VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In a 10-1 vote, the City Council on Thursday approved an all ages 9:30 p.m. curfew at the Oceanfront for most of the last two weekends of April. It will go into effect Friday but will not be in effect on April 25, during a military appreciation festival.

“I look at this as a short-term inconvenience for a long-term gain,” said Mayor Bobby Dyer.

The curfew was initially proposed at 9 p.m. and would have been on both Fridays and Saturdays through April, but Councilman Worth Remick made a motion that amended the time and dates.

Councilwoman Jennifer Rouse voted against it.

“I would have liked to see more discussion of an option that didn’t have as much of an economic impact,” Rouse said. “I would have preferred a different option.”

The curfew was requested by the police chief and backed by the city manager.

The vote came after a nearly 90 minute public hearing. Roughly 30 people spoke mostly against the curfew, but residents and business owners alike pleaded for the city to help them get their beach back. Many of them expressed frustration with city officials for not engaging enough with young people or for not having a better strategy.

The controversial move was city officials’ response to two shootings in the resort area this spring that injured multiple people. After the first shooting, the city approved a 7 p.m. weekend curfew for unaccompanied minors. That curfew was in effect at the time the Saturday shooting and remains in effect through the end of the month.

The mayor has said the City Council wanted to demonstrate to the public that they want people to be safe.

Early spring has historically been a time when violence has erupted among younger people on warm nights at the Oceanfront.

Oceanfront business owners pushed back against the proposed curfew, saying their bottom line and their employees will be affected. More than a dozen spoke at the hearing before the vote.

“Our business ramps up after dark,” said J.D. Johnson, who owns Nightmare Mansion and Lost Planet. “You’re about to decimate my next two weeks.”

January Windrow of Ocean Horizons Properties, which has more than two dozen tenants in the resort area asked the City Council “to stop this knee jerk reaction.” She suggested implementing events for young people in the public parks and on the Boardwalk instead.

“Anything than just letting crowds walking up and down Atlantic Avenue,” she said. “Do not punish us for the criminal actions of the few.”

Ahmed Harmache, who owns a business on Atlantic Avenue, launched an online petition against the curfew. It had more than 550 signatures Thursday afternoon.

“We share the city’s grief and frustration regarding the recent violence, but we believe this specific measure will cause severe economic damage to our community without providing the security the public deserves,” the petition reads. “A 9:00 PM curfew is not just a minor inconvenience; it is a forced shutdown during our most critical hours of operation. Our staff members, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, cannot afford the loss of hours and tips that this ordinance would mandate.”

Eight people were injured in a shooting just before 10 p.m. Saturday near 14th Street and Atlantic Avenue. All of the victims were between the ages of 17 and 24. At the time of the shooting, 90 police officers and sheriff’s deputies were patrolling a 10-block radius.

Police determined, based on surveillance video, that the shooting began after an altercation between two groups escalated, with at least three people exchanging gunfire. A third suspect who was previously at large has been arrested, Chief Paul Neudigate said Thursday.

The earlier shooting happened March 7. Six bystanders ages 18 to 24 were injured in a shooting near 19th Street and Atlantic Avenue. In that incident, an 18-year-old opened fire on a group of individuals who attempted to rob him of his firearm, according to court records.

Videos of both shootings were shown to the public at the hearing.

“We are no longer dealing with a mere nuisance,” said Police Chief Paul Neudigate. “We have experienced a public safety crisis.”

The curfewwill begin at 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, ending at 5 a.m. the following days. It will also be in place on April 24. The curfew boundaries would be from Pacific Avenue to the ocean and from Rudee Loop to 31st Street, according to the approved ordinance. The previously enacted 7 p.m. curfew for unaccompanied minors is still in effect at the Oceanfront.

Exceptions to the new curfew include:

— Any person traveling to or from home, work, a place of worship or a ticketed event.

— Medical personnel.

— Members of the press.

— Federal, state, and local employees and volunteers engaged in official business, including emergency response.

— Military personnel, including but not limited to National Guard troops.

— Travel to or from public meetings of the local governing body.

— Persons seeking emergency services or fleeing any emergency or danger or acting to save other persons from an emergency or danger.

— Persons who are incapacitated or who are seeking medical care for themselves or others.

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