From an Island Free Press report.

Dare County Commissioners voted 4-2 Monday to move forward with a plan to create a service tax district in Buxton to help pay for beach renourishment planned for this summer.

The tax district would include 34 oceanfront properties. The action gives county staff the go-ahead to prepare a report and a map of the district and set a public hearing.

A hearing could come as soon as April 4. Notice of the public hearing must be mailed to all property owners in the district four weeks before the hearing.

After the hearing, the board may adopt a resolution creating the service district and setting the tax rate, which can be made effective in the next fiscal year after the resolution is adopted. Or, after the hearing, the board can make adjustments to the district, which would trigger a second hearing.

No tax rate was included in the motion. The rate for the service district would be decided when the county budget is set.

The project in north Buxton is expected to cost $20 to $27 million. The plan is to renourish 2.9 miles of beach between the Haulover area north of Buxton and the former site of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse with 2.6 million cubic yards of sand that would be pumped from a borrow pit about 1.8 miles offshore from the old lighthouse site.

The project is pending approval of permits by the National Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers.

This story is provided courtesy of the Island Free Press, a digital newspaper covering Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Free Press to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast. You can read other stories about Hatteras and Ocracoke here.

This story was reprinted from the Island Free Press.

Social media, weather websites and television have been jammed the last few days with speculation that a subtropical or tropical storm could form in the area of the Bahamas today or tomorrow and threaten the N.C. coast with nasty weather by week’s end — almost a full month before the official beginning of the hurricane season.

Forecasters are looking at low pressure forming along the remnants of a dying cold front in the western Atlantic between Cuba and the Bahamas over the next few days. Some computer models are suggesting that the low pressure could take on tropical or subtropical characteristics by the end of the week.

If this system does become tropical or subtropical, it will be named Ana.

Jeff Masters, a meteorologist and the co-founder of Weather Underground,  wrote on his blog yesterday that, “The first week of May is usually too early for the Atlantic to see its first named storm.”

Weather Underground’s top forecasting computer models predict the storm will form a well-defined center today, Masters wrote, then drift slowly northwards towards North Carolina during the week, gradually acquiring tropical characteristics.

“Ocean temperatures are near 26°C (79°F), which is about 1.7°C (3°F) above average for this time of year, and just at the limit of where a tropical storm can form,” he wrote. “If the storm manages to find a sweet spot over the core of the warm Gulf Stream current, it has the potential to develop into a subtropical or tropical depression late in the week.”

No matter what the eventual path and strength of the low pressure, forecasters say that the Outer Banks could see indirect effects late in the week, including gusty winds, heavy seas, rip currents and perhaps rain.

The Outer Banks’ east-facing beaches were beat up again over the weekend by gusty northerly winds and heavy seas in the wake of a cold front that passed through the area on Friday.

Large waves at high tide during a full moon took a toll on the north Buxton oceanfront, where six houses have already been declared “unsafe” for habitation. Waves beat on the oceanfront structures again and water rushed through the streets behind the breached dunes.

On the northern Outer Banks, the N.C. Department of Transportation, or DOT, closed a section of N.C. 12 at the end of Kitty Hawk Road early Saturday after waves from the storm washed away 500 feet of dune in this area, as well as sand from under the road. DOT recognized the safety hazard and closed the road in advance of any possible collapse. A portion of the northbound lane did collapse Saturday evening, resulting in 200 feet of pavement damage.

DOT began temporary repairs on Monday after the waves had calmed. In order to open the road to traffic, crews will remove all damaged pavement and refill the area back up with sand. Once the sand is in place, they will then pave the area so traffic can be restored as soon as possible. The department currently expects the road to reopen to traffic by the end of the week.

While this is going on, DOT staff will work on preparing plans and acquiring necessary permits for the reconstruction of the dune. A timeframe for reconstruction is not available at this time.

N.C.  12 is currently closed to through traffic between White Avenue and East Balchen Street in Kitty Hawk. Local traffic can access houses and businesses along the road within the closure limits, but cannot cross the area where the damage took place. Through traffic will continue to use a signed detour.

Carin Goodall, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Newport, said, it’s not unusual to see low pressures like this one forming off the coast before hurricane season.

