Posted on January 31, 2018
By Mechelle Hankerson, The Virginian-Pilot
An idea from an Eastern Shore lawmaker could throw a wrench in Virginia Beach’s dredging activities.
Del. Rob Bloxom wants the law to specify that localities can’t receive new oyster ground leases.
“In my mind, municipalities shouldn’t own oyster leases,” Bloxom said. “There are leases being held for the wrong reasons.”
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is responsible for maintaining oyster grounds, and currently, residents and businesses – as well as localities – can lease them from the agency.
Not all oyster ground leases are used for harvesting. Virginia Beach has acquired such rights to dredge and comply with federal environmental requirements.
That’s a problem for Bloxom, who said state law suggests that oyster leases should only be held for propagation.
His proposed change could undo how Virginia Beach has been able to clear major commercial channels, build infrastructure like bridges and create a neighborhood dredging program, said the city’s coastal manager, Phill Roehrs.
“We have thousands of waterfront property owners, and navigation is a big reason for buying waterfront property,” he said. “Our citizens deserve navigation. To maintain navigation and maintain channels is a right we believe needs to be preserved.”
Bloxom asked the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to help draft the wording to make that change.
“We offer this in the spirit of being helpful,” VMRC Commissioner John Bull wrote in an email to lawmakers. “We do not have a position on this measure at this point, but may as the session progresses.”
State law currently doesn’t list cities as entities that are allowed to hold oyster ground leases, but they have had rights to them since the law doesn’t specify otherwise.
Virginia Beach Del. Chris Stolle introduced HB487, which would explicitly permit localities to purchase and hold oyster ground leases. A House of Delegates committee will decide if Bloxom’s amendment should replace Stolle’s bill.
Under that proposal, the city’s neighborhood dredging program could become a complicated web of temporary leases and throw it off schedule, Roehrs said.
Neighborhoods that opt into the program pay a special tax so the city can dredge small waterways that run through residential areas on a 16-year cycle.
It’s not just dredging that Virginia Beach officials are concerned about. Bloxom’s idea could stymie federal restoration efforts, sea level rise mitigation and infrastructure improvements in waterfront communities, Mayor Will Sessoms wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
“Any public project that overlaps an oyster lease will be at risk, even if the oyster lease is closed to harvest for contamination, and even if the private leaseholder is willing to support the project,” Sessoms wrote.
The draft amendment would also terminate oyster ground leases that localities already control, according to the city.
But Bull said the legislation would allow cities to keep old leases.
In the 1980s, Virginia Beach bought leases from private owners to dredge major channels along the Lynnhaven River. Those oyster grounds were contaminated, so they weren’t useful for harvesting, Sessoms wrote.
Now, the Lynnhaven River “contributes to the commercial and residential viability of this city,” Sessoms wrote.
According to a VMRC database, Virginia Beach currently rents 86 acres of oyster grounds in Broad Bay, 50 acres along the eastern branch of the Lynnhaven River and 6 acres in Long Creek. The Army Corps of Engineers does restoration projects along those areas, Roehrs said.
The leases were bought from a private owner in 2016 for $140,000, according to Sessoms’ letter.
Source: The Virginian-Pilot
