Early voting for the Nov. 3rd general election starts Thursday., Oct. 15, and continues until Saturday, Oct. 31. You may vote at either of these two polling places:
Kill Devil Hills Town Hall, 102 Town Hall Drive in KDH
Dare County Administration Bldg., 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, in Manteo
Be sure to bring a photo ID.
Voting hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. There are no weekend hours during the early-voting period, but the polls will be open on Sat., Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
BOARD OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES’ FORUM OCT. 14, 7 p.m.
The Dare County League of Women Voters (LWV) will hold a forum Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Manteo for the candidates running in contested elections for seats on the Dare County Board of Education.
The forum will be held in the Dare Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Room, starting at 7 p.m. You may email questions for the candidates through Sunday to lwvdareforums@gmail.com. The LWV asks that you include your name and town of residence with your email. Questions will also be collected from the audience during the forums.
Republican Rich Shope and Write-in Candidate Mary Robinson are vying for the District 3 seat, which represents Kitty Hawk and Southern Shores on the seven-member Board.
Democrat Kelleta Govan and Republican Stephen Nichols are running for an open District 1 seat, one of two that represents the mainland and Roanoke Island on the Board.
Board of Education members serve four-year terms.
The District 3 election was an uncontested one until Ms. Robinson was officially certified in July by the Dare County Board of Elections as a write-in candidate.
Ms. Robinson initially sought to have her name placed on the November ballot as an unaffiliated candidate and submitted nearly 1400 petition signatures from Dare County voters in support of her candidacy, according to her campaign.
N.C. election law requires unaffiliated candidates to collect 4 percent of registered voters’ signatures in order to qualify for placement on the ballot. Because more than 100 signatures that Ms. Robinson submitted were deemed to be invalid, for reasons such as duplicate signatures and lapsed voter registration, she fell 32 signatures short of what was required.
No other Dare LWV forums are being held this election cycle because Republican candidates in contested local races did not make themselves available, or, as the League announced: There were “insufficient acceptances of our invitations.”
The League had hoped to have Republican incumbent Ervin Bateman and Democrat Aida Havel, who are running for Dare County commissioner, at large, and the candidates for the N.C. House of Representatives and the N.C. State Senate, District 1, participate in its traditional forums.
Republican Edward C. Goodwin is running against Democrat Miriam Rollin for the House seat, and Democrat Melissa Zehner is facing off against Republican Jerry Tillett for the Senate seat.
See the sample ballot, above, and on the Dare County Board of Elections website for the names of all candidates:
Be sure to turn your ballot over to see the referenda on the reverse that you are being asked to vote either “for” or “against.”
The N.C. General Assembly has proposed three amendments to the N.C. State Constitution, and Dare County has proposed an increase of 0.25 percent in the county sales and use tax, from the current 6.75 percent to 7.0 percent.
We will publish a post next week about the proposed constitutional amendments, which are being advocated by Republicans and opposed by Democrats.
PARADE OF HOMES, OCT. 8-10: We are in the middle of the 2026 Parade of Homes, sponsored by the Outer Banks Home Builders Assn. This year’s parade features 18 properties, 15 of which are residential, including two in Southern Shores: new houses at 35 Ocean View Loop and 109 High Dune Loop.
This photograph taken 11 years ago of coastal flooding in Kitty Hawk is for illustrative purposes only. We could not find any photos online of flooding in Southern Shores. (Credit to youtube.com)
The Southern Shores Town Council apparently will approve a beach nourishment project for next year when it approves its consent agenda at its 10 a.m. meeting tomorrow at the Pitts Center.
Contrary to what residents may have been led to believe by Town Council members’ comments at meetings this year, the Council will neither publicly discuss the need for beach re-nourishment in Southern Shores nor vote on the town’s inclusion in the 2027 project with Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, and Duck. It’s already a done deal.
(We know The Voice has already treated it that way, but the Town Council had not yet spoken definitively in an open meeting.)
Beach nourishment is the top prioritized project of the Town’s “resiliency” strategy plan, a draft report of which is in the Council’s consent agenda. According to that draft, the Town will nourish the entire Southern Shores oceanfront, regardless of need, every five to seven years at an estimated cost of $6.8 million. (See p. 47 of the meeting packet.)
That Coastal Protection Engineering of North Carolina (CPE), which has a considerable financial interest in all beach nourishment projects on the Outer Banks, facilitated the process by which the Town identified its coastal hazards and vulnerabilities; developed the prioritized strategies and projects; and prepared the draft report, does not seem to have raised any concerns in Town Hall of undue influence.
Also within the consent agenda is the Town Council’s authorization for the creation/hiring of another full-time police officer position, which would bring the number of full-time police officers to 15.
