This photograph of the East Dogwood Trail sidewalk between Hickory Trail and Woodland Drive was taken Oct. 1 after a storm. (Photo by Ann Sjoerdsma)
Twenty of the 23 Southern Shores homeowners who spoke at last night’s town hall on sidewalks strongly opposed constructing the 5-foot-wide concrete paths on the street segments proposed by a priority list prepared by the Town Council—most notably on Wax Myrtle Trail, Sea Oats Trail, Hillcrest Drive, and Hickory Trail.
(See The Beacon, 8/24/23, for the list.)
By our count, 13 of the 20 people who spoke in opposition to sidewalks live on those traffic cut-thru streets. (Full disclosure: We publicly opposed sidewalks on these streets, too.)
Of the three proponents, only Gray Berryman, a Realtor who lives on Skyline Road, adamantly supported sidewalks throughout town, saying he had never seen a sidewalk he didn’t like.
Proponent Macey Chovaz of Clam Shell Trail in Chicahauk advocated for sidewalks to protect her three children from traffic, and Shelly Black of Duck Road thanked the Town Council for building a sidewalk on the east side of her road in front of her house.
Town Manager Cliff Ogburn announced that bids for construction of this sidewalk, which will run from Triangle Park/Duck Road split to East Dogwood Trail, have just been received.
Ms. Black also asked the Town’s assistance in improving a shortcut she uses through Pompano Court to access Ocean Boulevard and the beach.
We know of no public property on Pompano Court, apart from the rights-of-way, nor can we identify any full-time resident-homeowners on Pompano Court, who might object to this shortcut, or on Duck Road in this vicinity, including Ms. Black.
When Steven Hachtman of Sea Oats Trail, who was the second public speaker, tied the perceived need for sidewalks to the cut-thru traffic and offered a solution to the traffic that involved sensor-operated gates to restrict access to Southern Shores, Mayor Elizabeth Morey intervened to direct the town hall discussion away from traffic.
“We’re here to talk about sidewalks, not traffic,” she said.
In introducing the town hall meeting, however, Mr. Ogburn cited “getting people out of the street” and out of danger from traffic as a primary objective in building sidewalks. He also mentioned improving access to the beach for tourists.
The estimated 60 people in the Pitts Center audience, exclusive of Town Council members and Town staff, applauded each speaker’s comments. One homeowner who received a loud and sustained round of applause was Ellen Barbaro of Hickory Trail who said, “I do not encourage sidewalks because they really interfere with my freedom.”
Damage to the natural environment and flooding that rainwater-impervious concrete creates were oft-cited reasons for not building sidewalks. The cost incurred in building and maintaining the sidewalks was also mentioned as a deterrent to their construction.
When one homeowner on Sea Oats Trail pressed the Mayor to explain the impetus for the Town Council’s preparation of a street priority list for sidewalks, she replied only that the Council had prepared the list at a retreat in March 2022, which was a few months after she assumed office. She never explained why.
We recall a former Town Councilman, Jim Conners, repeatedly trying to discuss at Council meetings the construction of a sidewalk system that would connect all of Southern Shores and being discouraged from doing so by former Mayor Tom Bennett, who anticipated opposition. Mayor Morey, Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal, and Town Councilman Leo Holland all served two years with Mr. Conners and Mr. Bennett.
As we mentioned in earlier posts, we are unable at this time to report more fully on last night’s forum because of preexisting commitments. We will try to post a more in-depth report on the weekend. The Mayor said the Town Council will take up the topic at its Sept. 5 regular meeting, the agenda for which should be online tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s town hall/public forum about sidewalks, which begins at 5 p.m., is expected to last no more than an hour and a half, so the Town Council can hold a special meeting/closed session with the Town Attorney tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.
Both the town hall and the closed session will be held in the Pitts Center.
The Town gave first notice of the special meeting on its website last Friday.
For more information about the town hall/forum, see The Beacon, 8/24/23. This meeting and its agenda have been publicized extensively online by the Town, the SSCA, and resident homeowners, in addition to The Beacon.
The Town Council will hold a town hall/forum on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 5 p.m., to hear from residents and property owners about their priorities regarding continued construction in town of sidewalks, also called multi-use “pathways.”
The discussion on sidewalks will be in the Pitts Center. (See The Beacon, 8/3/23, for first notice of the meeting.)
The Town is currently committed to installing a sidewalk along the east side of N.C. Hwy. 12/Duck Road from Triangle Park at the Duck Road split to East Dogwood Trail. Tuesday’s forum is being held to solicit public opinion about where the Town should construct future sidewalks after the Duck Road segment is finished and in what order of priority.
At its March 2022 retreat, the Council drafted the following priority list for future sidewalk segments:
1A: the Triangle Park-to-East Dogwood Trail walkway (in progress)
1B: N.C. 12/Duck Road from East Dogwood Trail to 13th Avenue (This would be new construction on the west side of the road, not repair and improvement of the east-side sidewalk, as some residents have requested. Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal, who is running for re-election in November, indicated at the Town Council’s Aug. 1 meeting that he does not endorse this segment as a high priority because of the existence of the east-side sidewalk.)
2A: Hickory Trail from East Dogwood Trail to Hillcrest Drive
2B: Hickory Trail from Hillcrest Drive to N.C. 12/Duck Road
3: Hillcrest Drive from Hickory Trail to N.C. 12/Duck Road
4A: Sea Oats Trail from East Dogwood Trail to Hillcrest Drive
4B: Sea Oats Trail from Hillcrest Drive to N.C. 12/Duck Road
5: Wax Myrtle Trail from East Dogwood Trail to Hillcrest Drive
6: Chicahauk Trail from the cul de sac to Trinitie Trail
7: Skyline Road, its entire length from the cul de sac to N.C. 12/Ocean Boulevard
8A: Ocean Blvd. from Triangle Park at the Duck Road split to East Dogwood Trail
8B: Ocean Blvd. from East Dogwood Trail to Hickory Trail
The Town Council also indicated at its Aug. 1 meeting an interest in improving the pedestrian connections between Spindrift Trail in Chicahauk and Skyline Road and between North Dogwood Trail and Hillcrest Drive (i.e., the “fire road”).
At the same meeting, Council members said that they will not limit Tuesday’s discussion to a consideration of their priority list of street segments, expressing an interest in hearing residents’ and property owners’ opinions about sidewalks on other streets, as well as comments from people who are opposed to sidewalks.
Dare County Tourism Board grant monies are available for all sidewalk projects.
The redlined outline of Ginguite LLC’s property at 6195 N. Croatan Hwy. as it appears in the Dare County GIS.
Next Monday’s Planning Board meeting, during which the Board was expected to consider a SAGA investor group’s application for a Special Use Permit for the Town’s first-ever mixed-use development, has been canceled because not enough Board members can attend to constitute a quorum, according to a Town notice released today.
Ginguite LLC’s plans for a proposed development comprised of luxury condominiums, retail shops, and a restaurant, at 6195 N. Croatan Hwy. (U.S. 158) will be considered at the Planning Board’s Sept. 18 meeting, along with any other Aug. 21 agenda items, the Town release said.
In an Aug. 3 post, The Beacon expressed some surprise that this meeting, along with three other substantive meetings, had been scheduled in August, which is traditionally a vacation month for local Outer Bankers. The cancellation of the Planning Board meeting is proof of that.
Still on the Town’s calendar this month is a town hall on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 5 p.m., in the Pitts Center, to give residents and property owners an opportunity to comment upon the desirability and location of continued construction in Southern Shores of “multi-use pathways.” (See The Beacon, 8/3/23.)
We will preview the sidewalk town hall/forum a few days before it is held. Until then, we will be on vacation, too.
Three people died in an early-morning house fire that destroyed an oceanfront cottage in Kill Devil Hills. The cause of the fire is under investigation. (Photo by Natalie Pugh)
Three people were killed and three others were injured in an early-morning fire at an oceanfront house in Kill Devil Hills that broke out about eight hours after fire destroyed a house in the Four Seasons development of Duck after an apparent lightning strike.
Fire crews were called to 1825 N. Virginia Dare Trail (the Beach Road) in Kill Devil Hills before 2:30 a.m., and arrived to discover a historic four-bedroom vacation home “engulfed in flames,” according to The Virginian-Pilot today.
