Reprinted from the Tideland News.

The 2022 interns at Hammocks Beach State Park have expressed a variety of goals in mind that led them to spend a summer in what some would consider primitive circumstances on a barrier island. They range in age from 17 to 23 and attend, have attended or will attend, colleges from across the country. But what they all have in common is a love of nature.

This year’s interns are Rachel Hoag, Destini Hudson, Kylee Johnson, Sarah Kinicki, Sydney Machion and Megan Rozier.

Megan Rozier, 19, is a rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. She is studying environmental biology and ecology.

A resident of Swansboro, she did not have to travel far to become familiar with Hammocks Beach State Park.

“I found out about Hammocks Beach State Park pretty soon after we first moved here about 10 years ago,” she said. “My first visit to Hammocks Beach was quite a long time ago. I was about 10 years old and my family and I came to check the place out. It didn’t take long for us to come back and start exploring the beautiful nature trails. Ever since we have been to the park many times for various events such as the Pirate Fest, Military Appreciation Day, educational programs, etc. It wasn’t until a few years later though that we would start to visit Bear Island.”

In high school and in her first year at UNCC, Rozier has been involved in music.
She was in the band program at Swansboro High School and was drum major in the marching band. Rozier continued playing her primary instrument, the flute, in UNCC’s Wind Ensemble.

“I was also active in various clubs at Swansboro such as Student to Student and National Honor Society and I was a member of the swim team my senior year,” she said.

Rozier is one of four sea turtle interns at the park this year.

“Our responsibilities include tagging the turtles, measuring them and taking an egg DNA sample for research,” she explained. “We also aid in the nesting process by relocating the nest if it is not situated far enough back onto the dune. This all happens at night while we patrol from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.”

Rozier said she has enjoyed the hands-on experience provided by the internship.

“I personally feel like I am able to learn so much more this way and I am excited to use this knowledge to further me in my field. This opportunity is helping to prepare me for when related topics may come up in my college courses, but more importantly in real life. I love being able to share everything I know with others in hopes of bringing more awareness to the turtles and to ocean health in general.”

The experience could translate into a career.

“I would really love to work with marine animal rehabilitation programs and to be in the field as much as possible … whether it be collecting data, picking up trash, or removing nets and other things from the ocean,” Rozier said. “I am hoping to get SCUBA certified soon and possibly even work part time at a dive shop if time allows.”

When she is not up all night walking the Bear Island shoreline, Rozier still likes to be on Bear Island.

“I am fortunate to have such easy access to a beautiful beach while living on Bear Island,” she said. “This is where I like to spend a lot of my spare time. Us girls also like to watch movies together or take the ferry back to the mainland and go to local events. Some of the places we have been to are the Salty Air Market, Humphrey Farm and the Foundry in Jacksonville.”

Otherwise she said she enjoys catching up on her sleep!

Sydney Machion. 20, is from Mohnton, Pennsylvania.

A rising junior at West Virginia University, she is pursuing a double major in wildlife and fisheries resources and recreation, parks and tourism with a minor in conservation ecology.

She came to be familiar with Hammocks Beach State Park during her internship search.

“I came across this application and that was the first I had heard of the park,” said Machion.

Her first visit to the park came recently. “The day I moved into the barracks this summer to start the internship was the first I had ever visited the park.”

Machion iss president of WVU Beekeeping Club, she is a member of the women’s rugby team and is an employee of Adventure WV.

She is a sea turtle intern.

“As a sea turtle intern I work directly with nesting sea turtles, taking measurements and collecting data that is used for conservation efforts around the country,” Machion said.

After college graduation she plans to pursue a career in the U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal program and/or environmental policy. This internship could help with that goal.

“The hands-on experience, fieldwork and connections have all set me up for a future in marine conservation,” Machion said. “Working directly with a state park has taught me communication skills while participating in field work for my desired career.”

Her spare time is filled with activity.

“I spend most of my time recreating outdoors, so stand up paddleboarding, kayaking, fishing and swimming are my go-to activities,” she said.

Destini Hudson, 21, is originally from Mount Airy but she moved to Shallotte two years ago.

She is a senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington pursuing a bachelor’s in marine biology with a minor in digital arts.

“I learned of Hammocks Beach State Park when I learned of this internship opportunity, which I had heard about through a flyer that the biology department at UNCW shared with its students,” Hudson said.

She said her first visit to the park came just a day before the start of her internship.