According to weather records dating back to 1851, 25 hurricanes, including tropical storms and depressions, have formed in the Atlantic basin before June 1. The last time this happened was in 2012 when two tropical systems formed in May — Alberto and Beryl. Beryl came ashore in north Florida as a tropical storm after meandering around in the ocean.

Tess Malijenovsky, staff writer for Coastal Review Online, contributed to this story.

Reprinted from the Island Free Press

HATTERAS — The annual Day at the Docks, a celebration of Hatteras Island watermen, will start with a roundtable discussion on Thursday evening, Sept. 18, and conclude with events from early morning into the evening on Saturday, Sept. 20, in Hatteras village.

Day at the Docks was started to celebrate the “Spirit of Hatteras” when the village recovered from Hurricane Isabel in 2003 as an intact community, anchored by the commercial and charter fishermen.  The celebration, which now features events over three days, is a confirmation of the strength of community, heritage and the living traditions of the island’s watermen.

Now in its ninth year, it has become a true celebration of the Hatteras Island way of life.

The event is supported by a grant from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

You can learn how to prepare fresh N.C. seafood at the Day at the Docks in Hatteras. Photo: Island Free Press

Thursday evening with “Talk of the Villages: Local and Underloved” at the Hatteras Civic Center. The roundtable discussion, featuring four speakers from around the country, will center on what it means to eat local sustainable seafood, as well as how consumers and the seafood industry can help protect healthy oceans and support local fishing communities.

On Friday, the Hatteras Island Ocean Center on N.C.  12 in the village will be hosting an open house from 11:30 to 1:30 with refreshments.

On Friday afternoon, from 2 until 4 o’clock, meteorologists from The National Weather Service in Newport will host a “Hurricane Awareness Town Hall.”  It will be at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum near the ferry docks and is sponsored by NOAA, N.C. Sea Grant, WRN (Weather Ready Nations) and the National Weather Service.

The Lee Robinson General Store will host the third annual Taste of North Carolina, Hatteras Style at 4 p.m. on Friday. Donations will be accepted to support N.C. Watermen United.

The full day on Saturday, Sept. 20, will begin with a new event, the Day at the Docks 5k race or fun dash, sponsored by the Hatteras United Methodist Church, where both will start and end

The Fishy 5K race will begin at 8 a.m. and the Dock Dash fun run and walk will begin at 9. Pushing strollers is allowed, but not pets. The entry fee is $30 for Fishy 5K and $15 for the Dock Dash. All finishers of the Fishy 5K will receive a unique finisher medal.  You can register online. Registration can also be done weekdays at Hatteras United Methodist Church.  Call Linda O’Neal at 252-986-2149 for more information.

After the race and fun run, the celebration moves to the village’s working waterfront, where there will be non-stop activities from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Music on the main stage behind Village Marina off and on all day, featuring Dave Densmore, Bob Zentz, Clifford Swain, Dixie Browning, Elvin Hooper, James and Linda Charlet, and others.
• Seafood preparation demonstrations at the food tent in Oden’s Dock parking lot by Amy Huggins Gaw, Sharon Peele Kennedy, Steve Bailey, Smith Island Crab Pickers and Michael Jenkins from the Mad Crabber restaurant.
• Seafood Throwdown at 1 p.m. at the food tent in Oden’s Dock parking lot. Chefs Seth Foutz from Ketch 55 Seafood Grill in Avon and Eric Gill from Breakwater Restaurant in Hatteras will prepare dishes using a local seafood ingredient that will be revealed only when the event gets underway. The chefs will have one hour to prepare dishes that will be scored on taste, originality, presentation and use of the entire fish.
• The skipjack Ada Mae all day at Oden’s Dock. The skipjack was built in 1915 at Rose Bay by Capt. Ralph Hodges and named for his youngest sister who loved to keep him company while he worked, chatting and singing along with his sea chanteys.  Ada Mae was used as an oyster dredger and brought oysters to coastal waterfront communities during the early 20th century. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were close to a 1,000 of these distinctive vessels sailing the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and the rivers of coastal North Carolina.  Today there are only a few of these vessels left in left.  Ada Mae is the only remaining skipjack that was built in North Carolina.
• The N.C. Coastal Federation will be giving Marsh Exploration Tours four times between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Crab races, a concrete marlin contest, and kids’ fishing tournament with times to be announced.
• The Coast Guard Auxiliary will be giving harbor tours throughout the day from Village Marina’s boat ramp.  The Coast Guard will be at Hatteras Harbor Marina with its 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and some kids’ activities.
• The Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation will have its annual Chowder Cookoff.  Everyday cooks and restaurant chefs compete for the title of the island’s best chowder. For a donation,  you can sample the entries.

