VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — School zone photo speed enforcement will soon be a reality in Virginia Beach after a vote at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

Council approved an ordinance that will direct the city manager to proceed with “school zone photo speed enforcement.”

“When we have the cameras set up in the school zones, people will know that the cameras are there and that they need to slow down and not go speeding through a school zone,” Councilmember Stacy Cummings told 10 On Your Side after the meeting.

Several other Hampton Roads cities have already executed similar plans. Speed enforcement cameras in school zones are already in Hampton, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth and York County.

The ordinance also proposed using any excess revenue from the program, including citations, to help with traffic safety improvements.

In other local cities, drivers were granted an adjustment period ranging from 30-60 days that provided warnings prior to the issuance of citations. So far, the fines for each violation have been $100 in each of the cities and cameras only went into effect around schools’ arrival and dismissal times.

Portsmouth implemented the cameras in school zones back in November 2023 with the warning period ending on Jan. 1. In December 2023 alone, city police issued 6,208 warnings.

And with more regulation, comes lawsuits. Suffolk and Chesapeake were sued as the plaintiffs argued that the use of a third party to issue citations was unconstitutional.

In September 2024, a judge ruled in favor of the city of Suffolk, saying it was protected by “sovereign immunity.” The attorney in the case said back in September that he will likely appeal, and that the use of a third party exempts the city from sovereign immunity.

That same attorney, Tim Anderson, also spoke out about the cameras to Virginia Beach City Council at Tuesdays meeting. He argued that the cameras are a revenue generator that won’t actually stop people from speeding.

“What will stop speeding is [to] put some feedback signs in front of the school zones [that say] you’re speeding. Put law enforcement out there. Nothing slows people down like a police officer with red lights on,” Anderson said.

Suffolk received nearly $5.3 million in September 2023 through December 2023 for speed camera violations in safety, work and school zones.