News

Apr 20, 2023

Homeless woman dies at Virginia Beach ‘tent city’

VIRGINIA BEACH A homeless woman died Thursday morning in a small “tent city” in

VIRGINIA BEACH

A homeless woman died Thursday morning in a small "tent city" in the 1100 block of Loretta Lane, even as officials are working on a plan to deal with homeless encampments.

Jimmy Barnes, a police spokesman, said authorities received a call around 5:50 a.m. for a woman who wasn't breathing. Police ruled out foul play.

The body was taken to the medical examiner's office to determine a cause of death. No more information was released.

In March, the city kicked out more than 20 people who called another parcel of land on Loretta Lane home. There are still two smaller encampments, including the one where the woman died, on Loretta Lane and several others nearby.

Bryan Williams’ Loretta Lane home is about 300 feet from the encampment where the woman died. Williams said the street has been noticeably quieter since the city shut down the bigger encampment in March. But he said the tent cities won't go away unless there's a solution.

"It's still an ongoing issue," Williams said. "I’m sympathetic to the plight of the homeless, but people dying in the woods behind my house is not normal."

Community activists have also called on the city to provide more housing opportunities and services to folks living in wooded areas.

E. George Minns, president of the Seatack Community Civic League, said the death shows that the encampments are still an issue that needs to be dealt with. Minns has been investigating the issue since earlier this year and is familiar with several of the sites in Seatack.

"My sympathy goes out to the person's family," Minns said. "But I don't think it says very much for the city, the way that they’re handling people living in the woods."

Andrew Friedman, director of the city's Housing and Neighborhood Preservation Department, said the Oceanfront Homeless Advisory Committee has been meeting monthly to hash out a plan for people living in wooded areas. Friedman said the committee has talked about creating more housing opportunities.

They’ve also discussed legalizing a homeless encampment, but there are lots of issues such as costs, operations, and rules to review first. Friedman said that the committee will try to have a proposal by July or August.

"No one in the country has solved the problem of homelessness," Friedman said. "There are no deaf ears here. We’re doing as much as we can to address housing."

Jennifer Jiggetts, (757) 222-5150, [email protected]

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