The day will end with a parade of workboats into the harbor and blessing of the fleet at 6 p.m. in the harbor at Village Marina.

The celebration will continue into the evening from 8 until 11 with a lawn party at the Community Center with live music by the Cashmere Jungle Lords of Richmond, Va. The event is free.

Reprinted from the Island Free Press

BUXTON — The massive foundation stones that were left behind when the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved 15 years ago are now ravaged by storms and frequently covered with sand. Outer Banks residents, officials with the National Park Service and even a U.S. congressman are trying to figure out what to do about them.

For, the granite stones – some weighing at least 3,000 pounds – are more than just a pile of rocks. They have become a Circle of Stones, an almost sacred place where people come to marry, to christen their newborns and to honor their dead.

After the lighthouse was moved to its new location, 2,900 feet to the southwest, the nonprofit Outer Banks Lighthouse Society paid almost $12,000 to have the stones engraved with the names of the 83 keepers of the light.

Bett Padgett

Barclay Trimble

The stones were arranged in a circle that marked the original location of the 1870 lighthouse. The circle of stones was unveiled on May 1, 2001, during a reunion of the descendants of the lightkeepers, and the Park Service’s re-dedication of the Light Station.

Since then, it has become a place of great historic and sentimental significance for both islanders and visitors.

However, the site has been periodically battered by hurricanes and northeasters over the years. The stones have been tossed around and covered by sand.  

They have been almost entirely covered by sand since Hurricane Sandy and several northeasters in the fall of 2012. Occasionally a visitor brushes off some sand, so part of a stone is visible.

In the past, the Park Service has uncovered the stones and rearranged them if necessary. But earlier this year, the Park Service said it is no longer practical to keep uncovering and rearranging the stones after each storm.

In a letter to the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society in June, seashore superintendent Barclay Trimble said, “Because of coastal processes, namely shoreline erosion and dune migration, the stones have routinely become covered with sand requiring substantial effort to keep them uncovered.”

Trimble sought the Lighthouse Society’s blessing on one of its two alternatives. They were letting nature take its course at the site and the park would then use it to “interpret coastal processes” or to move the stones down the road to the grounds of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village.

Bett Padgett, president of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society, told me last June that the society’s entire board of directors was unanimous in its view that neither alternative is acceptable.

“The Outer Banks Lighthouse Society is not going to stand by and let this happen,” Padgett said then and she told Trimble that in a June letter.

The old foundation stones of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse are now often covered in sand. Photo: Outer Banks Lighthouse Society

She said the society does want to work with the Park Service on a solution that will work for all.

Padgett and the lighthouse society board want to see the circle of stones kept together and in the vicinity of the Cape Hatteras Light Station, perhaps on the grounds between the current lighthouse location and the double-keepers’ quarters.

Since last summer, the society and park officials have continued to talk, but they apparently are still not on the same page.

Siding with the society is the Hatteras Island Genealogical and Preservation Society, many of whose members are descendants of lightkeepers, including its president Dawn Taylor.

Taylor posted a change.org petition on her group’s site late last year, opposing the Park Service’s plan for the stones. She also sent the petition to U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., in December.  

On Dec. 20, Jones sent Trimble a letter asking for an update on the Park Service’s policy regarding maintenance of the stones.

“As I know you understand,” Jones wrote, “Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is an enormously important piece of Eastern North Carolina’s heritage. Preserving the foundation stone, which bear the names of the lighthouse keepers, is essential.”
Trimble responded last month. In his reply, he basically said the seashore does not have the money to move the stones.

“At a time when the country, the NPS, and the seashore are experiencing significant budgetary constraints, the NPS must evaluate the best use of its limited funds,” Trimble wrote. Continuing to maintain the stones, as well as other facilities and providing necessary services have become problematic due to budgetary reductions.”

Rep. Walter Jones

Trimble noted that the Outer Banks Group budget has been reduced by $2 million since 2010.

He goes on to say that the park has explored numerous alternatives for the circle of stones and has solicited input from the local communities and the public. He concludes by saying the park will uncover the stones one last time this spring before the visitor season starts.