“It’s a beautiful park with one of the best beaches I have been on, definitely worth a visit,” Hudson said.

As befits a student spending her summer on a barrier island, Hudson is formerly a member of a year-round swim team.

“Now I enjoy the sport by swimming at my leisure,” she said.

A turtle intern, Hudson will be keeping up with the loggerheads, and perhaps leatherbacks, that nest on the park’s Bear Island, a 4-mile-long, undeveloped barrier island.

“My role this summer is to study turtles and contribute to their conservation by collecting data on the turtle, such as carapace length, and relocate a nest if necessary,” she said.

“This internship furthers my educational goals by providing me with field experience, of which I was lacking in school due to COVID these past two years,” Hudson explained.

This experience will provide a taste of what lies ahead.

“When I graduate I plan on searching for a job in rehabilitation or husbandry and move wherever the job takes me, but I would like to stick to the East Coast,” she said.

Being on one the nation’s most beautiful undeveloped barrier islands makes leisure time special for Hudson.

“In my spare time I like to go hang out at the beach,” she said. Otherwise, she said she enjoys watching movies and Netflix, reading and playing video games.

Rachel Hoag, 23, is from Erie, Pennsylvania, and is a May 2021 graduate of St. Bonaventure University.

She earned a degree in environmental studies.

Back in Pennsylvania, Hoag raises and trains service dogs with New Hope Assistance Dogs, an organization in Warren.

“I discovered Hammocks Beach State Park through the Texas A&M job board,” she said. “I previously worked with sea turtles along the North Carolina coast as an intern with the sea turtle hospital in Surf City and I was hopeful to find another sea turtle opportunity in North Carolina. Then I found Hammocks Beach State Park.”

Though she had been very close previously, Hoag said her first visit to Hammocks Beach State Park came when she arrived for the internship.

As a sea turtle intern, Hoag has some experience. And she takes the role seriously.
“I conduct nightly surveys with my team looking for nesting loggerhead sea turtles along 4-mile-long Bear Island,” she explained. “When we come across a nesting mother we scan her for pit tags and measure her carapace (sea turtle shell). If she has no previous tags, we tag her ourselves. If necessary, we relocate the nest further back along the dunes, which involves carefully digging up the eggs and placing them carefully one-by-one in containers. Nests are relocated if the nest is too close to the tide line and there is a risk of over-wash.

“One egg sample is taken from the nest for the ongoing DNA study with Duke Labs.
“We then dig our own hole back closer to the dunes approximately the same width and depth as the mother’s and then place the eggs in their home. The nest is then covered and a metal cage is placed over the nest to protect the eggs from predators, like coyotes.”

Hoag hopes to pursue a career in marine conservation, preferably on the East Coast.
She said her work at the park, which has one of the few nighttime sea turtle nesting programs along the east coast, provides good experience.

“In the field of wildlife conservation, hands-on experience is what matters most,” Hoag said. “This internship is giving me the opportunity to participate in this rare program and further my experience with nesting loggerhead sea turtles.”

In her spare time Hoag enjoys spending time at the beach or time with her host family.
“I’ve also had the opportunity to go scuba diving off the Emerald Isle coast and I hope to do more diving this summer,” she said.

Kylee Johnson, 17, is a rising senior at MaST Early College High School/Carteret Community College.

Johnson, who lives in nearby Stella, only visited the park for the first time this past spring.

“I’ve always known Hammocks Beach was here but I’ve never visited before,” she said.
“My first visit was on May 28.” She was impressed with the park and Bear Island. “It was absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t believe I’ve never been before.”

While at MaST Early College High School/Carteret Community College, Johnson is pursuing associate’s in science and arts. She hopes to participate is SkillsUSA beginning with the fall semester. SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce, according to its website.

Johnson is the environmental education intern.

“I’m not sure what I want to be yet, but I definitely want to go in the science direction,” she said of her future course of study. “I took on this role so that I could gather more experience in parks and recreation, to see if this is something I would like to do in the future.”

In her off time, Johnson said there is plenty to do at and near the park.

“During my spare time I love to fish off the ferry dock on the island and the surf,” she said. “Bogue Inlet also has some cool things. I also love to read when I’m at the barracks. I look forward to kayaking and all the other wonderful things you can do on the water.”

Intern coordinator passionate about mission

While a lot of folks may have passing knowledge of the Hammocks Beach State Park summer intern program, few are as involved as Allyson Roberts of Swansboro.