According to an agenda statement by Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, he will present a budget amendment to the Town Council at a future meeting with the actual cost of hiring a 15th officer.
Items in the Council’s consent agenda are usually perfunctorily approved, suggesting they have already been vetted beforehand.
Tomorrow’s Town Council meeting also will feature several special presentations, including a life saving award to Police Officer Tracy Mann and the annual audit report by the Town’s independent auditor.
Mr. Ogburn will present his quarterly financial report during his regular staff report.
The Town Council further will vote on adopting a joint resolution with the Town of Duck and Currituck County to support an application to the N.C. Dept. of Transportation to designate N.C. Hwy. 12 in the three jurisdictions as a North Carolina Scenic Byway. (See pp. 56-60 in the meeting packet.)
THE TOWN’S RESILIENCY STRATEGY AND PROJECT PLANNING
The draft report of the Town’s “resiliency” strategy plan is a culmination of Phases 1 and 2 of the N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP), which is administered by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management within the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality. The RCCP is funded by the N.C. General Assembly and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, according to online State of North Carolina sources.
Key RCCP partners include the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency, the Nature Conservancy, and N.C. Sea Grant. We do not know why CPE played such a prominent role in Southern Shores’ RCCP planning and project prioritization. (Another facilitator apparently was Inspire Placemaking Collective of Durham.)
In Phases 1 and 2, coastal municipalities identify their primary coastal hazards and vulnerabilities, set resilience goals, and develop “shovel-ready” projects for engineering, design, and funding support in Phases 3 and 4. Towns may apply during the later phases for RCCP grants through the State.
According to the draft report, the first meeting of the Southern Shores’ Community Action Team (CAT) that served as the local advisory group for the RCCP process occurred on Dec. 9, 2025. The CAT subsequently held 10 meetings, the last of which occurred Sept. 11.
Two public “outreach” events took place on Earth Day, April 18, at the North Marina, and Aug. 7, outside the Pitts Center. (See p. 13 of the packet.)
While we participated in an online community outreach survey, which reportedly garnered only 105-06 responses, and completed an online survey for ranking the prioritization of proposed projects, we never saw any notices about the CAT’s meetings, nor did we see the names of the CAT members published on the Town website or elsewhere.
And we look for such notification.
According to the draft report, 84 project prioritization surveys were “filled out by stakeholders,” but the report does not define what constitutes a stakeholder. (p. 43)
We bring up these points because we believe this resiliency plan was developed largely outside of public view and without public knowledge—despite the two outreach events, neither of which was held in a conventional meeting space.
It also took shape outside of the view and knowledge of most of the Town Council members, who were given a Zoom presentation of the process and results by CPE’s Joel R. Kubick, who was the Town’s RCCP project manager, and Ken Willson, the Town’s beach-nourishment project manager, on Sept. 1, a presentation/workshop that we attended as the only member of the audience. No one from the Division of Coastal Management participated in this presentation.
We would be very surprised if we met anyone in Southern Shores outside of the CAT, the Town Council, and some well-informed volunteers, who was familiar with the RCCP Phase 1-2 process and the projects enumerated in the draft report.
For the record, we now know from the report that Mayor Elizabeth Morey, Planning Board Member Robert McClendon, and residents Nancy Sheehan, Richard Filling, and Lori Trawinski, who served as chairperson, comprised the Community Action Team, but we do not know how or why they were selected. We can conjecture, but we shouldn’t have to.
We also do not know how many Southern Shores residents, in total, actually participated in the surveys. Public input was hardly “considerable,” as the draft report purports on p. 11 of the packet.
According to the draft report, unspecified decision-makers—the CAT, Town staff, CPE, and/or others?—considered the Town’s past studies on hazard mitigation, land use, emergency management, stormwater, drainage, and climate resilience in drawing conclusions about the Town’s vulnerabilities and “candidate” projects.
The final prioritized projects listed in the draft report are:
Oceanside Beach/Dune Nourishment Program
N.C. 12 [Stormwater] Study Update and Side Street Stormwater Diversion Program
N.C. 12 Stormwater Management at Southern Shores Realty (this is the first time we have seen this priority defined by location; the public did not have the opportunity to rank this project)
Neighborhood Stormwater Management Study
Oceanside Beach Monitoring Program (administered annually by CPE)
Evaluation of the Adaptability of Critical Facilities
Evaluation of the Burying of Overhead Utilities Along the Coast
Update of Development Policies and Regulations
Coastal Resiliency Community Engagement, Education, and Outreach
(See p. 44 of the meeting packet.)