“In the event that a volunteer organization expresses an interest in assisting with the maintenance of the circle of stones, the NPS is willing and open to discussing what opportunities exist,” he said.

Padgett said the lighthouse society has floated the idea that islanders and other volunteers could get together periodically to clear sand off the stones.

It’s certainly possible and might help.

However, after another major storm, shovels and brooms probably just won’t do the job.

In his response to Trimble, Jones said he understood the financial constraints, but he “respectfully” requested that the superintendent convene a meeting of the groups who oppose the park plan for the stones to discuss the matter.

Padgett said the lighthouse society welcomes a meeting, but that the Park Service is going to have to take the first step of uncovering the sanded-over site.

“We aren’t going to let this die,” she said.

Reprinted from the Island Free Press

Capt. Ernal Foster aboard the Albatross. Photo: Island Free Press.

HATTERAS — As folks were beginning to gather at the docks in Hatteras village Saturday afternoon for the Albatross Fleet’s 75th anniversary party, an uninvited guest blew in from across the Pamlico Sound.

It was a really impressive Hatteras squall with buckets of great big rain drops that brought visibility down to about nothing, strong winds, thunder and lightning.

However, the islanders and guests at the party were not deterred but carried on as they always do in foul weather. They waited out the squall in their vehicles or delayed their arrival, but they came anyway.

The festivities got under way after about an hour’s delay under a big tent in the parking lot next to the Albatross docks.

The thunder and lightning had moved out to sea, but the sky was still steely gray and a drizzle continued to fall as guests in boots, rain slickers and other foul-weather gear gathered to hear Ernie Foster open the ceremonies honoring 75 years of the charter fishing fleet launched by his father, the late Capt. Ernal Foster, in 1937.

“Like much of life in Hatteras, you need to be able to improvise,” Foster said.  “It is part of what has made the Albatross Fleet successful, so why should our 75th be any different?”

When he came back home to Hatteras Island during the Great Depression, young Ernal Foster needed to make a living, and the primary way folks did that in Hatteras village at that time was commercial fishing.

There were plenty of fish in the water around Hatteras, but catching them for any purpose other than sending them to market or for the family dinner was unheard of.

Ernal Foster had a better idea – catching fish for fun and sport.  Tourists, especially sportsmen, were starting to come to Hatteras Island, and Foster figured that these mostly well-heeled visitors would pay to go fishing.

He purchased some wood, cured the juniper planks for a year, and then took the wood to Marshallberg, in “Down East” Carteret County, where the Albatross was built by Milton Willis in the Willis Boat Yard. The total cost to build the boat was $550.

Photo: N.C. Watermen United.

Albatross was launched in the spring of 1937 and over the summer, Capt. Ernal and his younger brother, Bill, ran four charters at $25 per trip.

It was the beginning of charter fishing in Hatteras, and over the next few decades, Hatteras earned its reputation as the “blue marlin capital of the world.”

In 1948, Capt. Ernal added the Albatross II to the fleet, and the Albatross III was launched in 1953.

At Saturday night’s celebration, Ernie Foster paid tribute to his father, his Uncle Bill and Capt. Oliver O’Neal, the early pioneers of charter fishing.

Foster went to work as a mate for his father when he was 13, but his uncle quickly saw that wasn’t going to work and he took the boy under his wing.

Foster said he learned to fish from Capt. Bill, who, he said, was “the best intuitive fisherman I was ever around.”

Capt. Oliver, Foster said, was “the most dependable, hardworking and determined man imaginable.”  He fished nets into his 90s.

About his father, Foster said: “For years, I wondered about his visionary idea of charter fishing in Hatteras. What time impressed on me, is that under his quiet exterior was an iron will that would not break.”

Foster mentioned three other captains who had been important to the Albatross Fleet over the years – Willy Foster, Capt. Bill’s son; Tall Bill Van Druten; and Bill Coyle, who was never a full-time captain but was always ready to fill in.

And he recognized the present crew members.

Capt. Bryan Mattingly worked for Foster as a mate when he was in high school and is now captain of the Albatross II.  For the past two summers, his son, Sumner, now in high school, has been his mate.

Capt. Mike Scott was described as the “nearshore specialist.” A boat builder himself and former owner of Scott Boatyard in Buxton, Foster says Scott keeps the old Albatross in top shape.

