If that happens, “you have 30 homes sitting truly on an island,” said Gerald Harris, an attorney for Virginia Beach. Their lawyer, Robert McFarland , said the decision had more to do with political pressure from residents wanting their representatives to take flood risk more seriously. Nearby residents objected, saying that turning more wetlands into homes would worsen their flood problem. The developers, while saying that their project wouldn’t increase the flood risk, nonetheless withdrew their application. “With the flooding in the area, the council wasn’t going to approve anything,” Senator DeSteph said in an interview .

Source: New York Times November 19, 2019 09:56 UTC