The Coastal Resources Commission on Wednesday afternoon unanimously adopted a rule that restricts development within Jockey’s Ridge State Park.
The rule the 13-member commission adopted mandates how and where sand may be moved within the park and establishes the park’s area of environmental concern, or AEC, boundaries.
Supporter Spotlight
AECs are areas of natural importance that the division designates to protect from uncontrolled development.
Under the rule, a Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, permit is required if more than 10 cubic yards of sand is moved in one year within the AEC. Sand that is removed must be placed within an area of the park designated by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management in consultation with the state Department of Natural Cultural Resources’ Division of Parks and Recreation.
And, sand within the AEC cannot be altered or prevented from moving freely by development activities “except when necessary” to maintain or construct a road, residential or commercial structure, accessway, lawn, garden, or parking area unless approved by the park’s management plan.
The rule will now go to the state Rules Review Commission for approval.
In the fall of 2023, that commission removed the rule along with more than a dozen other CRC-adopted longstanding rules from the North Carolina Administrative Code and kicked them back to the coastal commission, a move that triggered a legal fight between the two commissions.
Supporter Spotlight
Earlier this year, a Wake County Superior Court judge ruled all 30 rules be returned to the administrative code.
The coastal commission adopts rules for the state’s Coastal Area Management Act and Dredge and Fill Act, and establishes policies for the North Carolina Coastal Management Program.