Capt. Andy Trant of the Albatross III began as a mate.  His father, Reuben, was a mate on the Albatross boats years ago.

Also at the party were Sam Robinson and Bill Austin, who worked as mates on the boats when they were in high school.

Indeed, when Foster  asked those who had worked even one day on the Albatross boats to raise their hands, arms were raised all over under the tent.

Jimmy Amspacher, left, of Marshallberg built these models of the Albatross boats for Ernie Foster. Photo: Don Bowers, Island Free Press.

And four former mates traveled to Hatteras for the celebration. They are Rich and Starkey DeSoto, who now live in Charlotte and Palm Beach respectively, and Justin and Karen Buxton. Justin became a mate when his service in the Coast Guard ended and he wasn’t ready to leave Hatteras. Karen met him when her family chartered the Albatross III. She returned the next summer to mate on Albatross II.  They were married and now live in Panama City, Fla.

Other honored guests at the party were some long-time customers – Milton Hudgins, who began fishing with the fleet in 1968; Rodger Moore, who has fished several times a year since the ‘80s; and Tom Wilkins, who fished with Capt. Ernal before Ernie did and who brought his son, John.

After Ernie Foster opened the celebration, his wife, Lynne, spoke and showed off a “birthday card,” a drawing of the boat by Clara Oden.

Karen Willis Amspacher of Marshallberg talked about her first meeting with Ernie and Lynne Foster and the Albatross.

“You could just tell that somebody who knew the water, built it,” she said.

And, finally, Dwight Burrus spoke about his memories of Capt. Ernal and other pioneering captains. He said the headgear he was wearing was in honor of Capt. Ernal, whose trademark was a long-billed hat with a green visor.

Burrus gave a prayer and a blessing, thanking the Lord for “Mr. Ernal who lives on in Ernie” and for “all of the young men who have taken the helm and gone to sea.”

Then the guests lined up for a dinner of North Carolina barbecue, slaw and all the fixings, prepared and served by Crazy Johnny Conner and the Conner family.

Guests stepped around puddles to make their way around the tent to visit with friends, and once the rain stopped, some folks milled around the three Albatross boats, decked out for the occasion with wreaths of red and white carnations, teal flags flying from the outriggers, strings of red and white pennants and tiny white lights.

The children were as careful as the adults, and several of them were having a terrific time walking back and forth in the larger puddles.

When the rain stopped, the highlight of the evening arrived in the back of a vehicle – three beautiful models of the Albatross Fleet.  The three large models took their place on a table in the middle of the tent that was cordoned off with fishing net.

These models are not toys.  They are works of art by Jimmy Amspacher of Marshallberg, Karen’s husband, who is a builder of boats and models and a commercial fisherman.

The Albatross Fleet in port. Photo: Ernie Foster.

He built a model of the Albatross I for Lynne and Ernie Foster several years ago and made models of the Albatross II and Albatross III for the 75th anniversary.

They are amazingly accurate replicas of the three distinctive round-stern boats right down to the tiny outriggers, the captain’s chair, the helm, and other minute details.

And Karen announced a surprise for the Fosters when she spoke – each model also includes a tiny wooden sliver of the stern of the Albatross I.

Lynne and Ernie Foster hope to eventually arrange for the models to be on display somewhere in Hatteras village.

As the evening wound down, Banjo Island – Wes Lassiter, Rhonda Bates and Stash Lawrence – played their trademark bluegrass music.

One casualty of the stormy weather was the special 75th anniversary Albatross T-shirts. Not too many of them were sold, but they are still available at the Albatross Docks.  Sales of the shirts will benefit the “get pinked” campaign that raises money to treat breast cancer patients and honors breast cancer survivors.

At the end of his speechmaking at the celebration, Ernie Foster said that people often ask him why he fishes.

“When I think of fishing,” he said, “it is not about scattered grass, not rough days or slow fishing.  It is the sights I have seen and the people I have met.  The sunrise as we head out, the sweep of the gulls, the leaps of the porpoises, the perfect line, the marlin and the tuna and the kings in magnificent fighting form.  And … what I will catch tomorrow.”

• Photo slideshow of anniversary celebration

Reprinted from The Island Free Press

Construction to replace the 50-year-old Herbert C. Bonner Bridge is scheduled to begin early next year, pending several federal permits or easements and the outcome of a lawsuit.

