A fisherman tries his luck near Pleasure House Point. Below: A Lynnhaven oyster. Today, thanks to improving water quality, 40 percent of the Lynnhaven is open to oyster harvesting.


Shore Drive Coalition, which became a vocal opponent to development along the river. By 2007 the initial de- velopment proposal had given way to a new one. A major coastal developer had bought the land for close to $30


JAMIE BETTS


million and was moving ahead with a $450 million proj- ect, budgeting millions for marketing and lobbying. The Shore Drive Coalition, joined by environmental groups like Lynnhaven River NOW, fought a delaying action. “We threw up every road block we could,” recalls Solanic, “requested more information, questioned every undot- ted ‘i’ in their permit applications.” The activists were not opposed to development per se,


but Pleasure House Point did seem like the wrong place for it. “I’m a Realtor,” says Cindy Cuskey, who’s paddling with us this morning. “But we had enough condos, and we didn’t have many spaces to be alone and see wildlife.” There were also sound environmental reasons for


protecting land along the river. The Lynnhaven was once famed for the large size and exquisite taste of its oysters. (See “The Fanciest Oyster,” page 31.) But by 2002, 99 percent of the river was so contaminated that


JAMIE BETTS 30 LAND&PEOPLE Fall/Winter 2012


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80