The fire spread to a home next door, doing “minor damage,” but posing no harm to occupants, who safely relocated, Kari Pugh of The Pilot reported. A third cottage was also evacuated.
The house that was destroyed was built in 1948, according to county records.
Firefighters were called about 6:06 p.m. yesterday to a fire in the 100 block of Beachcomber Court in Duck’s Four Seasons. Both occupants of that house safely evacuated along with their two dogs, according to official reports.
The Town of Duck said in a news release that the fire “is believed to have originated from a direct lightning strike.”
The origin and cause of the fire in Kill Devil Hills are under investigation by town, county, and state officials.
The Beacon will not be following this story. We believe The Virginian-Pilot is providing the most thorough and up-to-date coverage.
A news conference was scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. today.
The Town Council proposes building sidewalks where the traffic is, especially along the summer weekend cut-thru route. (Photo taken during Memorial Day weekend this year.)
Mayor Elizabeth Morey will hold a Mayor’s Chat Wednesday, Aug. 9, in the Pitts Center—the first of four Town meetings worthy of your attention in August. Two others will involve Planning Board business, and the fourth will be what the Mayor promoted at the Town Council meeting two days ago as a “town hall” to enable residents and property owners to weigh in on future sidewalk construction.
The Mayor’s Chat next week will be her first chat since July 2022, when attendees primarily discussed cut-thru traffic. (See The Beacon’s report, 7/14/22.)
If the Mayor’s informal Q&A session lasts more than an hour, it will have to be continued in an upstairs room in the Pitts Center or in the parking lot because the Town Planning Board is scheduled to hold a special session on the same day and location at 5 p.m. to review the final draft of the updated CAMA Land Use Plan (LUP).
Mayor Morey protested at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting that the unusual heavy scheduling, which may prematurely terminate her chat, “was not my doing. That was staff’s.”
Having attended the July 17 Planning Board meeting, during which Planning Director/Deputy Town Manager Wes Haskett tried unsuccessfully to schedule a convenient time for the five Board members, representatives of LUP consultant Stewart Engineering, and himself to meet to discuss the final draft, however, we have to assume the Mayor had the more flexible schedule. (Just sayin’.)
The public is welcome to comment during the Planning Board’s session on the LUP final draft. If the Board recommends approval of the draft, it will be sent to the N.C. Division of Coastal Management (DCM) for its State-mandated review, a process that could take months to complete. The DCM serves as staff to the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission, which must certify the plan before it can take effect.
You may access the final draft at https://file.ac/zgMqa-4Mjt4/. The document is a 180-page PDF that takes a few minutes to download—at least, it did for us.
AUG. 21: The Planning Board is unusually busy during this traditional summer-vacation month. According to Mr. Haskett, the Board will take up at its Aug. 21 regular meeting the Special Use Permit (SUP) application submitted by Quible & Associates, a local engineering firm, on behalf of Ginguite LLC, the SAGA investor group that owns the land at 6195 N. Croatan Hwy. (U.S. 158), next to the Southern Shores Landing. The application includes plans for a future mixed-use development reportedly comprised of luxury condominiums and commercial buildings, including retail shops and a restaurant.
This will be the first time that the Planning Board has considered Ginguite LLC’s SUP publicly. The Beacon will cover the meeting, which will be held at 5 p.m. in the Pitts Center.
TOWN HALL ON SIDEWALKS
AUG. 29: At the Mayor’s suggestion, the Town Council will hold a town hall on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 5 p.m., in the Pitts Center, to hear from residents and property owners about their priorities regarding continued construction in town of “multi-use pathways.”
Mr. Haskett asked the Town Council at Tuesday’s meeting to schedule time during its Sept. 5 meeting for public comments about priorities for future multi-use-path construction. He conveyed this request on behalf of Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, who was home recovering from surgery and could not attend the meeting, according to the Mayor.
During the Council’s discussion of the request, Ms. Morey suggested a longer town-hall-style meeting to hear from the public, and her four Council colleagues agreed.
The Town is currently committed to, and has financing for, installing a sidewalk along the east side of N.C. Hwy. 12/Duck Road from Triangle Park at the Duck Road split to East Dogwood Trail. The question the Town has for residents and property owners is where should it next install sidewalks? What should be the order of priority for future construction?