From her role as intern coordinator with the Friends of the Hammocks and Bear Island, a citizen support group for the park, she admits the program is close to her heart.

It is, she noted recently, “a mission.”

“I’m passionate about the park and my volunteer work with the interns,” she said.
When “The Barracks,” the interns’ living quarters on Bear Island, needs repairs or new furniture, you can count on Roberts and her husband Chuck taking care of it.

When Hurricane Florence knocked out The Barracks in 2018, Roberts said a way was found to work around it.

The four turtle interns were local. “They worked very long nights as the rangers took them to Bear Island on the patrol boat and picked them up in the morning,” Roberts said.

When COVID-19 shut down most of the world in 2020, Roberts found a way to work around it.

Again, “We had some local folks just to do turtles,” she said.

So it was a relief for Roberts to return to some sense of normalcy during the summer of 2021.

“Last year. We had the barracks all year and had a full crop of interns,” she said.

To the casual observer, the intern is a young person with a summer job. To Roberts, more is there.

“I truly enjoy the interaction with them. I enjoy being out there with them,” she said. “We have a lot of fun.”

Roberts also matches the interns with host families on the mainland. This gives the young people a place to get away to for a home-cooked meal, to do laundry or use the internet.

“The community is so supportive of them,” she said. And, Roberts added, “As a parent, we want our kids to have these great adventures. But as a parent, we want to know that somebody has their backs.”

Interns work from mid-May to mid-August, according to Ranger Sarah Kendrick, park superintendent.

In addition to being provided lodging at The Barracks during the internship, the interns are considered seasonal employees at the park and are paid $14 an hour.

“Six is our typical intern number,” Kendrick said. “Some years we have less for various reasons. We typically have three to four sea turtle interns, one or two shorebird interns, and an education intern.”

She also said the role the interns play is vital to the park operation.

“Interns are able to complete the valuable work of sea turtle monitoring and protection, shorebird monitoring and protection and extra educational programs above and beyond what the ranger staff is able to do,” Kendrick said. “Without the interns a lot of this work would not be able to be done because of the rangers’ workload. We have one of only two nighttime sea turtle monitoring programs in North Carolina, the other being Bald Head Island.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Tideland News, a weekly newspaper in Swansboro. Coastal Review partners with the Tideland to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about the North Carolina coast.

Reprinted from the Tideland News

SWANSBORO – Green Power energized the crowd last week when Queens Creek Elementary School in Onslow County cut the ribbon on a 5-kilowatt solar array. Not only was the event the culmination of a years-long project, it was also a first step toward the future of energy generation.

On a picture-perfect fall day, school and energy industry officials gathered in the shadow of the solar array to celebrate the project.

Elaine Justice, principal of the school that houses kindergarten through fifth grade, said the idea of solar-generated power at the school was born several years ago among a group of fourth- and fifth-grade students, now in high school. She invited three of those students, Kasey Butler, Christian Davis and Erica Miller, to cut the ribbon.

“These students challenged their teachers, their peers and, mostly, their principal, to set us on this path,” Justice said as she asked Davis and Miller to come forward. Butler was unable to attend.

Before they cut that ribbon, though, Queens Creek was celebrated for its push to become a “green power” school in North Carolina.

Queens Creek, already recognized by the Catawba College Center for the Environment as an NC Green School of Excellence, learned in April 2016 that it was selected an NC GreenPower Solar School. Selection by the nonprofit group NC GreenPower meant the school was in line to receive grants from the State Employees Credit Union and NC GreenPower that would pay for two-thirds of the cost to buy and install the array, about $27,000.

The solar array will provide power for the school cafeteria, according to Justice.

“We believe that by using it for the cafeteria, it will make a big difference in our electric bill, because the equipment in there is such a power drain,” she has said.

In her welcoming remarks, Beth Folger, deputy superintendent for Onslow County Schools, said she was impressed by the school’s accomplishment.

“I’m going to speak from the heart,” she said. “I’m excited about the idea that was hatched by the teachers and staff at Queens Creek.”

Not only will the solar array provide savings in the cost of electricity for the school, estimated at $657 annually, it will provide students learning opportunities involving real-life issues, Folger said.

“They are going to solve real-world problems,” she said. “This makes learning come alive.”

Raleigh-based NC GreenPower is a nonprofit organization focused on improving the state’s environment by supporting renewable energy, carbon offset projects and providing grants for solar installations at kindergarten through 12^th-grade schools.