(Ironically, a photograph in the draft report depicting “representative flooding conditions in Southern Shores,” on p. 11 of the packet, shows a flooded section of Ocean Boulevard on Sept. 17, 2024, after a major unnamed storm unleashed tropical-storm-force winds and historic rainfall. Twenty inches of rain fell in 12 hours then in what was called a 1,000-year rainfall event. Flooding on Duck Road and on the soundside is more typical for Southern Shores after a heavy rainfall.)
According to the Town Manager’s agenda item summary, adoption of these nine projects as the Town’s resiliency strategy “does not authorize construction, appropriate funding, or approve final engineering for the individual projects. Those actions would return to Town Council as appropriate during future planning, budgeting, and project-development processes.”
But you can count on beach nourishment next year.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 10/5
Food for Thought is celebrating 20 years of serving Dare County children’s nutritional needs with an anniversary fund-raising gala Sunday, Oct. 18, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Duck Woods Country Club in Southern Shores.
Guests will enjoy a dinner prepared by Duck Woods Executive Chef Dan Lewis (formerly of Coastal Provisions); a silent and live auction of donated art, gift certificates from local shops and restaurants, and unique local experiences; and an evening of music with a live DJ.
Food for Thought came together 20 years ago behind the concept that if children are hungry, their ability to think, learn, and develop will be impeded. Hunger will threaten their growth and academic progress.
To enable children to nourish their minds, co-founder Helen Ford of Southern Shores sought to feed them on weekends when free public-school breakfasts and lunches were not available. She wanted to fill the nutrition gap.
Ms. Ford’s mission grew from a pilot program that served weekend meal bags in February 2006 to 54 children at Manteo Elementary School whose families were income-eligible, into a non-profit organization that serves weekend and holiday breakfasts, lunches, and snacks to all eligible Dare County elementary and middle school students and snacks to high school students.
From the basic idea of nourish bodies, nourish minds, Food for Thought was born.
Ed Hazlett (ret. USAF) co-founded the non-profit with Ms. Ford. The organization now serves roughly 700 to 800 students each week, and about 300 volunteers pack and deliver the food bags to schools.
Food for Thought also provides grocery gift cards for families in need, distributes hygiene products, and supplies clothing and shoes, according to the organization.
Administered exclusively by volunteers, the non-profit is supported by many local sponsors who have donated funding, essential products, clothing, hands-on help, and time to this unique community outreach program. To learn about the organization’s community partners, see:
A ticket to the 20th anniversary gala costs $100. “Sponsorship” dinner tables may be purchased for $1,000 (four guests), $1500 (six guests), or $2,000 (a premier table for eight). You may buy your tickets at:
There will be ample opportunity for anniversary celebration guests to mingle with volunteers, donors, sponsors, and others associated with Food for Thought. The event is designed to raise funds and support for children experiencing hardship in Dare County.
Among the items that will be auctioned are:
40 pieces of art from local artists (including a Marcia Cline)
A golf round for four, including carts, at Duck Wood Country Club
A wine tasting with charcuterie board for 12 people at Trio Restaurant & Market in Kitty Hawk
A Breezy Bar experience for 20 people featuring a Charcuterie & Vintage Mobile Bar
Gift certificates from Allie June boutique in Duck; N.C. Coast/Red Sky restaurants in Duck; Black Pelican restaurant in Kitty Hawk; Ella’s Olive in Duck; Olives A Greek Kitchen in Manteo; Rock-a-Bye Baby OBX in Nags Head, and more.
“Whether you attend the celebration, become a sponsor, or make a tax-deductible donation,” said Bobbie Murray, president of Food for Thought, “your support provides nutritious meals, essential items, and hope for children who need it most.
“Every gift, regardless of size, makes a meaningful difference.”
Duck Woods Country Club is located at 50 South Dogwood Trail in Southern Shores. There is ample parking.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 9/30/26
The fall bulk-waste collection in Southern Shores will be Friday, Oct. 16. The Town asks that you not put any items at the roadside for pickup until Friday, Oct. 9.
For all of the details about the collection, including the list of approved items, see:
Tomorrow’s Southern Shores block party at the Hillcrest Beach Access will be BYOB, according to a membership email sent out by the Southern Shores Civic Assn. this morning.
Beer and wine will not be sold at the block party, but non-alcoholic drinks will be available, including coffees and craft sodas, the SSCA said.
If you BYOB in a glass bottle, please remember that glass is not permitted on the beach.
The SSCA also announced the schedule of events for the party, as follows:
3 to 7 p.m.: Food trucks and craft vendors in the parking lot
3 to 6:30 p.m.: Live music from the beach deck with Southern Shores’ own Maslin Seal and Chris Toolan
3:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Cornhole tournament on the beach
4 to 5 p.m.: Pie-tasting competition in the gazebo
5:30 p.m.: Cornhole and pie-contest awards ceremony in the gazebo
The Southern Shores Fire Dept. will have a fire truck there for people to explore, and firefighters will be available to talk with residents and property owners. Members of the Southern Shores Police and the SSCA and representatives of the Town also will attend to chat and share useful information.