MOREHEAD CITY — The N.C. Division of Coastal Management yesterday issued a Coastal Area Management Act major permit to the state Department of Transportation to build a replacement for the 50-year-old Herbert C. Bonner Bridge in Dare County and to demolish the existing bridge after the new structure is completed.

The permit was issued following a 30-day public comment period, and reviews by four federal and 10 state agencies.

The division has worked closely with DOT and other state agencies throughout the planning and development process for this project.

DOT plans to replace the existing 2.4-mile, two-lane bridge over the Oregon Inlet and related approaches with a new 2.8-mile two-lane bridge that will be built parallel and just to the west of the existing bridge.  DOT awarded a $215 million contract for the new bridge in July 2011.

Over the next four months, DOT anticipates receiving federal permits and easements from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Coast Guard, the National Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Upon receiving these permits and easements, DOT hopes to start construction in early 2013, pending the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit. Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Refuge Association, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, filed a lawsuit in July 2011 to stop the construction of a parallel bridge.

They claim in the lawsuit that DOT’s bridge plans fail to include how the state will maintain a safe access route to the bridge through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. N.C. 12, the only road to the bridge, is exposed through the refuge and frequently washes out. The groups say the road is expected to become increasingly eroded over coming years. By ignoring the problem inherent in the plan, DOT traps the state and its residents into hidden costs and environmentally damaging methods, including nourishing the beach, building dunes and phasing in and continually repairing a series of additional bridges and road segments through the refuge, the groups note.

Hurricane Isabel highlighted the vulnerability of N.C. 12 through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge by blowing the road out in two places.

They prefer a 17-mile bridge out into the Pamlico Sound, which would come ashore in northern Rodanthe.

In their complaint, the groups charge that the Federal Highway Administration and DOT violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it decided to build the parallel bridge. The lawsuit is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina and has been assigned to Judge Louise Flanagan in New Bern.

This is a multi-phase project that includes replacing the existing bridge over Oregon Inlet and providing for the long-term retention of N.C. 12 between Oregon Inlet and Rodanthe.

The first phase of the project will build the new bridge just west of where the Bonner Bridge currently stands. The second phase includes implementing long-term solutions for the major breaches on Pea Island and Rodanthe caused by Hurricane Irene in August 2011.

The exact plan for implementing future phases will be determined, based on the department’s active coastal monitoring program. This helps NCDOT decide where and when to make improvements to N.C. 12 from the south end of the Bonner Bridge to Rodanthe. Any of the alternatives (beach nourishment, road relocation and bridging) previously studied as part of the project’s original environmental analysis could be considered for future phases.

The earliest the bridge would be completed is 2015. Much of the existing bridge is scheduled to be demolished, but a portion will remain as a fishing pier.

Reprinted from The Island Free Press

HATTERAS — While another busy tourist season has been underway on Hatteras Island, a project that has the potential to be one of the largest visitor attractions on the island has been moving forward.

The project is the Hatteras Island Ocean Center, which would be in Hatteras village and would include two components.

The site for first phase of the center is 1.5 acres of oceanfront property in Hatteras village where the Gen. Mitchell Motel was before it was destroyed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. The center would include a pier house with shops, a restaurant, facilities for events, outside decks, a fishing pier and public beach access and a bathhouse. Parking would be on the west side of N.C. 12.

The second phase of the center will be the Coastal Ecology Education Center, also on the soundside of the highway, on property that includes many acres of wetlands, including creeks and marshes. Located here will be trails walking, facilities for launching kayaks and canoes and the educational component of the center, including a nature education and research center, classrooms and environmental education exhibits.

These are the creeks and marshes on the soundside of Hatteras. The circle marks the property where the ecology center could be built. Photo: Larry McCarter, the Island Free Press.

The idea was conceived a year ago by Eric Kaplan, who lives in Charlottesville, Va., and owns a home in Frisco. It is not a moneymaking venture for Kaplan, who says his work to make the center a reality is grounded in his belief in giving back to the community. The ocean center has been incorporated as a non-profit and is run by a board of directors.

Kaplan’s vision is that the shops and restaurants will be opened by local business people, perhaps as a second location. It would, he thinks, not compete with existing local businesses, but would complement and enhance the village’s economic activity, which has been lackluster since Hurricane Isabel. It would draw more people who are staying on the northern beaches or other Hatteras Island locations to the village and be a destination for day-trippers and a reason for travelers passing through the area to stay for a while.

