Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation consistently strives to provide the very best recreational opportunities, parks and park facilities for our citizens to enjoy. Protection of our resources, including both park land and water areas/waterways, is a top priority in order to ensure that current and future generations will continue to enjoy having excellent opportunities for outdoor recreation and education.
As one of our many ways to successfully accomplish the protection of our resources, we have recently completed a new Park Design Standards Manual for our City Park System. A key component of our new standards is conversion of mowed lawn to
meadow management or regeneration areas at least 20' wide around all of our City Park System water areas. This action will improve the protection of our land and water resources within the City Park System while establishing and providing management and maintenance practices that are more efficient.
Specific benefits of our new management and maintenance changes include, but are not limited to, the following:
Ensure ecological integrity
Controlling costs necessary to maintain the grounds associated with our parks
Implementing Green Ribbon Committee recommendations
Providing the public and the City staff with a tool to evaluate proposed activities within the buffer area
Educating park users about the importance of buffer management
Protecting sensitive resources such as wildlife and plant species
Reducing current land use practices that could impair water quality within the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area and the Southern Watersheds Management Area
Protection, creation, and maintenance of fish and wildlife habitat and aesthetic quality within the buffer area
Protecting and maintaining banks and shorelines within our parks for future users