Virginia Beach, Va. – “Should City Council of Virginia Beach spend local funds to extend light rail from Norfolk to Town Center in Virginia Beach?” That’s the question that opponents of light rail want to see on the November ballot.
To try to make that happen, volunteers are out at about half of the polling locations in the city collecting signatures for a petition.
The group, called No Light Rail Virginia Beach, did the same thing during the Nov. 2015 election.
According to Steven Miyares, an attorney who is part of the group, they need about 16,000 signatures. Their goal is 25,000. They have until early July to get the required number.
Miyares set up at College Park Elementary School Tuesday morning to collect signatures as people finished voting. Although he’s opposed to light rail, he says the people signing the petition have been both for and against it.
Representatives from the group say either way, it should be citizens who make the decision about bringing light rail into the resort city.
Not everyone thinks it should be on the ballot, though. A representative from the group Light Rail Now, in favor of light rail, says there's not enough information available to people yet to put the issue on the ballot.