Food and drink will be provided by:
Ten O’Six, serving gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and sides
A Greek Thing, serving Greek cuisine
The Local Buzz, serving iced coffee, cold energy drinks, tea, and craft sodas from a pink camper
You may still sign up for the cornhole tournament, which has proved very popular, and the pie bakeoff at:
You also may play volleyball just for fun. You’ll find the signup for volleyball via the same link.
*CHAIRS AND PARKING
A limited number of beach chairs, courtesy of Just For The Beach rentals, will be available for use, according to the SSCA, but it encourages you to bring your own chair if you can.
There will be designated bicycle and handicapped parking at the Hillcrest Beach Access, but no other vehicular parking. You may park on side streets near Hillcrest Beach, but not on Duck Road. The SSCA encourages people to walk, bike, or carpool.
The SSCA also is debuting its new Sand Toy Box, which, like a Little Free Library, is a box for donated beach toys. You may donate sand toys at the block party or drop them off later at the Hillcrest Beach Access.
Have fun!
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 9/19/26
The Town and the SSCA need volunteers to organize the cornhole tournament, volleyball games, and pie baking contest, and to manage parking and assist craft vendors with setup, at the Sept. 20 block party, according to emails sent out by the Civic Association today.
The SSCA is also recruiting participants for the cornhole tournament (which already has a number of entrants), volleyball games, and pie contest.
Volunteers and game or contest participants may sign up at:
The SSCA also announced today that two food trucks will be on site at the party, one from Ten O’Six and the other from Stag’s Greek Food. Ten O’Six is dispatching its grilled cheese truck, which will have a variety of cheese sandwiches, as well as salads and soup, and Stag’s will offer beef hotdogs, gyros, spanakopitas, and various sides.
A beverage and ice cream truck will handle those refreshments–with no word yet on what beverages will be available.
This event is the first-ever block party held in celebration of Southern Shores.
Mayor Elizabeth Morey presents Joel Newton with a plaque recognizing his longtime service as a volunteer repairman of trash and recycling receptacles for Southern Shores residents. (Photo by Town of Southern Shores.)
Homeowner Joel Newton received recognition Tuesday from the Town of Southern Shores for his longtime service as the go-to volunteer repairman for residents’ damaged trash and recycling receptacles.
Mayor Elizabeth Morey presented him with a Volunteer Appreciation Award during the Town Council’s meeting, thanking him for his generosity, ingenuity, dedication, and time.
“Thank you for keeping the town rolling,” she said
Mr. Newton, who is well-known for his years of work in maintaining the Southern Shores beach crossovers, has repaired nearly 300 trash and recycling receptacles for residents by replacing or salvaging wheels, axles, lids, and other parts.
Residents pay for parts, but not for Mr. Newton’s service, which he said Tuesday is still not known to most people in town, despite its advertisement in the Town newsletter.
Since 2022, according to Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, Mr. Newton, an engineer and master carpenter, has partnered with the Town, which now supplies him with parts.
That year, as Mr. Ogburn explained Tuesday, the Town Council strengthened the Town ordinances pertaining to solid waste (Town Code chapter 26) by requiring “residential receptacles” for trash and recycling to have “fully functional” lids and wheels. (See Code sec. 26-5(f)-(g).)
The Town started citing residents whose receptacles failed these requirements with violations that also advised them how to obtain repairs through Mr. Newton.
(The cost of a new receptacle from Bay Disposal is $90.)
Mr. Newton’s hands-on skill in repair and maintenance of the receptacles has “helped residents save money, reduced waste, and kept usable cans in service,” the Town said in a statement.
Mr. Newton also has been instrumental in the repair, maintenance, restoration, and improvement of the Southern Shores Civic Assn.’s 33 beach crossovers.
A former longtime member of the SSCA’s Board of Directors, overseeing properties, Mr. Newton has been hands-on in crossover maintenance (e.g., clearing piles of sand after a nor’easter), repair (banging nails with other volunteers), and construction (coordinating and helping to build new ramps, walkways, and decks).
The cap that Mr. Newton, who served in the U.S. Air Force, wore Tuesday seemed to sum up his attitude toward life: “Never idle.”
Thank you, Joel Newton, for all that you do for our community.
LAST FRIDAY PICKUP: And speaking of trash receptacles, tomorrow is the last Friday trash pickup of the season. The Monday-only schedule returns on Labor Day Monday.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 9/3/26
The Southern Shores Town Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday at 11 a.m. for a Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) community workshop and discussion.
