VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The Ashville Park neighborhood in the southeastern area of Virginia Beach will soon have hundreds of new trees planted in an effort to fight stormwater flooding.
The project is in part 1 of a series of improvement plans in the area, and was based on Virginia Tech research that showed the trees might help with flooding. The reforestation was approved by the Virginia Beach City Council in 2018 as part of an agreement with the Ashville Park property owner, HomeFed Corporation, to make stormwater runoff improvements.
The neighborhood has been plagued by flooding issues, particularly in 2016 when Ashville Park was inundated with 13 inches of rain, according to Virginia Beach officials. Other fixes for the area included an expansion of retention ponds and the addition of a pumping station.
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The agreement terms included that the former Village D site be used as an open area or as a stormwater management facility.
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation’s Park and Landscape Services’ staff and volunteers will plant 800 trees on Wednesday, October 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.