NC GreenPower was formed and is administered by Advanced Energy, a nonprofit that focuses on energy efficiency for residential, commercial and industrial markets, motors and drives and electric transportation. The organization is supported by contributions from people and businesses across the state.

The group’s Solar Schools program provides matching grants for 3-5 kilowatt solar educational projects at schools, complete with a weather station, real-time monitoring, curriculum and training for teachers. The program partners with the State Employees Credit Union Foundation to offer a $10,000 matching challenge grant to awarded public schools that increase their systems to 5 kilowatts.

In his remarks, Robert Goodson, chairman of NC GreenPower Board of Directors and senior vice president and chief operating officer of the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives, said that Queens Creek becomes the state’s eighth NC GreenPower Solar School.

“These schools advance the idea of renewable energy,” he said. And, Goodson added, five more schools are expected to join the group by the first quarter of 2018. “Those 13 represent our pilot.

“We’re just so pleased we’ve been able to form a partnership with your school.”

Another coastal North Carolina school, Perquimans County Middle School in Winfall, was one of the five selected this year.

Jeff Clark, chief executive officer with Jones-Onslow Electric Membership Corp., which supplies power to Queens Creek, said he kept up with the project’s progress through a friend, Doris Tursi. Tursi, a Queens Creek teacher who recently retired, was regularly in conversation with Clark, he said, urging the project forward.

“It’s been a long time getting here,” he said.

There was great joy when he was finally able to tell Tursi that the project would be happening.

“They represent the future,” he said of efforts like the school’s solar array. “Projects like this are going to transform our future.”

Already, Clark noted, North Carolina produces more solar energy than all but one other state in the country. And as the journey toward renewable energy continues, Queens Creek’s project is one step on that journey.

“We are taking that step today,” Clark said. And, he added, “Jones-Onslow EMC wants to be part of that journey.”

As the ribbon was prepared to cut, Justice made it clear that the two students who would help, Davis and Miller, represent all the students that pushed for the project, all the students who will enjoy its benefits and all the students who have “the green dream.”

“What a great day,” Rick Stout, Onslow County Schools’ superintendent, said in closing. To the cheers of the students surrounding the solar array, he said, “Way to go, Queens Creek! We are excited about innovation.”

Learn More

• NC GreenPower Solar Schools
• Catawba College Center for the Environment

This story is provided courtesy of the Tideland News, a weekly newspaper in Swansboro. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Tideland to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Swansboro area here.

Reprinted from the Tideland News

SWANSBORO — It is the classic case of taking down two birds with one stone. In one sprawling project, Swansboro will add dozens of public parking spaces within easy walking distance of downtown and reduce the amount of untreated stormwater runoff reaching the nearby White Oak River.

Making the project even sweeter is the fact that the town will be getting financial assistance in the form of a Section 319 grant, federal funds distributed by the North Carolina Division of Environmental Quality.

“We’ve just received word that we’ve been awarded the grant,” Scott Chase, town manager, said during the last week of July.

The project will add 70 parking spaces and retrofit the town hall campus for better stormwater treatment. It is estimated to cost $284,130. The town was awarded $172,397 in Environmental Protection Agency funds.

Notification came at a very good time, according to Chase. Because, even though the grant “doesn’t come online until January,” knowing now means that work to complete the recent Swansboro Public Safety sleeping quarters project can be upgraded to fit into the goal of the stormwater reduction plans. And that work, including labor and materials, Chase said, can be counted toward the town’s required grant match.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation led the town through the grant application, according to Chase.

“We met with Coastal Federation onsite … we’re wrapping up the public safety facility … and got guidance from them,” he said. “Ultimately, we are going to have a bio-retention area … that will be part of the stormwater plan.”

“This (work on the Public Safety Facility) will make sure we don’t have to go back and retrofit anything.”

The project involves the town buying a vacant 1,200-square-foot house adjoining the town hall campus and next to the fire department, just off N.C. 24. And, other than the purchase price of the house and property – which is still in negotiation – any costs related to the development of the site could be counted toward the match. The property purchase and demolition has been estimated to cost $95,000.

Chase said town crews would do much of the work.

Furthermore, Chase has been in touch with David Cotton, Onslow County manager, concerning the disposal of debris from the home, which will be razed. Chase requested that the cost of disposing of the debris – the “tipping fee” – be waived.

