Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

On Tuesday, Feb. 17, the North Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments in the long-running legal battle between Currituck County and the Corolla Civic Association (CCA) over how the county spends occupancy tax money.

The CCA plaintiffs contend that the county has improperly used those funds to pay for police, fire protection, emergency services and equipment for public safety rather than earmarking them for tourism-related expenses. The Currituck County Commissioners, citing the extra needs placed on public safety in the summer tourist season in Corolla, have contended that state law allows public safety spending with those funds.

The state legislature passes a law for any county that wishes to charge an occupancy tax, with a provision outlining how the tax can be used. The Currituck County occupancy tax law was first passed in 1987 and amended in 2004. The Outer Banks Voice – NC Supreme Court to hear Currituck County occupancy tax case

In March 2024, the NC Court of Appeals Court ruled in favor of the CCA and members of the organization. Currituck County then appealed that ruling to the State Supreme Court.  During the Feb. 17 arguments, it seemed clear that key elements of the case are whether public safety expenses are related to tourism and how much discretion the commissioners have in allocating occupancy tax dollars.

In speaking first for the defendants, attorney Chris Geis of the Womble Bond Dickinson firm argued that under the statute, the “[Currituck] Commissioners were given the broad authority to use their judgment to determine what is a tourism-related expenditure” that brings tourism to the county.

As an example, Geis cited occupancy tax spending on the county’s Veterans’ Memorial Park, which he said a “leaves people with a good feeling about [this] place. That is a tourism related expenditure.” He noted that the plaintiffs opposed spending occupancy tax dollars on the Park.

“We have reasonable disagreement here, we understand that,” Geis said, in addressing the Supreme Court Justices. “But this is not an area where the county has stepped outside that line” of violating state law.

Making the case for the plaintiffs, attorney Troy Shelton of the Dowling PLLC firm, stated that “the Court of Appeals saw exactly what happened for what it was,” in ruling for the plaintiffs. “The County’s been breaking the law, and it has to stop.”

In response to one Justice’s question, Shelton said that “I don’t think that paying for police or firefighters attracts tourists.”

“There is nothing stopping the County from going back to the [North Carolina] legislature and trying a new round of lobbying” to change the statute. “That’s what they need to be doing instead of fighting this case,” he stated.

Asked by Chief Justice Paul Newby what remedies the plaintiffs are seeking if they prevail, Shelton indicated that among things, they want the restoration of the occupancy tax funds they say were improperly spent.

You can see the Supreme Court arguments here. Supreme Court of North Carolina: 101PA24 Costanzo, et al. v Currituck County, et al.

This story first appeared in the Outer Banks Voice, Coastal Review Online partners with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

A large swath of property near Corolla, totaling about 177 acres, is up for sale, according to NAI Global, a commercial real estate brokerage firm handling the transaction.

In a Sept. 16 release, NAI said the five parcels involved “are approved for a by-right development which allows for 1,250 hotel rooms, as many as 782 single-family homes and nearly 428,000 square feet of commercial development.”

In a brief Sept. 17 interview with the Voice, an NAI Global official said the property went on the market about a week earlier. In response to a Voice inquiry, Currituck County Public Information Office Randall Edwards said that “the County Manager is aware that this property is for sale but does not have any comment since the property is still for sale and there are no definite plans in place.”

NAI Globe did not release the identity of the seller, but in a Sept. 17 story, the Triangle Business Journal  “the owner is listed as Coastland Properties of Virginia Beach, Virginia.”

Excerpts from Sept. 16 NAI release

NAI Global announces a rare land listing of 177+ acres for sale in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a region known to millions of Americans as a destination getaway that is largely comprised of multi-million-dollar homes, residential condominiums, resort hotels and supporting commercial development.

The unimproved land spans approximately 177+ acres on five parcels of varying sizes, two of which face the Atlantic Ocean providing direct beach access. Located near Corolla in Currituck County, the parcels are approved for a by-right development which allows for 1,250 hotel rooms, as many as 782 single-family homes and nearly 428,000 square feet of commercial development. Municipal water and sewer are provided for each parcel.

Section T has the highestbuilding height permitted in the Outer Banks. All of these sections have the right to rearrange density on a pre-approved basis. One of the parcels has the potential to build a marina/boat launch facility with water access to Currituck Sound, which is an allowed use under the development agreement with Currituck County.

The waterfront parcels are 82.6 acres and 44 acres respectively. The option exists for a buyer to develop one or more exclusive family compounds, or pursue a larger development as currently permitted.

“We don’t see many properties like this come to market, especially for a remarkable resort area of the U.S. The buyer will have numerous options to build estate properties, exclusive resorts and income-producing commercial properties. Normally with lands sales, one of these options may exist, but it is rare that all three options exist within a single acquisition,” said Alex Waddey, President and CEO of NAI Global.

The for-sale listing is unpriced. It is believed to be the largest land listing of unimproved property with direct-Atlantic Ocean access in the Eastern U.S.

Approval has been obtained and plans are in process to build an additional bridge to serve the northern Outer Banks – called the Mid-Currituck Bridge, that would stretch across Currituck Sound. The bridge would be a 7-mile span connecting the mainland with the Outer Banks near Corolla, a short distance from Ocean Sands. This would substantially reduce travel time and improve access.

This story was first published by the Outer Banks Voice, an online newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review partners with the Voice and other publications to provide our readers a broad spectrum of coastal news.

This story is part of a reporting partnership with The Outer Banks Voice.

With Dare County mandated to return $35 million in housing funds to the state, a suit filed last year by its six towns contesting the conditions attached to that money has been withdrawn.

Last October, the six municipalities filed the litigation after a special housing provision inserted into the state budget would have restricted their ability to regulate affordable housing projects funded by the $35 million in state money. Town officials vocally criticized the measure for eroding and encroaching on local authority over development and zoning, the Outer Banks Voice reported.

Related: Dare won’t use state budget provision on workforce housing

Ben Gallop, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs, the town of Manteo, told the Voice that on Friday, June 7, the municipalities filed a voluntarily dismissal of that suit, “in recognition that the General Assembly’s recent repeal of the legislation provided the towns with the result sought by the lawsuit.”

The filing of the suit harkens back to one of the most divisive controversies that emerged during efforts to build more workforce housing in the county. It came only weeks after local officials expressed anger and surprise upon learning that the provision restricting town control over the housing regulation had been inserted into the state budget. The $35 million was intended to be used by Coastal Affordable Housing LLC, which was, at the time, one of the county’s two private housing development partners.

Coastal Affordable Housing LLC was formed in 2021 with Jordan Hennessy, an aide to former Sen. Bill Cook, a principal. Hennessey is also one of the newest members of the state Coastal Resources Commission and an officer in the company Dare County contracted to address shoaling in county waterways.

From the outset, Dare County officials insisted they had no knowledge of and no role in inserting that provision and Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, whose district covers part of Dare County, was subsequently identified as involved in inserting that provision. The Dare County commissioners also passed a resolution indicating they would not abide by the provision removing local control over affordable housing regulation.

In April, the Dare Board of Commissioners voted to end the county’s partnership with Coastal Affordable Housing and to seek to return the $35 million in housing money to state coffers.

The county’s Affordable Housing Task Force was hopeful the commissioners could delay returning that money. But a little over a month ago, the legislature passed a measure that removed the provision and also required the return of the $35 million to the state, in effect bringing this chapter of the county’s housing initiative to an end.

Related: CRC member Hennessy threatens to sue Dare candidate

This story is part of a reporting partnership with The Outer Banks Voice.

Jordan Hennessy, a member of the state Coastal Resources Commission, has threatened to sue a candidate for Dare County commissioner for defamation, The Outer Banks Voice reported.

The threat against candidate Katie Morgan came two weeks after the Dare County Board of Commissioners terminated its housing partnership with Coastal Affordable Housing, a company in which Hennessy is principal, and voted to return to the state $35 million in funding for affordable housing. Craig Schauer, an attorney for Hennessy accused Morgan in an April 23 letter of “false and defamatory statements” and threatened litigation if the matter is not resolved “immediately and satisfactorily.”

Morgan is running as the Democratic challenger to incumbent Republican Commissioner and Board Chair Bob Woodard and has been critical of the county’s partnership with Hennessy’s firm.

Schauer cited four statements Morgan had made about Hennessy and his company as “false and defamatory.” He also blamed Morgan for the county’s April 9 cancellation of the housing partnership, writing that, “Due to your public mischaracterizations of Coastal Affordable Housing and Mr. Hennessy, the Dare County Board of Commissioners have terminated negotiations with Coastal Affordable Housing and returned the $35 million loan from the State.”

That letter specified two “remedies” to resolve the situation. One called for Morgan to post a public retraction of the “false accusations” concerning Hennessy and Coastal Affordable Housing and another required her to donate $5,000 to the Community Care Clinic of Dare “as a gesture of your support for the local community.”

If these steps weren’t agreed to, the letter stated, “Mr. Hennessy and Coastal Affordable Housing will file suit against you.”

In an email to the Voice, Morgan stated that “This letter has caused me immense anxiety along with undue emotional and financial stress for me and my family … As I am currently running an active campaign, my intention has always been to highlight what I believe are poor decisions and partnerships made by our local officials. The fact that I am being singled out as the sole party responsible for all Dare County Commissioners to vote unanimously to send the money back is laughable.”

Neither Hennessy nor Schauer responded to the Outer Banks Voice’s requests for comment.

Hennessy, a former aide to State Sen. Bill Cook, is prominently involved in a number of local issues. Aside from his roles with the Coastal Resources Commission and Coastal Affordable Housing, he is a top officer at EJE Dredging, which owns and operates the Miss Katie Dredge.

That April 23 letter triggered a series of exchanges between Schauer and Morgan Attorney L. Phillip Hornthal, III. On April 30, Hornthal wrote that Morgan “steadfastly denies that she has made any defamatory comments, and that most of the comments you reference are directed at Dare County and not Mr. Hennessy … She believes your clients are attempting to chill her free speech and prevent her from asking tough questions about the business of Dare County …”

Hornthal said that Morgan is “willing to consider correcting her statement that your clients have ‘billed’ Dare County $5,000,000 to date,” since the pre-development contract between Dare County and Coastal Affordable Housing indicated that the firm would be eligible for up to $5 million in expenses, but had only invoiced the county for about $664,000 to date.

On May 2, Schauer responded by stating that to resolve the matter, Morgan had to issue a correction and apology, along with a video of her doing so, using language Schauer included in that letter. The statement and video, he said, “must be posted on Ms. Morgan’s Facebook account (both her campaign and personal page) and Instagram account, as well as any other social media accounts on which she made the defamatory statements.”

That produced a May 6 letter from Hornthal in which he outlined a response that Morgan would be willing to make, stating that it would be “a social media post correcting her earlier post concerning the $5 million payment by Dare County…in the form of a written post,” but not in a video format. It would include a statement that she is not aware of any “unlawful” actions by Hennessy or CAH.

Hornthal added that “if a lawsuit is filed, we believe that the claims will be summarily dismissed and your client ordered to pay Ms. Morgan’s attorney’s fees.”

In her email to the Voice, Morgan said that she has heard nothing further from Schauer or Hennessy since then, adding that “I am totally willing to do the post outlined by my lawyer. I have intentionally been waiting to see what their lawyer said before I do it … I’ve never been in this type of situation before and it is paralyzing.”

From an Outer Banks Voice report.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Monday stating the county will not use a controversial and contentious provision that was inserted into the state budget to try and build affordable housing projects.

Dare County Chairman Bob Woodard subsequently announced that the first meeting of the affordable housing task force will be 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, in Room 168 of the Dare County Administration Building in Manteo.

The public is invited, although seating is limited. According to Woodard, there are about 20 members of the task force.

Municipal officials were infuriated and surprised by the provision that would have restricted towns from regulating housing developments funded with $35 million in state funds earmarked for affordable housing. On Oct. 6, the six Dare County municipalities filed a lawsuit against the state challenging that provision. No one has claimed responsibility for inserting that item into the budget, but news outlets have identified Rep. Keith Kidwell, who represents part of Dare County, as one of those involved.

Woodard, who drafted the resolution with County Manager Bobby Outten, told the Outer Banks Voice that the document formalizes what county officials had already been telling municipal officials.

“All along, we weren’t happy with the language that the state had put in there,” Woodard said. “We had no intention of overriding the town ordinances.”

“People will probably wonder why it did take so long,” to pass a resolution, Woodard added, stating that he wanted to make sure town officials got the county’s verbal assurances first.

In an email to the Voice, Nags Head Mayor Ben Cahoon said “I took Chairman Woodard at his word but appreciate the County committing this to writing. Hopefully, we can all begin working together to find a solution.”

The resolution passed Monday states that “the Dare County Board of Commissioners confirms their earlier verbal statements of their intention to solve the workforce housing problem in Dare County by working together with local governments, citizens and stake holders and not to use HB 259 (the provision in question) to exempt any workforce housing solutions from the local government zoning authority as part of any proposed solutions.”

Stating that the county never requested the provision, the resolution declared that it’s “been adamantly opposed by the towns located in Dare County to the extent they have filed legal action to set it aside.”

Another passage stated that the resolution was designed to “reduce the acrimony between the towns and Dare County and to help in the process of reaching consensus among the local governments, citizens and stakeholders.”

As for the failure to make progress on building housing, which includes proposed projects that were rejected in Manteo, Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills, the resolution flatly declared that “for many years Dare County has been working to provide workforce housing and has been unsuccessful in those efforts.”

And at this point, there is no public evidence of progress on the issue. The Woda Cooper Co., which ran into major community opposition in Nags Head and Manteo, recently announced it was abandoning its efforts to build housing in Dare County. The county’s second housing partner, Coastal Affordable Housing LLC, the group with access to that $35 million pile of state funds, has not publicly discussed any plan or proposal in the works.

In an attempt to build a broader consensus for generating that housing and take a new approach to the problem, the Dare County Commissioners in October approved the creation of an affordable housing task force. In his interview with the Voice, Woodard says the group will have its first meeting within the next few weeks.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from The Outer Banks Voice.

Less than three weeks after being surprised by the now infamous Dare County affordable housing provision inserted into the state budget, all six Dare County municipalities have signed on to a lawsuit filed against the State of North Carolina challenging that provision.

The housing measure, for which no one has yet acknowledged responsibility, would have restricted the towns’ ability to regulate affordable housing projects funded by $35 million in state money awarded to the county for that purpose. Various town officials have vocally criticized the measure for eroding and encroaching on local authority over development and zoning.

According to Andy Garman, town manager for Nags Head, the complaint, which was filed in Wake County Superior Court Friday, Oct. 6, seeks a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, a permanent injunction and declaratory relief. Four different groups of lawyers, including those employed as town attorneys, are on the complaint on behalf of the six plaintiffs.

A joint statement released by the six towns on Oct. 6 noted that the effect of the budget provision “is to require Plaintiffs to allow these Dare County Affordable Housing Projects to be constructed within a town or area of a private party’s choosing and to be completely exempt from certain zoning and regulatory controls that otherwise apply to all other development of property within Plaintiffs’ jurisdictions…despite the fact that citizens throughout Dare County have expressed strenuous objection to the placement of these Dare County Projects in certain zoning districts and other parts of some of Plaintiffs’ jurisdiction.”

“In this action, Plaintiffs seek a declaration that the Dare County Local Act is a constitutionally prohibited local or special enactment and otherwise violates certain provisions of the Constitution of North Carolina and also deprives Plaintiffs of their property for a purpose other than a constitutionally permitted purpose,” the statement added.

In explaining the process that led to the towns agreeing to be plaintiffs in the suit, Garman said that “Basically, (the town managers) all found out about it on the nineteenth (of September) and we started talking about it among ourselves.” After that, the managers alerted the town boards and municipal councils and boards and brought in the town attorneys.

At the municipal level, the outcry against the mysterious provision was loud and instant, with local officials in all six towns writing letters of protests and/or passing resolutions calling for the removal of the budget item and for Dare County not to enforce it.

Passions on the matter flamed up at an Oct. 2 Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting during a contentious public comment session and a response by Board Chairman Bob Woodard. At the meeting, the county commissioners did move to establish an affordable housing task force that would include representatives from each of the municipalities.

At the same time, the county has consistently stated that it had no knowledge of, nor any role in the insertion of that affordable housing budget provision. At that Oct. 2 meeting, County Manager Bobby Outten told the towns that the county had no intention of “bulldozing” them with large unwanted housing developments — although it’s not clear how much that statement allayed the towns’ concerns.

When asked for a response to the litigation filed by the towns, Outten told the Voice that he was not aware of it.  For his part, Woodard declined to make a statement on the subject.

This story is provided courtesy of The Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced June 8 there had been another delay in the anticipated imminent opening of the Rodanthe ‘jug handle’ bridge.

NCDOT explained that the delay is because the pavement markings installed earlier that week did not meet NCDOT specifications for quality or reflectivity.

The pavement markings were to be the final step in completing the 2.4-mile bridge over Pamlico Sound, which will bypass a section of N.C. 12 that is highly vulnerable to ocean overwash.

At that time, there was no projected timetable for when the bridge might be ready to open to traffic. More than a month later, there is still no such timetable.

In the last few days, the Voice reached out to NCDOT for updates on the project.

In two email responses, NCDOT spokesperson Tim Haas wrote that “Now that all the rain has ended, the road-marking subcontractor is out working as we speak. Timing of a bridge opening depends on their progress/success.”

When asked if there were any complications affecting that work, Haas did point to a recent problem that had arisen with one of the trucks on the scene.

“It’s just a matter of the marking sub-contractor getting their work done but apparently there is a transmission problem with one of their trucks, which they have just discovered is an electronics issue that will require them to tow the truck off-site,” he wrote.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

The assault case that led to the resignation of Duck Town Manager Chris Layton last summer was resolved in a Dare County courtroom on July 15 when Layton agreed to six months of unsupervised probation in connection with the case.

According to Layton’s counsel, Kris Felthousen, one of the two assault charges against Layton was dismissed and the defendant entered into a deferred prosecution agreement on the other count.

Felthousen added that the agreement does not represent a conviction against Layton and said the second count will be dismissed at the end of a successful probation period.

Layton was arrested in his office in the Duck administration building back on July 15, 2020, and was charged with two counts of assault on his assistant. On July 24, the Duck Town Council accepted his resignation. In January of this year, Layton was named interim town manager in Plymouth. And in February 2021, he was replaced in Duck by newly hired Town Manager Drew Havens.

In February of this year, the Voice reported that the town of Duck had paid out more than $300,000 to two women who had formerly worked for the town and their attorneys in settlements related to allegations of improper behavior by Layton when he was town manager. One of the women was the victim in the assault case.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

A new chapter in 2-year-old litigation over Currituck County’s use of more than $30 million in occupancy tax revenue opened recently when the plaintiffs in that suit announced they had filed a motion June 24 for partial summary judgment in the case.

The original May 2019 suit, which was filed by the Corolla Civic Association and nearly two dozen other signatories against Currituck County and some of its officials, alleged that the county failed to allocate occupancy tax funds “only for tourism-related expenditures, including beach nourishment,” as specified in the 2004 law allowing the county to collect an occupancy tax.

The motion for partial summary judgment asks the Superior Court to “find that Currituck County had illegally used more than $30 million of Occupancy Tax (OT) revenue to pay for general Sheriff and Emergency Medical Services in direct contravention of the OT statute as amended in 2004,” according to a statement from the plaintiffs released on July 6.

The motion asks the court to order “that these funds be returned to the Tourism Development Authority so that they can be applied to legally authorized uses, including beach nourishment.”

A Voice attempt to get comment from Currituck County officials on this new twist in the litigation was unsuccessful. But when the Voice wrote about the suit in 2019, Currituck County Attorney Ike McRee emailed a response that said, “The plain language of the Occupancy Tax Act gives the Currituck County Board of Commissioners discretion to determine what constitutes ‘tourism-related expenditures’ and the Currituck County Board of Commissioners has exercised its judgment and discretion in accordance with law.”

In an email sent to the Voice after the announcement of the June 24 motion, Barbara Marzetti, president of the Corolla Civic Association, wrote that the plaintiffs decided to file that motion “after reviewing discovery responses provided by the County, as well as deposition transcripts of County officials. Plaintiffs feel that their motion to have OT expenditures on General Public Safety services declared illegal is supported by this evidence.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from The Outer Banks Voice

Kevin Bradley, chairman of the Roanoke Island Historical Association, or RIHA, recalls that the organization would receive occasional complaints about its use of non-Native Americans to play Native American roles in “The Lost Colony” play every year.

But for a number of reasons, including the challenge of finding enough Native Americans to fill out the cast, the practice had continued.

Then, two things happened to change that. One, according to Bradley, was the cancellation of last year’s play during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed for some longer-range thinking and “a chance to really do a gut check.” The second was a petition on change.org that started last year and was initiated by Adam Griffin. The headline was blunt: “Stop Performing Racist, Redface Performances of ‘The Lost Colony’ in Manteo NC.”

A dialogue ensued, both with Griffin and Native American tribes, and as a result, there will be numerous changes when the curtain rises on the new season of the Lost Colony on May 28. One of them will be the hiring of about 20 Native Americans to fill out those roles this year.

When he first got wind of the Griffin petition, Bradley acknowledges that, “I remember thinking, ‘this is tough.’ (But) you have to ask this question about any criticism, ‘is it true?’ And much of what he wrote is true.’’

The change.org petition, which currently has about 680 signers, made the charge that, “The Lost Colony, along with those above productions, are offensive, inaccurate, and perpetuate a false narrative of what our country’s history looks like.”

More specifically, Griffin asserted that “The Lost Colony” has, since its debut in 1937, “depicted Native Americans, with the casting of non-Native Americans. They take it a step further, in ‘bronzing/painting’ the actors so that they appear ‘like-Native Americans.’ This is a form of blackface, coined as ‘redface.'”

That led us to “open a dialogue with Adam,” said Bradley. “A lot of people say he called us out. I don’t think so. I really think he called us in.”

There was also an increasing dialogue with Harvey Godwin, chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina who is also now on the RIHA Board of Directors, that changed some thinking about the play.

“He was wonderful. He was gracious,” said Bradley. “After a few conversations with Harvey, we realized we had some blind spots” in the show. “The bigger change for us has been the ongoing collaboration.”

Asked if, other than the use of Native American actors, playgoers will notice differences in the 2021 version of the Lost Colony, Bradley does not hesitate. “I think in the first ten seconds of the show, the audience will know there’s a difference,” he said. “I mean immediately.”

“We’re not shifting the focus off the colonists,” he added. “As it relates to the Native American component, that’s where the changes will really take place.”

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

Dare County Board of Commissioners approved during its regular meeting Monday spending $814,640 in Tourism Impact Grant awards on seven projects including building restrooms for the Manteo Town Common Project and range improvements at the Outer Banks Gun Club.

As explained by Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Executive Director Lee Nettle, who appeared before the commissioners at the meeting to request consent for the expenditures, the Tourism Impact Grant awards are designed to fund services that are needed because of the impact of tourism. After a few minutes of discussion, the appropriation won unanimous approval.

The $814,640 includes approval of the following:

• $342,640 for the Hatteras Village Multi-Modal Pathway. The funds will help construct a 3.19-mile, 5-foot wide loop along N.C. 12 and Eagle Pass Road through Hatteras Village.
•  $200,000 for Meekins Field Community Park in Kill Devil Hills. The park will include two multi-use playing fields, playground equipment, three picnic shelters, restroom facilities, splash pad, walking paths, tennis courts, an art wall, expanded parking and upgraded lighting.
•  $150,000 for Manteo Town Common Phase II. This phase involves the construction of restrooms, informational kiosks, seating and other amenities including Wi-Fi service.
•  $40,000 for the sidewalk at Admiral Street in Nags Head. This project will build a safe pedestrian connection along the north side of Admiral Street by the MP 10.5 Shoppes Access from the traffic light at N.C. 158 to Wrightsville Avenue.
•  $30,000 for the Nags Head Skate Park. This involves the design and installation of new skate park elements on the western half of the skate park to better incorporate functional public art and accommodate all abilities and ages.
• $40,000 for environmental improvements to the Baum Bridge boating area. This will replace part of the parking lot as pervious concrete and install pervious geogrid pavement area to protect and restore water quality and minimize the negative impacts of the boating access on the waters of the Roanoke Sound.
•  $12,000 for the Outer Banks Gun Club for range improvements. This will help replace security cameras; install a parking area to help avoid parking on the soft grass or muddy areas; install a concrete pad on the new Trap field; and install a carport structure.

Also during the meeting, the four incumbents were sworn in: Bob Woodard and Steve House, who both faced opposition, and Danny Couch and Wally Overman, who were unopposed.  Woodard and Overman were then quickly, and without opposition, re-elected as board chair and vice-chair, respectively.

In his remarks at the opening of the meeting, Woodard — who along with the other commissioners was wearing a mask on the podium — made an impassioned argument for people to follow the mask-wearing, social-distancing and hand-washing guidelines in light of the current spike of COVID-19.

Noting that the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests in the week ending on Friday, Dec. 4 had reached 7.17% and that about one-third of all the Dare County cases since March were reported in November, Woodard stated that, “I once again plead with everyone out therein the community to please do your part.”

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

Dare County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved at a special morning meeting Monday a settlement in the case of Bailey v. Dare County that would, in future public health emergencies, classify nonresident property owners, or NRPOs, the same way as residents and allow them the same entry into the county.

In that lawsuit, brought in federal court, the plaintiffs said their Constitutional rights were violated when county officials initially denied nonresident property owners access to the county during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In approving the settlement, Dare County also agreed to pay $16,500 in legal costs, and County Manager Bobby Outten told the commissioners that the settlement was not an admission of fault or liability on the part of the county.

The decision to restrict access to nonresident property owners was a controversial one that spawned fierce and often angry debates on social media and elsewhere.

In an interview, Dare County Manager Bobby Outten stressed that the settlement only applies to public health emergencies as defined by the World Health Organization and would not include hurricanes or other natural disasters.

“There was no point in carrying it further,” he said of the Bailey v. Dare County litigation. When asked why the county had decided to settle, Outten said that original modeling had suggested that the return of nonresident property owners during the pandemic would have overloaded the health care system here. He acknowledged that the modeling had proved to be inaccurate.

“In hindsight,” he added, “the number of people who would have returned as non-resident property owners would not have been significant” in terms of worsening the COVID-19 outbreak in the county.

In a brief interview, plaintiffs’ attorney Chuck Kitchen said his clients were happy with the settlement agreed to by the Dare County Board of Commissioners and, “We are happy that this reaffirms that the Constitution is still in effect, even during a pandemic.”

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

MANTEO — Without fanfare, and with only one resident speaking during public comment, the Dare County Board of Commissioners approved four zoning amendments as part of a continuing effort to generate what is now called “essential housing” in the county.

About 11 months after first approving a series of zoning amendments to encourage more affordable housing in a market where the high costs discourage workers from taking jobs here, the commissioners tried again by unanimous voice vote at their Sept. 16 meeting.

The new amendments, which apply to unincorporated parts of the county, allow cluster home developments in eight new zoning districts not included in last year’s amendments. They include an educational housing option, associated with county educational institutions, that would be available in 25 zoning districts. The conditional use subdivisions amendment entails reducing the minimum lot size to 12,500 square feet with a dwelling size limitation of 1,200 square feet. Another change allows housing in conjunction with a commercial use in 17 commercial zoning districts.