The meeting will follow the Town Council’s regular 10 a.m. monthly meeting. Both public meetings will be held in the Pitts Center.
The Town has partnered with the RCCP to plan and implement projects that will strengthen the town’s resilience to coastal hazards, such as the flooding caused by major storm events. Tuesday’s meeting will focus on the prioritization of projects that have been proposed.
The RCCP is an initiative administered by the Division of Coastal Management of the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality.
During the past five months, the RCCP project team has surveyed the Southern Shores community to ascertain locals’ opinions about the risks and vulnerabilities the town has relative to coastal hazards. As a result of this assessment, it has identified nine projects that would address these risks and seek to solve or minimize them.
Among the nine projects are an N.C. Hwy. 12 side-street stormwater diversion program; a neighborhood stormwater management study; an oceanside beach/dune nourishment program, which would continue beach nourishment every five to seven years; an evaluation of the feasibility of burying overhead utilities along the coast; and an oceanside beach monitoring program that would cost $100,000 annually.
We encourage you to review the meeting packet for the RCCP workshop, which explains each project.
The RCCP provides financial support for planning, engineering, and implementation of projects, as well as technical assistance during what is a four-phase process. The workshop marks the conclusion of Phases One and Two.
Phase Three addresses planning, design, and permitting of selected projects, and Phase Four is construction.
The Town Council will vote at its Oct. 6 meeting on whether to adopt the resilience strategy plan that the RCCP project team develops based on public survey results and on its own expertise. If the Council adopts the plan, the team will submit it to the Division of Coastal Management, and the State of N.C. will consult it if the Town subsequently applies for funding for Phases Three and Four.
Town officials have described their partnership with RCCP and their participation in implementing projects, such as improving the town’s stormwater system and strengthening its infrastructure, as taking important proactive steps toward protecting the future of Southern Shores.
TOWN MANAGER’S EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT EXTENDED THREE YEARS
The agenda for the Town Council’s regular meeting is light, with Town Manager Cliff Ogburn’s request for the Council’s approval of an application for an Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Tourism Impact Grant and a presentation about the “Trash/Recycling Cart Repair Program” being the only new business items.
Mr. Ogburn seeks approval for an application for a grant to pay for construction of a 5-foot-wide concrete path on the west side of Duck Road (N.C. Hwy. 12) from Hickory Trail to Hillcrest Drive.
The preliminary cost of this construction is $531,484.00, according to his agenda report. The Town must match any grant money received from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau by 50 percent.
The Town has previously received Visitors Bureau impact grants to pay for the construction of sidewalks and paths in Southern Shores.
The meeting’s consent agenda contains the most interesting item on the Town Council’s regular meeting agenda. It is an extension of Mr. Ogburn’s employment contract for another three years, from July 1, 2026 until June 30, 2029.
Mr. Ogburn, who formerly served as Town Manager of Nags Head, was initially hired on May 19, 2020, at a base salary of $132,643.00, according to an employment document included in the meeting packet.
According to other documents, Mr. Ogburn’s contract was extended in 2023 for three years, until June 30, 2026, at a base salary of $161,403.00. His latest contract extension raises his base salary to $200,097.00.
Mr. Ogburn is probably the highest paid town manager in Dare County.
The duties and responsibilities of the Town Manager have increased considerably, however, since Mr. Ogburn’s hiring, in part because of his competence and leadership, and he has managed all tasks with great skill, courtesy, and good humor.
Nags Head’s loss was decidedly Southern Shores’ gain.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, Aug. 30, 2026
Map of North Carolina shows the 62 scenic byways in the state, including the Outer Banks National Scenic Byway on the east coast.
Town Councilwoman Paula Sherlock received approval from the Town Council yesterday at its monthly meeting to “explore” the idea of having N.C. Hwy. 12, “from Southern Shores through Duck, perhaps onto Corolla,” she said, designated as a North Carolina “Scenic Byway” by the N.C. Dept. of Transportation (NCDOT).
A N.C. Scenic Byway designation, Ms. Sherlock told the Council, which acted by consensus, “protects an environmentally fragile area from over-development.”
“It has benefits for tourism, for property values, for wildlife habitat,” she said. “It protects the historic character of an area, coastal resilience, and the quality of life for residents and visitors.”
Sixty-two scenic byways currently exist in North Carolina (see above map), including a section of N.C. Hwy. 12 designated as the “Outer Banks National Scenic Byway,” which extends from Whalebone Junction in Nags Head to Beaufort and includes 21 coastal villages. It is a federal byway.
The Councilwoman said she has already been in touch with NCDOT’s Scenic Byways Coordinator and received a preliminary application, which must be approved before a more elaborate, formal application for the designation can be submitted.
