Category: Land use & Development
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Big Solar’s Proposed Zoning Override Bill Still Opposed
By Steve Haner The 2025 General Assembly is expected to consider another proposal to create a state-level approval process for certain large renewable energy projects, overriding local zoning authority. Based on recent public debates about the proposal, it is facing severe headwinds. Similar bills were proposed and failed in 2024. The legislative Commission on…
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Voting to Impose Big Solar on Other Legislator’s Voters
by Steve Haner Virginia’s legislators are expected to look at more bills in January to provide ways to override local objections to major renewable energy projects, especially the large solar fields that can cover hundreds of acres. A regional media outlet with a focus on rural Virginia just pointed out an inconvenient truth. The legislators likely…
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Anti-Hydrocarbon Advocates Want It Both Ways on Local Control
By Steve Haner The top 2025 legislative goal of Virginia’s Climate Catastrophe Democrats will be to override local zoning controls on wind, solar and energy storage projects. But for now, they are begging Chesterfield County residents to fight a proposed natural gas plant by appealing to that same local control. What’s a little hypocrisy when you…
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Atlantic Park Part 11, Epilogue: Costs, Real Costs and Lessons Learned
Presentation to the Virginia Beach City Council May 28, 2024
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Atlantic Park Part 7: The Quest for Surf Park Financing
Commentary by James C. Sherlock A last-minute search for surf park financing delayed project construction for a year. Neither bankers nor the City of Virginia Beach wanted any part of it. The developer missed a funding deadline. The city forgave it, but the pressure was on. So, with city backing: The journey was so complex…
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Atlantic Park Part 6: Vote for Change
by James C. Sherlock Updated Sept. 14 at 11:14 AM and September 18 at 4:40 PM If an infrastructure project is assessed to be a potential commercial success, that judgement is based on a business plan. Inevitably, because they are very good at what they do, the developers of Atlantic Park had one that would…
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Atlantic Park Part 5: Economic Risks
by James C. Sherlock In Bloomberg, author Allison Nicole Smith commented on the Atlantic Park bonds. She wrote: Muni deals funding tourist attractions have a checkered past. The list of defaulted bonds is a long one, including a water park in Edinburg, Texas, and an iron and steel manufacturing-themed park in Bessemer, Alabama. Like the development…
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Atlantic Park Part 3: The Deal of the Century
By James C. Sherlock Updated September 18, 2024 at 10:07 AM and 3:27 PM Atlantic Park is due to open on nearly 13 acres of city land near the Virginia Beach oceanfront in May of 2025. The new entertainment district is the largest public-private partnership project in the history of the Commonwealth’s biggest city. It…
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Atlantic Park Part 2: City Council, Campaign Contributions and City Money
By James C. Sherlock Elections in republics are transactional everywhere. We vote for and contribute to those who we think will vote as we would. This series is about Virginia Beach. We do not vary from that script. Council members run as independents. An in-depth review of seven years of Council meeting minutes has revealed…
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Atlantic Park Part 1: Prologue
Updated September 18 at 10 AM and 3:16 PM By James C. Sherlock Atlantic Park is under construction as a massive new entertainment district near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach’s resort area. The centerpiece, a surf park, will be surrounded a 3,500-seat concert hall, shops, restaurants, offices, and apartments. If it succeeds, Atlantic Park will…
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Keep Your Hands Off My Single Family Zoning
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The high cost of housing is a frequent topic of discussion in society and on this blog. Some observers fault local governments for their restrictive zoning practices that limit density. According to this argument, increasing density would help mitigate the increase in housing costs. The argument has merit. However, its proponents seem to assume that…
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Be Careful What You Ask For
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-Henrico) is very upset about the plan to locate a Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Henrico County. This is the facility that features “historical horse racing,” which many have equated to slot machines. Churchill Downs, the parent company of Rosie’s, plans to open the facility in an existing shopping center, the…
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Virginia Supremes Limit Sovereign Immunity in Portsmouth Case
by James A. Bacon H. Cliff Page, an artist, sculptor, Vietnam vet, merchant mariner, civic activist and former candidate for Mayor of Portsmouth, won a victory for individual property rights when the Virginia Supreme Court ruled unanimously in his favor July 3 in a dispute with the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority (PRHA). “This is…
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Diamonds Aren’t Forever
by Jon Baliles The entire saga of the development of the Diamond District project in Richmond has come full circle in the last 18 months, as Mayor Levar Stoney, desperate for an economic development win after the failure of his Navy Hill boondoggle and two failed casino referendums, has rounded the bases trying to get…
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Small Parcel; Significant History
by Jon Baliles There was some great news last week as the Capital Region Land Conservancy (CRLC) scored another big win on behalf of the city when it announced the successfully negotiated purchase of 4.5 acres along the James River from Norfolk Southern near Ancarrow’s Landing. The parcel will be placed into the James River…