A wooden relic juts out from the resort area’s shoreline. The Virginia Beach Fishing Pier, a landmark near 15th Street, has changed little in nearly 70 years. Its rustic tackle shop, souvenir store and venerable Ocean Eddie’s restaurant are still fixtures.
If the city gets its way, it will build and own a more modern pier – a concrete, two-level showpiece with new restaurants and shops. Maybe even a giant Ferris wheel.
But not everyone is on board with the idea. Among the issues raised at Tuesday’s City Council briefing: Why there, and is a new one necessary?
“I don’t want to look at someone in the face and say I couldn’t eliminate that 20-year backlog in drainage ditches because I built a pier,” Councilman John Moss said. “If your roof was leaking, would you go build a pool in your backyard? It’s just a question of priority.”