In addition to creating a bio-retention area to capture and treat stormwater runoff, the project includes adding 40 new parking spaces and re-configuring the current spaces to create another 30. Because the project will mean more parking for downtown visitors, the Onslow County Tourism Development Authority found it worthwhile enough to approve a contribution of $17,500, which will count toward the town’s match.

“This is a huge benefit for our campus area … and downtown,” Chase said.

Chase presented the project, dubbed Stormwater Volume Reduction at the Town of Swansboro Municipal Complex, to the state officials considering grant requests in July. Joining him were Lauren Kolodij, deputy director of the coastal federation, and Bree Tillett, engineer intern and coastal specialist with the federation.

The presentation provided a look at the federation’s overall stormwater strategy:

• Working in urban and rural landscapes.
• Using low-impact development techniques.
• Slowing down the flow of stormwater runoff and directing it to soak in.
• Reducing the volume reaching surface waters, thereby reducing the pollutant load.

It pointed out that state officials support the strategy and included a statement from Mike Randall of the stormwater permitting program with the North Carolina Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources. The Division of Environmental Quality, it states, “places a premium on reducing stormwater runoff by infiltrating stormwater into the landscape using cost effective solutions.”

“If you can eliminate stormwater runoff you won’t have to treat it,” Randall states.

Swansboro strategy, made official with a watershed management plan approved in March, matches speaks to this goal.

The town, according to the grant presentation, aims to “turn back the clock” on water pollution. Using shellfish water closings as a gauge, the goal is to lower the amount of untreated stormwater runoff to a time when more shellfish waters were open.

This is accomplished by reducing instances of flooding, aligning future capital improvements with stormwater retrofits, increasing community awareness and positioning the town for future funding opportunities for implementation, according to the presentation.

In addition to retrofits on public properties, the town plan encourages the installation of voluntary retrofits on private properties, tracks progress and monitors incremental improvement in stormwater runoff volume reduction.

The Stormwater Volume Reduction at the Town of Swansboro Municipal Complex, the town will incorporate low-impact development and green infrastructure techniques into a town capital works project that will result in a public amenity for the town that reduces locally generated stormwater runoff.

This work aims to reduce stormwater runoff volume in the White Oak River historic sub watershed by 87,700 gallons for the one-year storm, or 3.5 inches.

And it will increase awareness of and demand for low-impact development stormwater management techniques by installing signage, encouraging media coverage, offering tours to demonstrate stormwater reduction techniques, coordinating with Onslow Soil and Water Conservation District to promote grant incentives to landowners and businesses, educating students about stormwater runoff, water quality problems and management options and field experiences.

Chase told town commissioners of the award at the July 11 board meeting.

“We’re really proud of this,” he said.

Commissioner Frank Tursi, also the former editor of Coastal Review Online, said he, too, was proud of Swansboro.

“I know this will be the first of many,” Tursi said. And, he added, “We are stressing stormwater control.” In fact, the town is setting an example by being a good steward. “We have to walk the walk.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Tideland News, a weekly newspaper in Swansboro. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Tideland to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Swansboro area here.

Reprinted from the Tideland News

SWANSBORO – Production on a documentary about the history of The Hammocks and its people has begun, and folks who may be able to contribute are encouraged to step forward and get involved.

UNC Center for Public Television is making the documentary, which will be funded by the Friends of The Hammocks and Bear Island. The Hammocks is the area on Queens Creek, just outside Swansboro, from which Hammocks Beach State Park was established.

“The idea of the documentary is to tell the cultural history, not necessarily of the park, but of The Hammocks,” said David Pearson, who is president of the friends group. “The story is about way more than just the park. “This a story about African-American history and teaching history.”

To do that in the most comprehensive manner, Pearson is reaching out to the community, hoping anyone with recollections of The Hammocks – a huge tract of undeveloped land that was once used as a personal hunting and fishing retreat – to get involved.

“If we get the word out, maybe they will come forward,” Pearson said.

The friends group in March signed the contract with UNC-TV to produce the documentary, which will also focus on the process that eventually created the park. The signing followed months of discussions, Pearson said.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to tell the story of The Hammocks,” he said.

The friends group’s board of directors approved spending up to $40,000 of its funds to pay UNC-TV to research, produce, develop and air the 30-minute film. The board will pursue outside sponsors, as is done with many UNC-TV programs, to help defray some of the costs. Completion is expected by August 2018.

In any case, funding should not be a problem. At the time of the vote, the friends group had $85,382 on hand, of which $63,301 is considered “unrestricted.” Under terms of the contract, the friends pay one-third of the total up front. The second third is to be paid once the film is complete and the final third is due after it airs. If it never airs, that final third wouldn’t have to be paid.

“They have started production,” Pearson said last week. “They are doing interviews.” That is important, he noted, because many of the people with knowledge of The Hammocks are elderly.

Its heyday dates back to its purchase in 1920 by Dr. William Sharpe, a New York neurosurgeon.

Pearson took a proactive approach and conducted some interviews on his own. Among those was one with Venice Hurst Cook, the oldest daughter of John L. and Gertrude Hurst. She died on Jan. 8. Others interviewed already include Ned Hurst, son of John and Gertrude Hurst, who has also since died; Claude Crews, a longtime resident who was the park’s first superintendent; and Dr. Lafayette Parker, who was a dean and vice chancellor at Winston-Salem State University.

“Dr. Sharpe’s grandchildren are still living,” Pearson said. “There may be some people here in town who have stuff they’d like to share. “There is a lot out there.”

Spanning The Hammocks’ History

The documentary will cover the period roughly from the 1880s, or about the time of Dr. William Sharpe’s birth, until about 1971.

Sharpe in the 1920s bought up a huge amount of The Hammocks, more than 4,600 acres, as a personal hunting and fishing retreat. He hired as a hunting guide John Hurst, the grandfather of Harriett Hurst Turner and John L. Hurst, who recently sold 290 acres of land to the state for an addition to the park. John L. Hurst’s wife, Gertrude, quit her job as a schoolteacher to help manage the land.

Later, Sharpe and his wife decided to give the land to the Hursts, but Gertrude asked that they instead deed it to a nonprofit that would run it as an education and recreational retreat for the teachers of black students in North Carolina’s then-segregated schools. The Hursts kept enough of the land to live on.

In 1950, they set up the Hammocks Beach Corp. as a trustee for the rest, and raised money to build some amenities for guests, and tried to convince the state to build a bridge from the mainland to Bear Island. Eventually, according to a history on the friends’ website, John and Gertrude and the trustee “decided that the creation of a state park was a better solution for the long-term stewardship and preservation of the island, and donated the island to the state” in 1961. Thus, the park was born.

A “New Farmers of America” camp for black teachers and students opened around 1950, and Hammocks Beach became known as the beach for black people on the North Carolina coast. Thousands of African-American teachers and students visited, and many of them are still alive and interested in the park. But after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, everything began to change; slowly, black citizens began to be allowed at other beaches. The trustee leased property to others, including the 4-H Club.

Eventually, the camps faded, too. The last 4-H camp was in 2004, and the New Farmers of America, later known as Future Farmers of America, camp was abandoned before that. Both have fallen into disrepair and have been victimized by vandals. With that, the corporation itself went into a steady demise, unable to pay its taxes and unable to meet the terms of its deed, which specified that it had to be used as a camp or offered to the state.

If the state didn’t want it, the property was supposed to revert to the Hurst children. That’s when a legal battle began. In 2006, Harriet Hurst Turner and John H. Hurst sued the corporation, claiming it had failed to properly administer the trust, and sought the return to the family of 289 mainland acres. The rest had long been sold off and much of it developed.

Finally, in 2010, Turner and Hurst prevailed on all issues, but the court asked the state board of education if it wanted the land, and in 2011, the state reversed a previous decision declining the land. A deal was struck on June 11, 2014, to end the lawsuit and sell the property to the state.

The sale called for $6.9 million from the state Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, money appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly and from the sale of previous bonds designated for this purpose to pay for about 200 acres. In a second sale, the Conservation Fund of Arlington, Virginia, paid $3.1 million for 90 acres, which it immediately leased to the state for the park’s use. In April, a final draft of a plan to develop the 289 mainland acres was presented to the state for consideration. A final OK is expected any day.

Learn More

• To share your memories, email David Pearson at david@fhbi.org
• Friends of The Hammocks and Bear Island

Brad Rich of the Carteret County News-Times contributed to this story

This story is provided courtesy of the Tideland News, a weekly newspaper in Swansboro. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Tideland to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Swansboro area here.

Reprinted from the Tideland News

SWANSBORO — Though it is a relatively small project, the Parrish Green subdivision is significant. Proposed by Jordan Building Company, the five single-family building lots on Swansboro’s Phillips Drive will be the first low-impact development subdivision in Onslow County.

For Parrish Green Phase I to be developed LID, Swansboro had to relax a couple of code requirements. The board of commissioners’ recent action to approve the project was unanimous.

David Newsom of Crystal Coast Engineering, representing the developer, asked town commissioners for two variances at the Aug. 20 meeting. He offered details on the project that he and his partner, John Freshwater, put together. Specifically, the builder needed a variance from Article 20, Sections 20-18 and 20-21 of the Subdivision Ordinance related to the curb and gutter and sidewalk requirements.

Lauren Kolodij

“This will be John and mine’s first LID project,” Newsom told the commissioners during a public hearing on the request. “It will be the first in Onslow County. I think it will be a real boon to the town if we do this.”

Using LID as opposed to conventional development involves different methods of controlling stormwater that mimic natural hydrology. Channeling of runoff by curb and gutter must be limited, as must the amount of impervious surface within the development.

But first the developers needed variances to two town ordinances. Swansboro’s Subdivision Regulations state: “Curb and gutters shall be required in all subdivisions unless a variance from this requirement is specifically granted by the board of commissioners.” Also, the ordinance states: “Unless a variance for this requirement is granted by the board of commissioners, sidewalks are required along both sides of all streets constructed in an approved subdivision …”

What Newsom was asking for was the ability to develop a 10-inch concrete edging, rather than a curb and gutter, and to eliminate the sidewalk on one side of the street. The variances would allow the development to meet the standards of LID, which is aimed at providing on-site treatment of storm water.

By eliminating the curb and gutter, runoff would be unhindered in flowing to the onsite stormwater control measure. Eliminating sidewalks on the north side of the street reduces the amount of hard surface in the development.

“I could not make it (the LID project) fit the criteria with sidewalks on both sides,” Newsom told commissioners. “It is that tight.”

Many towns have impediments to LID built into their ordinances, noted Lauren Kolodij, the deputy director of the N.C. Coastal Federation. The federation, a longtime proponent of LID, advised Newsom and put him and the developers in touch with state water-quality officials, she explained.

“We knew we could only help facilitate change by getting all the players together in one room to look at various options and understand the benefits of low-impact development,” Kolodij said.

Newsome welcomed the advice.  Engineers resist change, he said, and often prefer to rely on conventional designs and permitting approaches.

“As a result, it took significant time and consideration for me to become convinced that LID is indeed a superior and more environmentally friendly design and development process,” Newsome said. “I owe a debt of gratitude to both NCDENR Division of Water Quality and the Coastal Federation for their efforts to promote LID and to educate the design and development community as to its use and benefit to us all.”

While there were no comments from people during the hearing, Swansboro commissioners had questions.

Commissioner Junior Freeman asked if there would be any home sites on that side of the street. Newsom said there would be no homes fronting on that side of the street. However, the side of one home site in Phase II would border Phillips Drive.

Commissioner Jim Allen asked if the developer would have to pay the “in lieu of” fee for the sidewalk that would be eliminated.

Dave Harvell

Dave Harvell, town manager, told the commissioner that the fee would be due, per town ordinance. The sidewalk fee is charged of property owners when they develop or redevelop property to the point that sidewalks are required but not installed.

This prompted Commissioner Gery Boucher to say that it appeared counter-productive to charge the fee when the development was being improved – from an environmental standpoint. Stopping short of suggesting the fee not be paid, Boucher did say it is a situation that needs to be investigated.

“We need to have a deeper conversation,” he said.

Freeman agreed.

“I think the sidewalk (issue), we are going to have to address at a later meeting,” he said.

Freeman also questioned Newsom about a dedicated pedestrian easement between the neighborhood and Swansboro Elementary School.

Newsom said there is a 10-foot-wde pedestrian easement between lots four and five, from Phillips Drive to the school property.

Jennifer Holland, town planner, provided information that the Swansboro Planning Board recommended the variances be allowed.

The motion to approve the variance requests was approved 5-0.

• Map of project

Reprinted from the Tideland News of Swansboro

SWANSBORO — A building group’s application for a McDonald’s restaurant was taken off the Dec. 18 Swansboro Board of Commissioners agenda, apparently because the company is working on obtaining a state stormwater permit before proceeding.

Garrett Otten of Commercial Site Design of Raleigh is representing the fast-food company. In a telephone interview after the meeting, he declined to discuss specific reasons behind the delay.

