In December of 2005, City Council adopted an Oceanfront Resort Area Plan, Resort Area Design Guidelines and a number of related amendments to the City Zoning Ordinance.  During the process of formulating these documents, the Resort Area Commission and other resort leaders were informed that subsequent efforts would be necessary to further refine the content of the adopted documents and further express the vision.

In October, 2007, Sasaki Associates was selected to provide a graphic vision of the Oceanfront Resort Area and to recommend implementaton steps directed toward achievement of a common vision for the Resort Area. The plan is intended to serve as a tool to increase public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the strategic planning policies established for the Oceanfront Resort Area.

During the end of 2007 and then throughout 2008, Sasaki conducted interviews of various stakeholders in the Resort Area and conducted three Planning and Design Charrettes at the Convention Center, on December 17 and 18, 2007, February 28 and 29, 2008 and June 2 and 3, 2008. Each Charrette was well-attended, averaging over 100 attendees at each session. Participants included neighborhood residents of the Oceanfront and other areas of the city, Resort Area leaders, architects, developers, and interested others.

The result of the first Charrette was the identification of three preliminary development concepts for the Resort Area. At the second Charrette, attendees participated in an exercise during which they discussed three alternative development concepts and created a preferred plan, taking what they felt were the best pieces from the three alternatives. The attendees then worked on development of a circulation plan for the Resort Area, consisting of pedestrian and vehicular movement as well as transit.

A third Charrette resulted in the presentation of the final draft plan and discussion and input from the attendees regarding needed adjustments to the final draft.

On December 2, 2008, after additional discussion and analysis, a final document, known as the Resort Area Strategic Action Plan (RASAP), was adopted by the City Council. The plan can be downloaded under Related Documents to the right.

Included in the plan are near-term, mid-term, and long-term implementation steps that are necessary to bring the vision expressed in the plan to reality. Staff is currently working on a number of the near-term items, with the most visible upcoming task being a revision to the Zoning Ordinance regulations for the Resort Area. Return to this page occasionally to find out more about that effort.

If you have any questions, please contact Stephen White at 757-385-4621or email at planadmn@vbgov.com