Poquoson council directs staff to pursue easements for Little Florida Road sidewalk

City Engineer Sean Crawford told the Poquoson City Council that a surveyed stretch of Little Florida Road from the CVS driveway east to Galen Drive is about 850 feet and has variable right-of-way and easement conditions that affect where a sidewalk could be built.

Crawford said the corridor contains a mix of right-of-way, drainage-and-utility easements and occasional road-widening easements, and that some segments have deep open ditches. “This area that’s being surveyed is approximately 850 feet, for a potential sidewalk going from the CVS to Galen Drive,” he said, adding that some properties include a road-widening easement that could be used for a sidewalk but others are limited to drainage and utility easements that, in their current form, do not allow sidewalks.

City Manager Randy explained the difference in easement types and warned that designing a sidewalk constrained to existing right-of-way would be “significantly more difficult and significantly more expensive.” He said staff’s recommended next step is to meet the homeowners at 1 and 2 Oxford Mews to discuss expanding the existing drainage-and-utility easement to include road-widening rights so a sidewalk could be placed further from the roadway.

Council members asked staff to clarify drainage and slope impacts, and Crawford described sections where the ditch depth is about 3½ feet and where substantial fill, regrading or drainage work would likely be required if the design were constrained to the current right-of-way. He also reported that right-of-way widths vary along Little Florida, with some stretches shown on plats as 50 feet and others as 60 feet because the road was built in sections.

Crawford noted design standards: the city’s typical sidewalk width is 5 feet, and minimum ADA clearance is 3 feet, with a requirement for passing sections if a continuous pedestrian path is narrower than 5 feet. He said any sidewalk would be sloped to direct runoff into the existing ditch and that the ditch would remain in its current configuration, though the sidewalk might be built up slightly to handle runoff.

After discussion, the council gave consensus direction for City Engineer Sean Crawford to proceed with the homeowner outreach and follow-up steps he outlined and to return to council with the results. Crawford estimated about a month to meet with the two homeowners and report back. The council did not adopt an ordinance or binding contract at the meeting; staff characterized the action as direction to pursue easement acquisition and further design study.