Kaplan knows there is a long road ahead to make the project a reality, but he recently said that he is really encouraged by what has been accomplished during the spring and summer months.

“We haven’t run into any obstacles so far,” Kaplan said, adding that, “It’s all about momentum.”

In the past six months, the ocean center has:

• Closed on the oceanfront property.
• Received a $200,000 grant over five years from the Nora Roberts Foundation.  The popular novelist owns three houses in Frisco. The grant is for economic growth and development.
• Hired Liz Browning Fox of Buxton as a part-time development director – with funds from the foundation grant.
• Secured a change to the Dare County Zoning Ordinance that would allow piers as a conditional use in areas zoned C-2 H. The ocean center will be required to submit a site plan for the project before it is approved by the county.
• Received a donation of property for the Coast Ecology Education Center from Lou and Linda Browning of Frisco that includes 4.6 acres of wetlands.
• Started a competition to design a new logo for the project.
• Continued working with the National Park Service on commitments that would be needed to locate part of the pier on seashore property. The Park Service has said that it is committed to the project and is working its way through the bureaucratic hoops necessary.

These wetlands along the west side of N.C. 12 in Hatteras could serve as a classroom for the proposed Hatteras Island Ocean Center’s Coastal Ecology Education Center. Photo: Liz Browning Fox, the Island Free Press. 

Meanwhile, Kaplan and Fox are working on identifying and applying for other grants to finance the project. Several have been submitted already.

And they are continuing to work with the community on enlisting support for the center. Kaplan said they are getting good reaction to an outreach program to get the support of local businesses.

There have been some individual and business donations, and locals and visitors can find out about supporting the center financially through such things as buying a lifetime pass to fish on the pier and volunteer opportunities. Volunteers are needed and welcomed.

Earlier this year, Kaplan said that the project would be built in phases.  At that time, he envisioned that the pier house might be built first to ensure a steady stream of income to finance the pier.

Now, he thinks the parking area and bathhouse could come first.

It will depend, he said, on financing and the type of grants the center can obtain.

In some ways, he says, the second phase is moving faster than first.  “There is a lot of interest in the educational component,” he says.

Phase 2 leaped ahead with the Brownings’ property donation, and Kaplan said the center is looking at buying other properties and buildings on the soundside.

Although if you drive into Hatteras village on N.C. 12, about all you can see are shops and homes on the west side. Behind those shops and homes are a rich network of interconnecting creeks and spectacular marshes, perfect for exploring and teaching about coastal ecology.

Kaplan still seems confident.

“This is a big project,” he says. “You can’t just go out on Day 1 and expect money.”

The good news, he says, is the ocean center is “way ahead” of where he thought it would be a year ago.

Reprinted from the Island Free Press

HATTERAS — Eric Kaplan has been a busy man since last fall when he announced his ambitious plan to build a new fishing pier in Hatteras village – one that would be much more than a fishing pier.

Kaplan, who lives in Charlottesville, Va., and is a part-time resident in Frisco, has a name for his project, The Hatteras Island Ocean Center, and by the end of last year, he had a board of directors, two pieces of property under contract and a site plan underway.

Kaplan’s idea is that the ocean center will be an island-wide attraction, a place where locals and visitors can go not only for the fishing but also for other forms of recreation, education, dining and shopping.

In his description of the project, Kaplan says the Hatteras Island Ocean Center would be “much more than a replacement for the Frisco Pier,” which is in poor condition and has not been open for several years.

The master plan shows the location of the proposed Hatteras Island Fishing Center. Photo: Island Free Press.

It will be, he says, “a place for everybody to enjoy the ocean, play, learn and have fun.”

The facilities would include a world-class fishing pier, a pier house with an event venue, a restaurant for oceanview dining, other food vendors, covered playground, an arcade, plentiful parking, a public bathhouse, tackle shop, equipment rental, indoor and outdoor exhibits, classrooms, research areas and a wildlife rehabilitation area.

Kaplan sees locals and visitors using the area for fishing, swimming, surfing, kiteboarding, windsurfing, standup paddleboarding, scuba diving, bird watching, stargazing, wintertime seal and whale watching, dining, enjoying live music and just sitting and watching the sunrises and sunsets.

