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Planning commission recommends approval for Westview Plaza redevelopment after developer agrees to added buffers and landscaping
Summary
Westview Plaza Associates won a Planning Commission recommendation to rezone and redevelop a long-vacant strip center site; commissioners and neighbors pressed for additional landscaping, buffer adjustments and traffic mitigation near Military Highway.
The Virginia Beach Planning Commission recommended approval of Westview Plaza Associates LLC's redevelopment plan for the Westview Plaza site, a mixed-use proposal the developer said will replace an aging strip with new buildings, improved landscaping and upgraded access.
Developer representative Alex Olsen told the commission the team worked through a dozen land-plan revisions since pre-application review in February 2024 and that the current plan exceeds many staff recommendations. Olsen said the team held a December neighborhood meeting with roughly 70 to 80 attendees and incorporated feedback on curb appeal, landscaping and access.
Residents and nearby property owners raised concerns about traffic, pedestrian safety and the need for more screening between the project and adjacent properties, including a KFC. Commissioner questions focused on ingress/egress, buffer width along Indian River Road and where additional evergreen plantings or fences could be used.
Olsen and staff said the developer will add a 15-foot evergreen buffer in required locations, meet a 30-foot buffer between the back of the curb and building faces where feasible and coordinate enhanced landscaping and screening with the KFC parcel to improve the shared frontage on Indian River Road. The project team also said it reinstalled required public-notice signage after it was reported missing.
Rick Lohman, the city traffic engineer, said Indian River Road currently carries about 29,000 vehicles per day (2023 data) and that the roadway capacity is far higher than that; as a result the site does not meet the threshold for a full traffic-impact study. Lohman said the existing roadway has sufficient capacity and that a de facto right-turn lane can be used for site access without constructing an additional turn-lane that would affect wetlands.
Commissioners asked for more specific landscape and lighting plans before City Council and requested enhanced frontage landscaping. Planning staff confirmed the applicant will provide final landscape, lighting and stormwater plans during the site-plan review process.
By recorded vote, the commission recommended approval (10-0 recorded vote in transcript) and directed staff and the applicant to work through final design details ahead of council.
