desired features included green space, restrooms, playground, and sun shade/canopy. Preferred Proposal from Survey: 64% of respondents selected Proposal D by VB Parks and Rec.
Green space with large parks
Buffered fishing area for safety
Playground
Food truck plaza
Parking with flexible space for events
Skate park and spectator seating
Themes of the Stakeholder Interviews:
Protect and maintain public access to the beach, boardwalk, inlet, and playground.
Rudee Loop should be an iconic location that is marketable for VB.
Maintain beautiful views of the beach and inlet without "eye-sore" structures.
Green space was the most popular topic.
Increase parking capacity
Surfing culture, history, and heritage should be celebrated
Cost and maintenance were concerns.
Themes of Open House and On-Site Interviews:
Protect and maintain public access to the beach, boardwalk, inlet, and playground.
Parking should be increased, improved, and free for local residents.
Surfing culture, history, and heritage should be celebrated.
Green space was the most popular topic.
Changes and plans should be developed with the local community in mind.
Most respondents requested that hotel/commercial development not be included in Rudee Loop plans.
City Council Key Points:
Respondents overwhelmingly requested green space without commercial developmental of hotels.
Locals want to maintain continued access to the beach, surfing areas, playground, and boardwalk.
Locals requested improved parking even while being opposed to a parking garage. o Council discussed the option of creating an iconic parking garage as an option to increase parking that could still appeal to the local culture.
Council discussed concerns regarding homelessness impacting this area. o Council recognized that a public space managed by a private entity may support homelessness in a more impactful way whereas a public park without private organization involvement may not have the same resources or budgeting options to support the homeless community.
Council discussed conversations about the property that have been ongoing for over a decade regarding this property being one of the most special on the East Coast.
Council also mentioned that the survey results were highly valuable and there is intent to use this and other strategies to include more community involvement in the future.
Plan:
Council proposed getting through the current budget cycle before meeting again on this issue and may initiate a specific workshop at that time.