The deadline for the final application is not until Aug. 31, 2027.
According to Ms. Sherlock, the idea for the designation originated with Southern Shores homeowner Tisa Head, a community leader who formerly served as president of the Southern Shores Civic Assn., and has caught fire among residents with whom Ms. Sherlock and Ms. Head have spoken.
Ms. Head is familiar with National Scenic Byways designated by the U.S. Government in Northern Virginia. The George Washington Memorial Parkway, which runs along the scenic Potomac River across from Washington, D.C., is such a byway. (We drive it often; it’s fabulous.)
“We seem to have everything that’s required” by NCDOT for a N.C. Scenic Byway designation, Ms. Sherlock told the Council, listing the “strong points in our favor” as: ocean views, sound views, sunrises and sunsets, marshes, wetlands, dunes, natural landscapes, migratory birds, fisheries, dolphins, sea-turtle nesting areas, wild horses, and historic villages and sites.
According to NCDOT’s Scenic Byways website, the agency selects State routes with a “highway design that preserves and protects natural beauty and scenery,” is at least one mile long, and has “adequate land area for safe enjoyment of scenic attractions,” “strong local support,” “significant natural or aesthetic features visible from the road,” and “intrinsic qualities such as historical, cultural, or recreational resources.”
Ms. Sherlock proposed starting a Scenic Byway committee “to seek community support” for the designation, from residents, environmental groups, tourism groups, homeowner associations, and other invested parties.
She also noted that she would need to coordinate efforts with Duck and Currituck County.
Town Councilman Rob Neilson, another former Northern Virginian, pointed out that a Scenic Byway designation of N.C. Hwy. 12 in Southern Shores, Duck, and Currituck County would be a “way of preventing the highway from being widened,” or otherwise altered to diminish the natural beauty and scenery of the land.
‘BUILD THE COROLLA BRIDGE’ GRASS ROOTS EFFORT
Dovetailing with Ms. Sherlock’s proposal, Charlie Ries, of South Dogwood Trail in Southern Shores, spoke after her about a grass-roots campaign he has organized to solicit support from State and Federal government officials and out-of-town vacationers in building the Mid-Currituck Bridge from Aydlett to Corolla.
Mr. Ries’s campaign got off to a fast start in May when he wrote a letter to N.C. Governor Josh Stein—which more than 100 Outer Banks property owners signed—asking for the Governor’s leadership in securing the necessary state and federal funding to build the Mid-Currituck Bridge.
The citizens group, which has Governor Stein’s backing, also has written to members of Congress and candidates who are on the ballot in November for U.S. and N.C. senate seats.
As you will recall, the NCDOT informed the Albemarle Rural Planning Organization (ARPO) in April of a serious funding shortfall for the bridge’s construction, which is now estimated to cost $1.1-$1.2 billion.
NCDOT has committed $173 million, and projected tolls were expected to cover the additional monies once viewed as needed for the bridge’s 2019 price tag of $491 million.
Despite the shortfall, the ARPO voted to renew the bridge as a priority project for the region for the next year. The ARPO is a coalition of counties, so Southern Shores’ interests are represented by the Dare County member.
Mr. Ries has designed an excellent website acquainting people with the activities of his grass-roots campaign and arguing pragmatically for the Mid-Currituck Bridge, which, for the sake of brevity and familiarity, he refers to as the Corolla Bridge.
We also encourage you to listen to Mr. Ries’s presentation yesterday to the Town Council, which starts at the one-hour-six-minute mark of the You Tube video of the meeting.
Besides leading this effort, Mr. Ries serves on the Town Planning Board as an alternate.
A factoid that we found especially interesting was Mr. Ries’s calculation that if a motorist were to drive to Corolla from Barco, which is where U.S. 158 and U.S. 168 converge (site of the 7-Eleven), across the envisioned Corolla Bridge, he/she would arrive in 15 minutes, whereas now, the trip takes an average of two hours and 11 minutes.
Mr. Ries also said that feedback from vacationers stuck in traffic, waiting on the “cut-through route” in the Southern Shores dunes to return to N.C. Hwy. 12, has suggested that many believe most locals oppose the bridge. If they only talk to locals in Corolla, that may be true.
Volunteers from his campaign have been going vehicle-to-vehicle on Saturdays to distribute “Build the Corolla Bridge” info cards to gridlocked drivers on the cut-through route and engage people in conversation.
The website has a “Stuck in Traffic? Tell Us About It!” button for the frustrated drivers who frustrate us to report their road experience.
Raising awareness among visitors is very important. They, too, can write to members of Congress, in North Carolina and in their home states, lobbying for funding for the Mid-Currituck Bridge.