In brief remarks, several commissioners at the Sept. 16 meeting lauded the amendments as an important step toward dealing with a very persistent problem.

Commissioner Ervin Bateman recounted one comment he had heard to the effect of “People have been talking about this for a long time, and nobody’s doing anything about it.”

“This is a big step,” he added.

Commissioner Danny Couch said, “We have been a long time in the making of this,” while acknowledging that “it’s not perfect.”

It was in June 2018 when the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce made a presentation to  Dare commissioners asking them to consider zoning changes, including allowing accessory dwelling units and more multi-family structures and increasing dwelling densities per acre. Last October, they approved those amendments.

during the Aug. 19 commissioners’ meeting, the county publicly tried some new terminology to describe the goal as building “essential housing.” The term “affordable housing” had long been discarded and other variations, such as simply “housing” or “year-round housing” or “workforce housing,” failed to gain much traction.

For the record, the one person speaking at the public hearing on Sept. 16 politely opposed the measure.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Sentinel

NAGS HEAD — Gov. Roy Cooper’s announcement Sept. 21 that he would veto House Bill 56 spares the Outer Banks’ 8-year-old plastic bag ban that the legislature marked for repeal when it passed the measure in August. But for how long?

The Democratic governor’s decision was welcomed by many in Dare County, where the effort to repeal the bag ban had spawned official resolutions, lobbying campaigns and calls for a referendum as a way of registering public opposition to the repeal.

“The town definitely did not want to see the removal of the bag ban,” Nags Head Mayor Bob Edwards said, applauding the governor’s decision. “It’s bad for our environment, our ocean life, and is a general nuisance.”

Outer Banks Surfrider Foundation official Ivy Ingram said, “Dare County citizens and local leaders have been very vocal about supporting the current ban in place and, while the legislature ignored us, it’s nice to be heard in Raleigh.”

Given the Republican control of the General Assembly, Cooper’s veto could be overridden. Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, and Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Dare, both representing Dare County in the General Assembly and two key movers behind the bag ban repeal, have voiced opposition to the governor’s veto.

The bag ban repeal was inserted into HB 56 with a laundry list of other environmental regulations, particularly one that would provide further funding for studies on the situation regarding GenX, the unregulated chemical found in the Cape Fear River and Wilmington water systems.

In explaining his veto, Cooper argued that HB 56 failed to adequately address drinking water safety, adding that “it provides no resources to the state agencies charged with protecting drinking water and preventing illegal chemicals from being discharged into our rivers.” He also addressed the bag issue, saying that HB 56 “repeals a local plastic bag ban supported by local governments and businesses that was passed to protect the environment.”

In their responses, Cook and Boswell focused on other components of HB 56, but said nothing about the bag ban repeal.

Boswell said she was “extremely disappointed” with the veto, noting that the legislation “provides nearly a half-million dollars to begin dealing with the pollutant GenX, which was discharged earlier this year in the Cape Fear River.” She also said the bill establishes a Coastal Storm Damage Mitigation Fund, and accused the governor of “placing politics ahead of public safety.”

Cook said, “Gov. Cooper needs to focus less on growing the government bureaucracy that has thus far failed to resolve this crisis – and move towards seeking solutions that ensure clean, safe drinking water. Without hesitation, I encourage my Senate colleagues to override his veto.”

In Dare County, the bag ban repeal debate has pitted many local elected officials and residents against Cook and Boswell, who have argued the ban was not effective, and that the bigger problem of littering is what needs to be addressed.

At the Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting on Sept. 5, residents denounced the ban’s repeal. A common theme was that the county’s legislators had ignored the community’s views on the issue.

“It’s a shame that our representatives in Raleigh, specifically Beverly Boswell and Bill Cook, ignored the wishes of their constituency here in Dare County and instead deferred to corporate lobbyists,” Kitty Hawk resident Bob Healy said, echoing the sentiments of others at the meeting.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Sentinel, a weekly Dare County newspaper that is published in print every Wednesday and headquartered at 2910 South Croatan Highway, Nags Head. Aside from the print paper, the Sentinel also produces a continually updated digital version at www.obsentinel.com.