“We are still working through permitting,” he said.

Jennifer Holland, town planner, attributed the change to the fact that the project has yet to attain a redevelopment exception to the state’s coastal stormwater rules.

McDonald’s wants to build a restaurant on a 6.5-acre tract at the corner of N.C. 24 and Phillips Loop Road. The lot is the site of a former service station and car wash.

Bacteria in stormwater runoff is the primary cause of shellfish closures in the White Oak River. Photo: N.C. Division of Water Quality.

“They filed the application in October,” said Pat Turner, chairwoman of the Swansboro Planning Board. “The question came up about stormwater runoff. They indicated they were doing what the state required.”

During that discussion, planning board members were concerned that the restaurant would only meet minimum standards, which, in this case, is no treatment of stormwater at all.

Frank Tursi, a planning board member and an assistant director of the N.C. Coastal Federation, an environmental group based in nearby Ocean in Carteret County, said that new state stormwater rules, enacted in 2008, allow an exemption if property is redeveloped.

“A project can’t exceed the amount of built up area that already exists on a site and must provide at least the same level of stormwater controls that currently exist,” Tursi explained.

Because the previous structures on that tract pre-date the state’s stormwater rules, there were no controls.

“It’s a terrible hole in the law,” Tursi said. “We (the federation) complained about it at the time … and Swansboro is seeing the result with this McDonald’s.”

The new stormwater rules are a vast improvement over the flawed regulations that the state first devised in the 1980s, Tursi said. But new rules only apply to new development, he noted. They’re not retroactive.

“If we are truly serious about getting a handle on the bacterial pollution that is plaguing rivers like the White Oak… if we are going to improve the quality of failing water bodies as state and federal laws require… then we are going to have to do something about existing development,” he said.

When it became clear in October that there was no real plan for stormwater treatment at the proposed McDonald’s, the planning board – which is only an advisory board – urged the developer to do more, according to Turner.

“The board actually recommended to them to reconsider … either more pervious surface or landscaping,” she said.

Frank Tursi

Jim Gregson

No vote was taken in October, and Otten came back in November with a plan to capture runoff from about 44 percent of the tract, according to the minutes from the meeting.

“What they did was … turn an (traffic) island into a bio-retention area,” Tursi said. “Some of the lot will drain into the area.”

Such treatment methods rely on soil and plants to soak up rainwater. Exactly how much runoff the area can handle is unclear because the developer did not provide any stormwater engineering, according to Tursi.

Without the exemption, McDonald’s would have to meet the strictest requirements in the stormwater rules because the building site is within a half-mile of shellfish waters. Such projects along the central coast normally have to treat about 3.5 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, according to Jim Gregson, the regional supervisor for the surface water section of the N.C. Division of Water Quality in Wilmington.

Tursi wondered if the McDonald’s project even qualifies for the exemption. The plans that the company presented to the Planning Board show that the company plans to increase the impervious surfaces – pavement, rooftop and other hard constructed surfaces – by about 3,000 square feet.

“The law is very clear,” Tursi said.  “It plainly says that you cannot exceed the impervious surface that is there now to qualify for the exemption.”

However, Gregson said the state makes a provision for that type of development. The exemption could be granted, “As long as they can treat anything that exceeds what was there before,” he said.

But Gregson also said the treatment system installed for that overage must be designed to accommodate the entire area that will drain to it.

So far, DWQ has not received an application from McDonald’s for the exemption, Gregson said.

Swansboro planners, at their November meeting, voted unanimously to recommend approval of the McDonald’s plan. But Tursi admitted that he had misgivings.

“I told them they were doing the bare minimum,” he said last week. “As big as McDonald’s is … a multi-national company … I think they could afford to be a model citizen … spend the money required to assure they do not add to the pollution problems in the White Oak River.”

The way Tursi sees it, Swansboro should take the lead to assure that this type of situation does not continue. Under the state’s current interpretation of the law, much of N.C. 24 through town could be redeveloped without any stormwater controls, he said.

“This is a lesson for the town,” Tursi said. “The general feeling is that stormwater issues are taken care of at the state level. Here is an example of a weakness in the state rules. If Swansboro is serious about trying to help clean up the White Oak River, maybe the town should consider a local ordinance that at least deals with redevelopment. Other towns have.

“Stormwater is a local issue; local governments need to take some of the responsibility.”