COASTAL RESILIENCE PROJECTS/ICE CREAM/BLOOD DRIVE
Finally, we remind you that on Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Pitts Center, the Town will sponsor a community event to obtain residents’ votes and opinions on the prioritization of proposed coastal resilience projects in Southern Shores. To encourage your attendance, complimentary ice cream will be served as long as it lasts.
Simultaneously, the American Red Cross will be holding a blood drive at the Pitts Center. To schedule a blood donation appointment, call 1-800-733-2767 or visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter the sponsor code, TownofSS. Walkins are welcome, space permitting.
Without indisputably and straightforwardly committing the Town of Southern Shores to a beach re-nourishment project in 2027, the Town Council unanimously approved at its July 7 meeting a pre-construction agreement with the coastal engineering consultant who would manage the project and authorized $62,553.75 to cover the firm’s engineering and consulting services.
If the Town Council does not abruptly reverse course by September, Southern Shores will embark on beach nourishment in May-October 2027, when the towns of Duck, Kitty Hawk, and Kill Devil Hills will be re-nourishing their coastlines, and will share the costs of mobilization with them, as it did in 2022.
The Town Council had withheld its approval of a 2027 project, and its scope, until after it could see beach monitoring data for 2026, which Ken Willson, senior program manager for Coastal Protection Engineering of N.C. (“CPE”), presented last week.
CPE monitors Southern Shores’ 3.7 miles of beaches at designated profile points, which are 1,000 feet apart, at roughly the same time each year, usually in June, although the beach is its widest in July and August.
CPE’s data last month show that Southern Shores’ beaches have held up very well in the past year and in the past four years since the 2022 nourishment project.
Mr. Willson showed slides of the data at the meeting; he did not prepare a written report like he has in the past, nor did he give a breakdown of the data by profiles. You may access his presentation at:
To hear his commentary on the slides, you will have to listen to the You Tube stream of his presentation. Go to youtube.com/@ SouthernShores/streams and select “Live” at the top of the page. The July 7 meeting will come up as the first video you can download.
TOSS BEACHES ARE DOING WELL
According to the data, the “Northern Section” of the Southern Shores shoreline, which is the area north of Fourth Avenue, has performed exceptionally well, having gained 177,500 cubic yards of sand (this is volume) in the past four years, in addition to the 124,000 cubic yards of sand that the project placed there. The gain is by natural accretion.
The “Southern Section,” which is from about Chicahauk Trail south to the Kitty Hawk town line, also gained sand, adding 49,500 cubic yards on top of the 343,700 cubic yards that were placed there in 2022. Only the “Central Section,” which is the area in between, experienced a loss in sand volume, but it is only about 10 percent (57,900) of the 580,800 cubic yards that were placed there in 2022.
There was little discussion after Mr. Willson’s presentation by the four members of the Town Council at last week’s meeting. Councilman Rob Neilson did not attend.
The exception was when Mayor Elizabeth Morey questioned the manager’s definition of a “trend,” which he based on only five to 10 years of data, as well as the erosion rate he used in his projected erosion trend for Southern Shores’ beaches.
We wish the Mayor had enlightened us more about her thinking.
Mr. Willson referred to losing 3 cubic yards of sand per foot per year overall on the Southern Shores shoreline, but this is a volume loss rate, not a dimensional loss. It means that for every one foot of beach width, the shoreline is losing 3 cubic yards of sand per year.
Ms. Morey instead referred to an erosion rate of one-half foot of beach width per year, which is a linear loss rate, not having to do with sand volume. Mr. Willson did not try to reconcile or relate these two measurements.
Obviously, it is what people see on the dry sand beach that matters to them, not the cubic yards of sand lost.
Mr. Willson has proposed adding 375,000 cubic yards of sand to Southern Shores’ beaches in 2027, in order to achieve the “plan” CPE developed in 2022 for maintenance.
Citing how well the Northern Section has performed, Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal asked if there was a minimum amount of sand that the Town had to place next year. In a rather wordy response that delved into cost, Mr. Willson essentially replied that the Town could not advantageously deposit less than 375,000 cubic yards.
He said that “to stay ahead of the game,” the “minimum fill” for Southern Shores is 375,000 cubic yards of sand.
According to the schedule that Mr. Willson outlined, the four towns’ project design plans will be done in August-September, and the projects will go out for construction bids in September.
Theoretically, the Town Council could still put the brakes on in September and not go forward next year, he said, but that is hardly likely. We read CPE’s data and graphs as supporting a decision to skip 2027 and do maintenance in 2032, instead, but no official raised that possibility.
TOWN HAS CHOICE OF MAINTENANCE PLANS
Going forward, the Town Council will have to choose from among three 2027 project maintenance plans.
