An Eleventh Avenue homeowner has submitted a Zoning Text Amendment that would reduce the minimum required residential side- and rear-yard setbacks by five feet for pool-related equipment, small accessory structures, and HVACs.

The Southern Shores Planning Board will hold a public hearing tomorrow on proposed ZTA 26-01, during its 5 p.m. meeting at the Pitts Center. The meeting will be live-streamed on the Town’s You Tube site.

For the meeting agenda, see https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/13541

Daniel S. Osman of 39 Eleventh Ave. submitted the ZTA application after learning that a pool cabana he recently constructed violates the current rear-yard setback requirement of 25 feet, according to a report by Deputy Town Manager/Planning Director Wes Haskett in the record.  

For Mr. Haskett’s staff report, see https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/13556

(Subsequent to this posting, we heard from a homeowner that no pool-related construction has occurred on Mr. Osman’s property.)

Town Code section 36-202(d) specifies the dimensional requirements for development on lots in the RS-1 district, which is the low-density single-family residential district in which most of us live, including Mr. Osman.

Among the many requirements it sets forth to promote stable low-density development and to protect the coastal environment (e.g., minimum lot size, maximum lot coverage), section 36-202(d) mandates the minimum side and rear building setbacks. Currently, the minimum side-yard setback is 15 feet, and the minimum rear-yard setback is 25 feet. (See sections 36-202(d)(4) and (d)(5), respectively.)

Mr. Osman’s ZTA 26-01 proposes to add a caveat to each of these sections that reads:

“Notwithstanding [these requirements], for pool equipment, pool sheds, accessory structures up to 150 sf, and mechanical equipment (HVAC),” the minimum side-yard setback shall be 10 feet and the minimum rear-yard setback shall be 20 feet.

See ZTA 26-01 at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/13566

According to Dare County GIS, Mr. Osman’s Eleventh Avenue property consists of a 3095-square-foot house situated toward the rear of a 20,500-square-foot lot. (The minimum lot size in the RS-1 district is 20,000 square feet.)

The house was positioned and built in 1984, probably with more thought given to privacy than to the addition of a swimming pool.

Mr. Osman certainly has sufficient lot space for a pool cabana, but he apparently does not have back-yard and/or side-yard space for one in the location he desires, unless he violates or changes the setback ordinance.

Mr. Osman’s dilemma is not made clear in the ZTA 26-01-related materials on the Town website. The size and cost of the cabana, and the cost of its removal, are not specified. We also wonder if Mr. Osman intends to include his cabana in the language, “pool equipment,” or in his “accessory structures” language.

According to Mr. Haskett’s report, the current 25-foot rear setback requirement has been in place since 1981, meaning since the first Town Code was enacted.

The Town of Southern Shores had a 10-foot side-yard setback until 2000, when the Town Council enacted the current 15-foot side-yard setback, after housing development began to increase dramatically in the 1990s.

Mr. Haskett points out in his report that the definition of “yard”—which is required open space—can be found in Town Code section 36-57.

As we read the definition, and it is confusing, structures up to 30 inches in height are permitted in a yard’s open space, as are enumerated objects such as fences, walls, poles, dune decks, and other “customary yard accessories,” provided they meet height limitations and any other requirements of the Town’s Zoning Ordinance.       

A pool cabana is clearly outside the scope of this definition’s permissible “accessories,” as are most of the other structures included in ZTA 26-01 and what we imagine “pool equipment” might be.

Another ambiguity exists in the language “mechanical equipment (HVAC).”

Does this phrase mean all mechanical equipment, such as HVACs, or does it mean HVACs only? If it means the latter, then the words “mechanical equipment” should be deleted and the acronym HVAC should be spelled out.

EXCEPTION TO LONG-ESTABLISHED, WELL-KNOWN RULES    

Mr. Osman is not the first homeowner to seek an exception to Town Code restrictions to enable him to carry out his desired plans for his property.

We recall homeowners introducing a ZTA within the past five years to decrease the maximum required lot coverage, so they could cover more of their lot. Their amendment failed.

Mr. Osman’s ZTA seeks to benefit him personally, but the Planning Board, in considering whether to recommend its approval to the Town Council or not, must take into account how enactment of this amendment would affect all properties in RS-1 and how it would affect the appearance, character, and dynamics of the community.

Does it benefit the whole or just the one? What adverse outcomes might its approval provoke?

Mr. Haskett recommends in his report that the ZTA be approved, provided it is revised to eliminate pool sheds and to limit acceptable accessory structures to 144 square feet, or 12-by-12.

We respectfully disagree, especially as the ZTA concerns HVAC units, which are noisy, particularly when running air conditioning full-blast in the summertime.

As the ZTA is written, we believe other “mechanical equipment” also might slip by, equipment that might be even noisier than an HVAC.

We do not see how allowing potential nuisance structures to be erected five feet closer to adjacent properties “preserves local character,” as is the policy in the Town’s Land Use Plan.

We believe that a better approach for Mr. Osman to take is a request for a variance. We make no judgment, however, on whether or not he can meet the exacting standards for being granted a variance. (See Town Code section 36-367.)

It is up to the Planning Board to assess whether there is a Pandora’s Box here that should not be opened.

**

The Planning Board also will hold a public hearing on Town Code Amendment 2026-01, which is an overhaul of the requirements in Town Code Chapter 32, “Utilities,” concerning wastewater systems.

The Town of Southern Shores submitted TCA 2026-01.

See TCA 2026-01 at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/13561

By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 4/19/26

Delegates from the 10 counties* represented by the Albemarle Rural Planning Organization (ARPO), which include Dare and Currituck, voted yesterday in Hertford to maintain the “regional priority” status of the Mid-Currituck Bridge project, thereby preserving the State’s committed funding of $173 million for another budgetary year.

The vote was 6-1, according to CBS affiliate WTKR (channel 3), which did not elaborate further.   

“We’re asking for one more budget cycle,” Southern Shores Mayor Elizabeth Morey told representatives from the N.C. Dept. of Transportation who attended the Town Council’s special meeting Tuesday, which was more of an information session than the public hearing that the Town had promoted in a news release.

The ARPO gave her the year. But the extension of the priority designation does not come with any more guaranteed State funds for the seven-mile-long, two-lane toll bridge that would connect Aydlett on the Currituck mainland to Corolla.

Tuesday, David Wasserman, Deputy Director of the NCDOT Division of Planning, identified a $832 million shortfall between the current $1.2 billion estimated cost of the Mid-Currituck Bridge and the State’s committed funding ($173 million) plus projected toll revenues.

His calculation factored in $195 million for the net cash flow from tolling operations, which is less than the $238 million in toll revenue that was estimated when the NCDOT approved the Mid-Currituck Bridge in 2014 for funding during the 10-year budget that started in 2016.

Proponents of the Mid-Currituck Bridge have advocated for higher tolls being imposed than NCDOT has calculated, but neither Mr. Wasserman nor his colleague, Ronnie Sawyer, Deputy Division Engineer for NCDOT-Division One, who also attended the meeting, responded to inquiries Tuesday about the bridge’s toll rate.

We have heard suggestions made by local elected officials and Dare residents of $50 to $100 tolls for a one-way trip. NCDOT’s initial discussions about the toll rate focused on $15.  

Only two Southern Shores homeowners spoke while the NCDOT representatives were at the meeting. Hand-picked by Mayor Morey, they were Geri Sullivan of 10th Avenue, near Duck Road, and Jim LeBlanc, of South Dogwood Trail. Both addressed safety problems posed by the summer weekend traffic congestion and the inconvenience of coming and going in Southern Shores, not the funding gap.

For organizational purposes, it is helpful to know that the NCDOT has 14 highway divisions statewide, and that Division One is comprised of 14 counties in Northeastern North Carolina, including the 10 served by the ARPO.

An NCDOT “Region” is a broader category that encompasses multiple divisions. Dare and Currituck counties are in Region A, which, Mr. Wasserman said, has 8 percent of the State’s population. There are seven regions: A through G.

****  

As we learned Tuesday, the NCDOT operates with 10-year budgets for transportation projects across the state. The funding for the 2026-2035 budget is $32 billion, an amount determined by the N.C. General Assembly that does not begin to meet the need, according to Mr. Wasserman.

During the upcoming additional “status quo” year for the Mid-Currituck Bridge, he said, NCDOT will continue to “work through legal challenges” and seek additional alternative funds, chiefly federal grants.  

The time, effort, and money the State has spent on legal challenges already have been significant.

Since NCDOT’s 2014 approval, the bridge project has been beset by litigation initiated by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Currituck County residents who formed non-profit organizations to qualify for the SELC’s representation.

Litigation, which is still ongoing, has prevented the bridge from going forward. In the interim, the cost of the Mid-Currituck Bridge has skyrocketed.

While the SELC has not won in court on any of its claims, it has succeeded in delaying the bridge construction and “upping the ante” on the bridge.

NCDOT has already spent an estimated $63 million in engineering, litigation, and other costs for the Mid-Currituck Bridge, according to Mr. Wasserman. No one wants this much taxpayer money to go for naught.

The ARPO could have voted to change the bridge’s status from priority, also known as “Scheduled for Delivery,” to “Funded for Preliminary Engineering Only.” Had it done so, the Mid-Currituck Bridge would have had to undergo another ranking process, the result of which would have determined the NCDOT funds for which it might be eligible.

Also, the $173 million in allocated funds would have been available for other selected projects in Division One of NCDOT.

Mr. Wasserman presented a PowerPoint on Tuesday that explained how the State determines which transportation projects get funded and where the funding comes from.

It is for such processes that the word bureaucracy was coined. Not surprisingly, Mr. Wasserman and Mr. Sawyer referred to funding sources as “buckets” rather than by their technical names.  

As we understand it, before a transportation project can be considered for funding from one or more of three buckets—Statewide Mobility, Region, or Division Needs—it must be quantitatively evaluated by the State according to criteria such as benefit/cost; safety; accessibility/connectivity; and congestion.

Mr. Wasserman’s PowerPoint data show the Mid-Currituck Bridge having scored high enough for funding in the Division One Needs category, but not in the other two.

It might qualify for Region A funding if both the ARPO and NCDOT Division One each assigned it additional points, but its current funding is only from the Division bucket. It would never qualify for Statewide Mobility funding.

In the 2026-2035 budget for the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), Mr. Wasserman’s data show, only about $800 million is available in Region A for all projects. The same is true for Division One: $800 million for all projects.

Available “Regional Impact” funding is apportioned according to the region’s percentage of the State population, and Northeastern North Carolina is sparsely populated compared to other regions where urban areas are located.

We will leave our explanation there and hope that we have not added to the bureaucratic confusion. The bottom line is cost.

* The 10 counties are Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington. The other four counties in Division One are Bertie, Hertford, Martin, and Northampton.

By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 4/16/26

The special session about the Mid-Currituck Bridge scheduled within the Southern Shores Town Council’s regular meeting tomorrow, at 10 a.m., in the Pitts Center, is being held a day before a critical vote on the bridge’s future by delegates from 10 counties in Northeastern North Carolina.

The Albemarle Rural Planning Organization (ARPO), which serves Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington countries, will vote Wednesday in Hertford on whether to keep the bridge project as a “regional priority” or to allow it to go back into the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) to re-compete for funding with other regional transportation projects.

If the Mid-Currituck Bridge, which currently enjoys a commitment of $173 million in State funding, were to lose its priority, it essentially would return to Square One after decades of effort and advocacy by proponents, failed litigation by opponents, pre-construction meetings and permitting applications, and so much more that has been necessary to launch the project.

We recall speaking at a public hearing about the bridge in Aydlett, which would be its mainland entry point, about 1997.

Thirty years ago, the traffic heading north on N.C. Hwy 12 in Southern Shores on summer weekends was an inconvenience, not the disaster it has become, and the cut-through route on South Dogwood Trail had not been discovered. Duck also was not an incorporated town, and Corolla had just started to boom beyond its infrastructure capabilities.

The ARPO, which develops and advances transportation planning for the 10-county region, collaborates in that process with District One of the N.C. Dept. of Transportation. District One covers a 14-county region that overlaps the ARPO’s 10 counties.

As previously reported, representatives from the NCDOT will be present at the Town Council’s special meeting to update the public on the status of the bridge and to answer questions. (See The Beacon, 4/9/26)

In its resolution supporting the “continued inclusion” of the bridge project in the NCDOT’s STIP, the Town Council acknowledges the profound funding gap between the State’s committed $173 million funding and projected toll revenues and the current cost estimate to build the bridge of $1.2 billion, and asks NCDOT to keep the bridge in STIP as a prioritized project long enough for “stakeholders,” including the N.C. Turnpike Authority and regional partners, to identify new revenue sources, such as federal grants.

The financial shortfall seems overwhelming, but so does its hasty abandonment.   

The Southern Shores Town Council would like to fill the chairs in the Pitts Center for the meeting and hear from a long line of residents at the public lectern.

If you cannot make it to the meeting, you may live-stream it on the Southern Shores You Tube site at https://www.youtube.com/c/SouthernShores (be sure to click on “Live” at the top).

LONGER HOURS FOR LEAVING UNATTENDED TENTS ON BEACH

We mentioned in our previous post about Tuesday’s meeting that a Town Code Text Amendment (TCA) on “tents” would be considered by the Council. This TCA turns out to be about tents and other belongings being left on the beach overnight.

Currently, Town Code section 34-55(b)(2) prohibits leaving unattended personal articles on the beach, such as poles, tents, chairs, cabanas, umbrellas, volleyball nets, and “any other personal property items,” between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. TCA 2026-2 would amend the ordinance to prohibit personal belongings being left unattended between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The longer daytime hours “better reflect how people actually use the beach,” according to the Town staff’s recommendation.  

We would expect this amendment to sail through.

****

You may access the Town Council’s meeting packet at https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/soshoresnc-pubu/MEET-Packet-eafc09aadc914edfa3132352db910d68.pdf

An item on the Consent Agenda, which usually consists of routine, non-controversial items that do not require extensive discussion, caught our eye.

It is a resolution by the Town Council in opposition to the N.C. General Assembly’s proposal to amend the N.C. Constitution to require the State legislature to limit the amount local governments can increase property taxes.

According to a Town staff agenda item in the meeting packet, “If enacted, this policy would automatically lower property tax rates when property values rise during revaluations to prevent local governments from gaining a ‘windfall.’”

Known as Bill Draft 2025-MCfy-226, this change in property tax-rate setting would need to be approved by three-fifths of the members in both the N.C. House of Delegates and the N.C. Senate and approved by statewide public referendum in order to become law.

If it comes out of the General Assembly, this constitutional amendment would be on the Nov. 3 general selection ballot. It is currently in the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform.    

See the Bill Draft at https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewDocSiteFile/105417.

We would have liked to know the background behind this apparently audacious maneuver by the General Assembly and have been unable to find anything online.

As you might expect, the Town Council speaks in its resolution to such tax-rate decisions being left to the judgment and discretion of locally elected officials, who know their communities’ needs and the cost of services and are accountable to their constituents.

By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 4/13/26

The Southern Shores Historic Flat Top Tour features 13 iconic mid-century cottages this year and takes place in just two weeks, Sat., April 25, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are $10 apiece and may be purchased online at http://bit.ly/4lnhTab (service fee added) or on the day of the tour, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Flat Top Tour’s box-office tent in the Southern Shores Crossing, 1 Ocean Blvd. (Cash or check only.)

Shore Coffee Roasters, which is in the Crossing, is offering all ticket holders a complimentary cup of coffee on tour day.

The flat top tour is self-guided. Maps and cottage histories will be emailed with tickets that are purchased online and may be picked up at the box-office tent and in the participating cottages.

While you may access many of these distinctive flat-roofed cottages by parking in one spot and walking, you will have to drive to see all of them.

There will be “Tour Parking” signs on the tour route, and attendees will be able to park on the Southern Shores side streets without a town permit, but not on N.C. Hwy. 12.

The 13 cottages on the tour, from south to north, are:

• 13 Skyline Road
• 78 Skyline Road
• 43 Ocean Blvd.
• 69 Ocean Blvd.
• 113 Ocean Blvd.
• 23 Porpoise Run
• 156 Wax Myrtle Trail
• 159 Wax Myrtle Trail (shown above)
• 157 Ocean Blvd.
• 169 Ocean Blvd.
• 170 Ocean Blvd.
• 18 East Dogwood Trail
• 218 Ocean Blvd.

Photographs of all of the cottages are depicted on the Tour’s website in roughly the same order. 

Artist, real estate developer, and visionary Frank Stick, who bought in 1946 the 2,600-acre tract of untouched land that he later named Southern Shores, designed the flat top to withstand the harsh Outer Banks weather and to be affordable. He used materials in the area, such as beach-sand-and-mortar building blocks and juniper for the interior walls and ceilings, and sought to blend his clean-lined, practical, and unostentatious houses into the natural coastal environment.

Like cottages he had seen in Florida, Stick built the flat tops on the ground, not on pilings. Beach houses in Southern Shores were not built on pilings until the 1970s.      

We thank all of the owners who maintain Southern Shores’ remaining flat tops and thus preserve some of our town’s architectural and social history.

Proceeds from the flat top tour benefit the Outer Banks Community Foundation Flat Top Preservation Fund. For more information about the tour and the fund, please contact sshistoricflattops@gmail.com.

The tour will be held, rain or shine.

A FINAL REMINDER . . . BULK TRASH PICKUP IS NEXT FRIDAY

The spring bulk trash collection in town occurs next Friday, April 17. Items for pickup should be out by the roadside the night before.

For the do’s and don’ts of the items you may set out for removal, see:

https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/community/page/bulk-waste-collection-semi-annual

Some of the “don’t” items we routinely see by the road are lumber, building materials, windows, screens, carpets, and rugs. We also suggest that you put items near the road so Bay Disposal workers do not overlook them.

AVOID EAST DOGWOOD TRAIL: We strongly urge you to avoid using East Dogwood Trail in the Southern Shores woods now. It is being repaired and resurfaced and is subject to closures without notice. We have seen too many drivers wishing to turn right on to East Dogwood Trail from South Dogwood Trail compelled to turn around because of a road closure. It’s best not to assume that you will be able to use Hickory Trail.  

THE SOUTHERN SHORES BEACON, 4/11/26

A special presentation dedicated to discussing the status of the Mid-Currituck Bridge, which the State of North Carolina announced in February it could no longer commit to funding, will be held at the beginning of the Southern Shores Town Council’s meeting Tuesday, at 10 a.m., in the Pitts Center, according to a Town news item released today.

Mayor Elizabeth Morey is encouraging residents to attend this meeting “and make their voices heard,” according to the release.

Representatives from the N.C. Dept. of Transportation will be present to update the State’s position on the bridge and answer questions, according to the release.

Local media are expected to attend, as are local N.C. legislative representatives.

Bridge funding, according to the release, “is currently under review through the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and could be reallocated if strong regional support is not demonstrated.”

Town officials are encouraging residents “to attend the meeting and voice support for maintaining the project’s funding while additional funding sources continue to be explored.”

The State had pledged to commit $173 million to the construction of the 7-mile-long, two-lane bridge, but it is questioning that commitment in light of the reported estimated cost of the bridge skyrocketing to $1.2 billion. Alternate funding to make up the shortfall is a key issue for NCDOT.

According to the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, the Town Council intends to approve a resolution in support of “the continued inclusion” of the bridge project in the NCDOT STIP. It would like residents to show their support of the Mid-Currituck Bridge in public comments.

The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting is available on the Town website, but as of this writing, the meeting packet has not been posted.

Among other noteworthy items on the agenda are:

• The introduction of the Town’s new (and first-ever) Public Information Officer and Administrative Assistant, Mary Nichols
• An update by Town Manager Cliff Ogburn of the East Dogwood Trail Reconstruction project, which has necessitated road closures this week
• A discussion of an increase in the speed limit on N.C. Hwy. 12 (Ocean Boulevard and Duck Road) from 35 mph to 40 mph in one stretch of the road (see below*)
• A discussion of a Town Code Text Amendment concerning tents, presumably on the beach (the text amendment will be in the meeting packet)

See the meeting agenda at https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/soshoresnc-pubu/MEET-Agenda-eafc09aadc914edfa3132352db910d68.pdf

We will provide more relevant information about the meeting after its packet of materials is posted online.

CONTINUED RETREAT AFTER THE COUNCIL MEETING . . .

The Town had previously announced that the Town Council would hold a special meeting Tuesday at 11 a.m., after its regular meeting, to continue its discussion of agenda items that it carried over from its March 4 retreat.

The starting time for this meeting has not yet been changed, but we would expect it to be. According to this meeting agenda, the following items are to be discussed:

• Stormwater maintenance at northern town line
• Utility work in the town right-of-way
• Multimodal planning
• Canal maintenance
• Dogwood tree planting

*Consensus emerged at the retreat to keep the 35 mph speed limit on N.C. Hwy. 12 from the town’s southern border to Porpoise Run; to increase the limit to 40 mph from Porpoise Run to Sea Oats Trail; and to maintain the 35 mph limit from Sea Oats Trail to the northern border with Duck. The Council also discussed adding no-passing restrictions.

(See minutes of the March 4 retreat at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/13506.)

SURVEY FOR N.C. RESILIENT COASTAL COMMUNITIES PROGRAM

The Town’s news item this morning also seeks residents’ opinions in a survey for the N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP), which seeks to identify flooding and coastal hazard concerns and develop strategies to protect Southern Shores and make it more resilient.

You may access the short survey here: https://www.inspire-engagement.com/southern-shores-rccp.

Mr. Ogburn will give an RCCP update during his staff report at Tuesday’s meeting.

By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 4/9/26

The Southern Shores Beacon is no longer in a position to research and write investigative stories. We now aspire to give our readers a heads-up on important issues and to direct them to where they may obtain more information.  

For a thorough analysis of the current financial status of the Mid-Currituck Bridge, see Catherine Kozak’s excellent March 9 article in the Coastal Review, at https://coastalreview.org/2026/03/new-cost-study-puts-proposed-mid-currituck-bridge-at-1-2b/.

Ms. Kozak reports that the estimated construction costs for the bridge now “hover around $1.2 billion.”

To read a Mid-Currituck Bridge traffic and revenue report prepared by the N.C. Turnpike Authority and Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. and issued in September 2025, go to https://coastalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/MCB_2025-TR-Report_Sep292025_wAppendix-1.pdf.

BY THE SOUTHERN SHORES BEACON, 3/10/26

Much to the “surprise, amazement, shock, and dismay of everyone” who attended a recent Albemarle regional meeting, the N.C. Dept. of Transportation (NCDOT) announced that “a financial analysis for the Mid-Currituck Bridge shows that the current [construction] plans are not feasible,” according to Southern Shores Town Councilwoman Paula Sherlock, who reported on the development at the Council’s Wednesday meeting.

Two NCDOT representatives told attendees of a meeting of the Albemarle Rural Planning Organization (ARPO), Ms. Sherlock said, that the State proposes to “pull back the $173 million [it] has committed to the project and put us back in the position of re-competing for funding.”

“This is really a blow,” Ms. Sherlock continued, describing the move as “not totally a shut door,” but definitely an end to planned construction. The bridge “is not going anywhere,” she said.

The Councilwoman, who started her second four-year term on the Council last December, reported on the NCDOT’s announcement during the Town Council member comment period at the end of Wednesday’s meeting.

The Beacon got preliminary word of this dramatic turnabout and checked the NCDOT’s website for progress on the Mid-Currituck Bridge in late February. The estimated cost of the project was cited then as $1 billion. The website now states “TBA” as the estimated cost. (See https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/mid-currituck-bridge/Pages/default.aspx.)

The ARPO is a cooperative effort between the Albemarle Commission, which serves 10 counties in Northeastern North Carolina, including Dare and Currituck, and the NCDOT. Its purpose is to establish priorities and enhance transportation planning opportunities for rural areas. (See https://albemarlecommission.org.)

Ms. Sherlock attended the recent ARPO meeting with Town Deputy Manager/Planning Director Wes Haskett and plans to attend a financial brainstorming session set for next week.    

The ARPO will convene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 11, at the Albemarle Commission building, 523 S. Church St. in Hertford, N.C. to discuss the “ins and outs of funding” the Mid-Currituck Bridge, without the NCDOT money, according to Ms. Sherlock.

Commiserating about the long-term adverse consequences the NCDOT decision visits upon Southern Shores, Ms. Sherlock said: “It’s one thing to say bear with us for a couple of years and you will have a bridge. It’s something else to say there’s never going to be a Mid-Currituck Bridge, and you’re going to have to live with it . . . or not.”

We daresay that after decades of talk about the bridge, there are many Outer Banks residents who have long believed the latter to be true.

IN OTHER NEWS . . . Town Manager Cliff Ogburn reported that the East Dogwood Trail construction project is scheduled to be completed by May 8. Next week the construction will intensify and may result in temporary closures of the road, except for residents requiring access to their homes and emergency vehicles.

We emailed Mr. Ogburn yesterday about the trees that were removed last week and were informed that 12 trees of “varying sizes” were cut down. We have yet to receive a response from Mr. Ogburn about the reason for their removal, but we were reassured that the road will not be widened.  

By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 3/7/26

The Southern Shores Town Council will meet Wed., March 4, at 10 a.m., for its regular monthly meeting and then reconvene later that day, at 1 p.m., for its annual retreat. Both meetings will be held in the Pitts Center behind Town Hall.

For the morning meeting agenda and packet of materials, see:

https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/soshoresnc-pubu/MEET-Packet-1ba4a76811184af4852664e068e52c3b.pdf.

The public hearing for Zoning Text Amendment 25-06, which was introduced by the Southern Shores Civic Assn., will finally be held Wednesday morning after two postponements. (The Beacon posted its first article about the ZTA on 1/5/26; the SSCA subsequently withdrew it for fine-tuning.)

The proposed ZTA would amend Town Code sec. 36-57 to increase the Town’s current height limit for fences for “community recreational facilities” from six feet to 10 feet and establish that any such fence must be constructed “utilizing chain-link fabrication from the ground to the top of the fence.” (See pp. 36-38 of the meeting packet for the text of ZTA 25-06.)  

“Community recreational facilities” are defined in Town Code sec. 36-57 as recreational facilities owned and operated by not-for-profit entities, that “are constructed for, open to, and available for use by members, property owners, and their guests.” The SSCA is a non-profit organization.

ABOUT THE RETREAT: The purpose of the retreat, according to a Town announcement, is “to discuss the annual budget and long-term vision, goals, and strategies for the future.”

Among the budgetary issues to be discussed is the use of about $330,000 remaining in the Town’s $1 million FY 2025-26 budget for street maintenance and repair. At its Feb. 10 meeting, the Town Council approved the award of a contract for $639,698.20 to Barnhill Contracting Co. for reconstruction of a section of East Dogwood Trail.

The East Dogwood Trail project, which will be done by May, will address potholes, dips, and “undulations,” according to Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, from the Dick White Bridge east to about the foot of the hill. The project’s intent, Mr. Ogburn said at the February meeting, is to level out this section of East Dogwood Trail with substantial amounts of stone and asphalt.

The Town Manager also mentioned staffing issues, such as health insurance, as topics to be discussed at the retreat.

The retreat is an informal meeting that will not be live-streamed or videotaped. It has been customary for the Town Council at past retreats to recognize members of the public in attendance and to respond to their inquiries and other comments.

ABOUT THE LICENSE PLATE READER CAMERAS IN TOWN . . .

You may have heard Southern Shores Police Chief David Kole speak at the Town Council’s February meeting about his department’s use of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras in town or read about his presentation in a recent Outer Banks Voice article.  

The ALPR technology is known as Flock, for the manufacturer and operator of the surveillance which is doing business as Flock Safety.

See Wikipedia for background on the company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flock_Safety.

The SSPD has posted a “transparency portal” on the Town’s website to explain both the intended use, and the past use, of Flock cameras in Southern Shores.

Twelve such stationary cameras exist, although Chief Kole said at the Town Council meeting that one on Duck Woods Drive is broken.

This technology is to be used only for law enforcement purposes which, according to the transparency portal, include “criminal investigations, criminal arrests and prosecutions, locating missing or endangered persons (Amber/Silver Alerts), missing or stolen vehicles.”  

Flock allegedly does not identify any distinguishing features of the driver of a vehicle whose license plate is read, such as sex, race, and ethnicity, nor is facial recognition done. It also is not to be used for immigration or traffic enforcement.

To access the SSPD Transparency Portal, go to https://transparency.flocksafety.com/southern-shores-nc-pd.

Chief Kole also has posted a SSPD policy and procedure order that establishes guidelines for the use of ALPR units and their data by his department. See  https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/13401.

The SSPD’s policy is to purge ALPR data after 30 days, unless a longer retention period is justified for court or investigative purposes. N.C. law allows the retention of ALPR data for 90 days, after which they must be purged, absent a justifiable reason for their preservation.

This same technology was previously used in town to count vehicles traveling on the cut-through roads over the weekends, according to Chief Kole.

If you have any concerns about the Flock system, especially about protection of your privacy, we suggest you contact Chief Kole directly. As you’ll read in the Wikipedia excerpt, there has been Fourth Amendment and state-privacy-law litigation in other states over the misuse of such surveillance.

VOTE ON TUESDAY!

Don’t forget to vote in the Tuesday, March 3, primary, if you haven’t already voted early or by absentee ballot. The polling precinct for registered Southern Shores voters is the Pitts Center. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

You can still vote early today, until 7:30 p.m., and tomorrow, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall polls.

AND IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING, the springtime bulk waste collection will be FRIDAY, APRIL 17.

For a list of acceptable and unacceptable items for pickup, see:

https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/community/page/bulk-waste-collection-semi-annual

BY THE SOUTHERN SHORES BEACON, 2/27/26

Early voting for the March 3 primary starts Thursday and continues until Feb. 28 at the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall and the Dare County Administration Building in Manteo.

The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and on Saturday, Feb. 28, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dare County-registered voters may vote at either poll location. The Buxton voting site is not open for this election.

There are multiple Republican candidates running for their party’s nomination in multiple elections being contested in the primary, including for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the N.C. House and N.C. Senate, the Dare County Board of Commissioners (two seats), the Dare County Board of Education (one seat), the Dare County Sheriff, and the N.C. Court of Appeals.  

Because Dare County has been split into two districts for the N.C. House of Representatives – District 1 and new District 79—there are two Republican ballots for this primary. They are:

Sample Republican ballot including the House District 1 election (see above): https://www.darenc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/16767/639034833651700000

Sample Republican ballot including the House District 79 election: https://www.darenc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/16761/639034822705400000.

Voters who reside in Southern Shores are still in District 1, as are voters in Duck, a portion of Kitty Hawk, Colington, Manns Harbor, Stumpy Point, and East Lake.

All remaining Dare County voters, including those who reside in a portion of Kitty Hawk, and in Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, are in District 79.

There are only two contested Democratic primary elections: The most prominent is for U.S. Senate, in which six candidates are running, including former Governor Roy Cooper; the second is a contest for the N.C. Court of Appeals in which two candidates are running. This appellate court seat is a different one from the one on the ballot in the Republican primary.

See Democratic sample ballot: https://www.darenc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/16765/639034831989470000.

There are no Democratic candidates running in the Nov. 4 general election for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 1, which includes Dare County, or for any of the other offices being contested in the Republican primary—except the U.S. Senate and the N.C. Senate—so whoever wins these primaries will take office, assuming no reason for withdrawal.

Democrat Melissa Zehner is running for the N.C. Senate, District 1.

‘UNAFFILIATED’ CAREER EDUCATOR NEEDS SIGNATURES TO BE ON BALLOT

One longtime educator is trying to bring a choice to voters for a seat on the Dare County Board of Education (“BOE”), which has three positions turning over.

Mary Robinson of Kitty Hawk, a former middle and high school teacher, assistant principal, and principal in Virginia, is busy collecting signatures on petitions to secure a nomination in the November general election as an “Unaffiliated Candidate” for the Dare BOE.

Ms. Robinson is vying to compete with Republican Richard Shope for the BOE’s District 3 seat, which represents Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores, and Duck. District 3 incumbent Matt Brauer, a Republican, chose not to run for another four-year term.

(Mr. Shope, who formerly was a fourth grade teacher at Kitty Hawk Elementary School, has no Republican challengers in the primary or a Democratic challenger in November.)

Ms. Robinson has been active locally with the Dare Education Fund, including serving on the Board of Directors for six years, 2 ½ years as president. 

To be on the ballot, Ms. Robinson (pictured above) must present the valid signatures of 4 percent of the total number of all registered Dare County voters, as of Jan. 1, 2026, to the Dare County Board of Elections by noon March 3, Primary Day.

This percentage computes to about 1300 ink signatures, according to Ms. Robinson’s campaign  workers, who are collecting signatures on petitions door-to-door and at the Island Bookstore, 3712 N. Croatan Hwy., in Kitty Hawk. (The bookstore is in the shopping strip with The Pony and the Boat restaurant.)

Dare County Board of Education elections became partisan in 2018 as the result of legislation ratified by both houses of the N.C. General Assembly. Because the ratified bill was “local” in nature—meaning that it applied to fewer than 15 counties in the state—it did not go to Governor Cooper, who likely would have vetoed it. It became law upon ratification.

In order for Unaffiliated candidates to have their names on the ballot in a partisan election, N.C. law requires them to secure nomination by petition. (See N.C. General Statutes sec. 163-122(a)(3).)

Your signature on Ms. Robinson’s petition signifies only that you support including her name on the November ballot. It is not a vote.

For more information about Ms. Robinson’s petition drive, contact maryrforboe@gmail.com.

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TOWN COUNCIL MEETING TOMORROW AT 10 A.M.: The Southern Shores Town Council will meet tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Pitts Center for its regular monthly meeting.

You may access the AGENDA & MEETING PACKET at: https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/soshoresnc-pubu/MEET-Packet-84356658e7a84b4ca6a9d3a57048639a.pdf

The Beacon will not cover this meeting.

At the January meeting, Mayor Elizabeth Morey announced that she would hold an informal MAYOR’S CHAT on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 4:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center. The Mayor and other members of the Town Council and Town staff who may attend will take questions and comments from the public.

(The chat was confirmed by a Town announcement issued later today.)

BY ANN G. SJOERDSMA, THE SOUTHERN SHORES BEACON, 2/9/26

Southern Shores Town offices will remain closed tomorrow, and trash and recycling will be picked up on Friday, according to an announcement issued this morning by the Town.

THERE WILL BE NO TRASH PICKUP TOMORROW, and the Town’s plan to collect trash and recycling on Friday is subject to change. The Beacon will notify you if the Town reschedules the collection.

We should have mentioned earlier that although the Town does not plow secondary roads, Town Public Works crews are clearing some roads for essential services. Please use extra caution in those areas.

FOURTH HOUSE COLLAPSES; BUXTON OCEANFRONT IS CLOSED

While we were writing our earlier post today, another unoccupied oceanfront house in Buxton apparently was collapsing into ocean, according to The Coastland Times, which reported the event occurred around 9 a.m.

Since Saturday, four houses in Buxton have fallen into the ocean, and the entire coastline of the small village on Hatteras Island is now closed to the public, according to The Coastland Times.

The Cape Hatteras National Seashore advises people to stay away from the collapse sites and the surrounding beach area because of potentially hazardous debris.

BY THE SOUTHERN SHORES BEACON, 2/2/26