The educational components, he says, will include coastal studies to complement and enhance the program at Cape Hatteras Secondary School of Coastal Studies, bird and marine biology, wildlife rehabilitation and exhibits that would highlight the island’s commercial fishing industry and the current commercial fishing issues. And he says that there might be satellite exhibits from the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

The ocean center, now a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, in late April closed on property on northern edge of Hatteras Village, between the Sea Gull Motel and the Hatteras Cabanas, that will be the site of the pier. The Coastal Ecology Education Center will be very close, south of the Stowe on Twelve shops.

The ocean center also has an eye on three pieces of property to the west of the pier site and on the soundside of the highway. If the board is able to purchase that property, it will be used for walking, launching kayaks and canoes, a skate park and the educational component of the center, including a nature education and research center, classrooms and environmental education exhibits.

Since the first of the year, Kaplan has been talking with islanders, community leaders, politicians and business owners to tell them about the ocean center and secure their support and input.

He’s built a web site for the ocean center and you can follow its progress on Facebook and Twitter.

He’s also been lining up possible grants and loans and meeting with local, state, and federal agencies to get the zoning and permits that will be needed to the ocean center built.

Ocean center representatives in February met with state agencies at the Washington, office of the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources to talk about the permitting that will be necessary for the pier and pier house.

“The meeting was well attended,” Kaplan said, “and the overall consensus was that it is a worthy project. They raised no red flags and said to keep on moving forward.”

Plans are already underway for an Environmental Assessment and wetland delineation for the properties involved.

Kaplan has been working with the National Park Service since last year, and Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent Mike Murray has said that he is supportive of the project.

Dare County commissioners have also been supportive of the center. Though they have not promised financial support, they promised support in other ways, such as getting the permits and zoning changes that will be needed.

In addition, he met with the Dare County Tourism Board to talk about possible grants. Kaplan is seeking $655,000 from the restricted fund and $277,500 from green spaces fund to help pay for the anchor properties.

He said he got no promises but that “nobody laughed, no one threw me out of the room.”

And, in March, Kaplan got the support of the board of directors of the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative to seek a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant.

He has also been researching foundations, and, so far, he says he has been told that the Nora Roberts Foundation will be supporting the center, though he doesn’t know at what level.  The popular novelist owns three houses in Frisco.

“We have momentum and credibility,” Kaplan said, and next up on his list is designing the pier house. He’s working with an architect and he wants a building that will blend in with the character and atmosphere of Hatteras village.

The pier house, he says, has been limited by CAMA to 10,000 square feet – a 5,000 square foot footprint and no more than two stories.

Kaplan sees the pier house providing a large event space for such things as wedding receptions and parties, a casual sit-down restaurant, some walk-up food concessions and a tackle shop.

And his current plan is to build the pier house first and use revenues from rentals to fund the fishing pier.

He’s estimated the building will cost about $2 million, and the pier $2 million to $5 million, depending on whether it is wood or concrete.

“At this point, to be financially viable, without a very major donor, the pier is most likely going to be wood,” he says.

He knows some people would much rather see the pier built first, but he says he doesn’t see how to do that and get a loan from a bank to build the pier without showing that the cash flow is there to make payments.

His plan now is to use the cash flow from the event venue and other shops to build the pier.

However, he says, if the right economic conditions or donors came forward, he could see doing the pier first.

“By design,” Kaplan says, “the pier house will not be competing with other village businesses….It will be an extension of the existing businesses…It will be complementary and not competitive.”

He says a Hatteras village restaurant owner has expressed interest in opening a second restaurant at the pier house and that the owner of a seafood market would be interesting in selling steamed shrimp and other steamed seafood.

“I don’t see how it could be going any better than it is,” Kaplan says.  “I think of all the things that could have been obstacles, and they haven’t been.”

He’s keenly aware that there is some resistance, which he says has been inevitable but “minimal.”

And he wants to hear from folks who think that the project is too big for Hatteras village and will ruin the coastal fishing village atmosphere or those who worry that the pier house might be built and nothing else.

Everyone wants to see the pier and all of the recreational and educational aspects of the ocean center, including Eric Kaplan.

This story is provided courtesy of The Island Free Press, an online newspaper serving Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Free Press to provide readers with more stories of coastal interest.