The first, based on a five-year maintenance interval, will necessitate re-nourishment in 2032 and will cost $6,793,900.
The second, based on a six-year maintenance interval, will delay re-nourishment until 2033 and will cost $6,734,000.
The third, based on a seven-year maintenance interval, will require re-nourishment in 2034 and cost $6,679,600.
The cost declines because Southern Shores’ proportionate share of the mobilizations costs, which it splits with the other three towns, declines.
Each town has different needs, and the healthiest beaches are in Southern Shores and Kitty Hawk, Mr. Willson said. Duck has the most severe erosion problems.
According to Mr. Willson, Dare County has estimated cost shares for each town’s project that are based on a five-year maintenance cycle. He did not cite any percentages.
Thanks to Southern Shores homeowner Sean Mulligan’s persistence in drawing the Council’s attention to the adverse effects that beach nourishment has on surfing, fishing, and swimming—because it destroys sandbars—Mr. Neal asked Mr. Willson if the maintenance project could be designed to protect the existing sandbars, which took years to develop after the 2022 project.
Mr. Willson replied that there is no design technology “that exists now” that would “construct bars as they are now.” The bars, he said, “will be smothered” by the dredging. Surfing, fishing, and swimming will suffer again.
OTHER NEWS FROM THE TOWN
Bike and Pedestrian Grant: The N.C. Dept. of Transportation’s Integrated Mobility Division has awarded the Town a grant of between $50,000 and $60,000 to develop a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian network plan. In order to get the money, the Town must pay 10 percent of the amount as “municipal reimbursement.” By unanimous vote, the Town Council authorized this $5,000-$6,000 payment.
According to Deputy Town Manager/Planning Director Wes Haskett, who filled in for Town Manager Cliff Ogburn at the July 7 meeting, NCDOT will assign a consultant to the Town to manage the project. More details to come.
Planning Board Term Limits: By consensus, the Town Council asked Town staff to draft a policy or Town Code amendment(s) that would impose term limits on members of standing committees, which currently include only the Planning Board and the Historic Landmark Commission. Mr. Neal initiated discussion at the Council’s June meeting about this potential change.
The Town Code section about the Planning Board’s composition and terms of office is section 24-24. The five regular members and two alternate members of the Board serve for three years and are appointed in staggered terms. The Planning Board regularly meets monthly.
Town Code section 17-1 established the Southern Shores Historic Landmarks Commission in 2016. The Commission has five regular members and one alternate member, all of whom serve three-year terms. The Historic Landmarks Commission only meets when it has business.
All board members and alternates are appointed by the Town Council. When a member’s term expires, it has been the Town’s policy to ask him or her if they would like to continue serving for another term. If they do, they are typically reappointed. If they do not, Mr. Haskett consults the voluntary committee member applications he has on file for candidates. The Town has not hitherto advertised vacancies when they occur.
“I served on the Planning Board for eight years,” said Mayor Morey. “That seems like a long time.”
We agree. We think six years would be more appropriate, exclusive of any alternate time.
Unlike his predecessors, Planning Board Chairperson Andy Ward, who has served in his office for years, allows alternate members to participate in Board discussions, even when they are not substituting for an absent member. They do not vote, but they act otherwise as full members.
Councilwoman Paula Sherlock said she would like to know what the current Planning Board members think about imposing term limits before she forms her own opinion.
Setbacks Set Aside Temporarily: The Town Council decided to take up changing rear-yard setbacks at a Mayor’s Chat or other future public hearing so that more residents can weigh in.
The Council made it clear that it is not keen on changing side-yard setbacks, but it may be amenable to reducing rear-yard setbacks for accessory structures, if the public favors this.
In the RS-1 single-family-dwelling residential district, the side-yard setback is 15 feet, and the rear-yard setback is 25 feet.
FLYOVERS AT BIG KITTY HAWK INTERSECTION?
By now, you probably have heard about two design projects proposed for priority status by NCDOT for the U.S. 158-N.C. 12 intersection in Kitty Hawk.
The NCDOT is composing its list of priority projects statewide for the 2027-2038 State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), the next 10-year transportation plan, and is soliciting public comment until July 31. Councilwoman Sherlock said she was “horrified” when she saw NCDOT’s two intersection plans.
One of the designs proposes two flyovers to facilitate the flow of traffic through the intersection, with N.C. 12 traffic traveling underneath U.S. 158 traffic. This project would cost at least $36 million, Ms. Sherlock said. The other proposes a reconfiguration of the intersection that we are hard-pressed to figure out based on the illustration provided by NCDOT online.
We are not going to delve into what has become a controversial subject in Southern Shores, as you can imagine. Instead, we are going to refer you to what others have written:
