After Virginia Beach neighborhood revolt, City Council holds off on trail paving

VIRGINIA BEACH — Dave Parker has lived next to Violet Bank Trail for nearly three decades. On a busy day, he’s seen between 10 and 12 people use the natural, wooded path.

Why then, wondered Parker, would the city move forward with an expensive plan to widen and pave it?

“It’s an almost $2 million anomaly,” Parker said.

Virginia Beach planned to use a $300,000 state transportation grant to help fund $1.9 million in improvements to Violet Bank Trail, which would include razing trees and hardening the surface.

But over the last several weeks, Parker and dozens of other residents of Bellamy Woods and Bellamy Manor ramped up efforts to squash the plan, which they have long said is a waste of money and detrimental to the environment and their privacy.

They recently met with some members of the City Council, and aired their concerns at a council meeting earlier this month. As of Wednesday, an online petition against paving the trail had more than 100 signatures.

Now, it seems their concerns are being heard.

The City Council on Tuesday asked City Manager Patrick Duhaney to provide alternative options for Violet Bank Trail while keeping it mostly natural. Duhaney said he will also look into the returning the state grant.

The grant came through in 2017, and the City Council allocated the rest in 2022.

Violet Bank Trail is six blocks long and runs through Bellamy Manor and Bellamy Woods, extending from Kittery Drive to Selwood Drive. It’s overgrown with foliage and exposed roots are visible on the path. The trail is mostly used for walks and exercise as it provides a safer option over Providence Road which lacks sidewalks in that area.

The city conducted public outreach in 2023 and a summary revealed residents are split down the middle on paving the trail. The majority of adjacent property owners who participated were against the project.

“I’m very distressed by the notion that we’re dividing this wonderful neighborhood,” said Councilman Michael Berlucchi. “This to me is an obvious call for a compromise position.”

Celeste Greene has lived next to the trail for six years.

“The trail itself is a destination; it’s not just a transit corridor,” said Greene.

She’s in favor of making it more accessible while leaving most of the trees.

“It’s complete overkill to put an 8-foot (wide) asphalt path,” said Greene. “The best solution is preserve the natural state as much as possible.”

She would like to see an accessible path similar to the unpaved ones in First Landing State Park.

Residents first requested improvements to the trail more than a decade ago, and a plan to pave it was subsequently included in several City Council-approved land plans. City staff described it as a “heavily worn footpath” indicating “heavy foot traffic” in the grant application.

No usage studies have been performed, according to the city.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com