At its March 2022 retreat, the Council drafted the following priority list for future sidewalk segments:
1A: the Triangle Park-to-East Dogwood Trail walkway
1B: N.C. 12/Duck Road from East Dogwood Trail to 13th Avenue (This would be new construction on the west side of the road, not repair and improvement of the east-side sidewalk, as some residents have requested. Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal indicated Tuesday that he does not endorse this segment as a high priority because of the existence of the east-side sidewalk.)
2A: Hickory Trail from East Dogwood Trail to Hillcrest Drive
2B: Hickory Trail from Hillcrest Drive to N.C. 12/Duck Road
3: Hillcrest Drive from Hickory Trail to N.C. 12/Duck Road
4A: Sea Oats Trail from East Dogwood Trail to Hillcrest Drive
4B: Sea Oats Trail from Hillcrest Drive to N.C. 12/Duck Road
5: Wax Myrtle Trail from East Dogwood Trail to Hillcrest Drive
6: Chicahauk Trail from the cul de sac to Trinitie Trail
7: Skyline Road, its entire length from the cul de sac to N.C. 12/Ocean Boulevard
8A: Ocean Blvd. from Triangle Park at the Duck Road split to East Dogwood Trail
8B: Ocean Blvd. from East Dogwood Trail to Hickory Trail
The Town Council also indicated an interest in improving the connections between Spindrift Trail and Skyline Road in Chicahauk and between North Dogwood Trail and Hillcrest Drive (i.e., the “fire road”).
Council members said they will not limit the town hall discussion just to a consideration of their list of street segments, expressing an interest in hearing residents’ and property owners’ opinions about sidewalks on other streets.
Dare County Tourism Board grant monies are available for sidewalk projects.
REVISED ORDINANCE ON BEACH DRIVING
In other action on Tuesday, the Town Council unanimously passed a revision of the current Town Code ban on beach driving to specify that operating “any vehicle of any type, excluding bicycles and e-bikes” is prohibited in the “ocean beach area” of Southern Shores—unless the operators are with Ocean Rescue, the police or fire departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other authorized entities, such as beach-nourishment contractors and sea turtle nest volunteers, or the operators are engaged in an “extreme emergency situation.”
The amendment (TCA 23-01) rewrites Town Code sec. 20-109, which prohibited “motor vehicles” from operating on the beach, and “aircraft” from landing or taking off on the beach, with the express exclusion of certain motor vehicles and aircraft, including those needed in an emergency.
The amendment retitles the ordinance from “Driving or landing aircraft on beaches” to “Driving on the beach” and, according to Mr. Haskett, “modernizes” it and “mirrors similar language” in other Dare County towns. The new ordinance defines “vehicles of any type” as “motor vehicles, pickup trucks, airplanes/helicopters, beach buggies, jeeps, motorcycles, any; one, two, three or four wheeled vehicles powered by any type of motor or physically propelled.” (We don’t know what that “any” means, either–perhaps a word was omitted?–and we’re not sure what physical propulsion is, but we’re don’t have a say. The Council approved the amendment as-is.)
The impetus for the revision arose during a staff presentation last year about the regulation of electric bicycles. The Council wanted to ensure that e-bikes, which might be considered motor vehicles, were expressly permitted on the beach.
TOWN COUNCIL ELECTION
As we previously reported, four candidates will be vying for three positions on the Town Council in the Nov. 7 election. They are incumbents Matt Neal and Mark Batenic and challengers Robert E. Neilson and Michael Guarracino. Incumbent Leo Holland is not running for re-election.
It is customary for political candidates not to start campaigning until September, although they are certainly not precluded from starting earlier. This tradition has developed because of State and Town regulations that restrict the placement of political signs in street and highway rights-of-way to the time period between the 30th day before the “one-stop” early voting period begins and the 10th day after the election.
Regulations also require candidates and/or their campaign teams to obtain the permission of the owner of the property that fronts on the right-of-way before erecting a sign there.
August is usually a vacation month for Outer Bankers, who are not keen on talking election politics quite yet. But, with a Mayor’s Chat, a new Land Use Plan, consideration of the Town’s first-ever mixed-use development, and a town hall about sidewalks, which not everyone likes, that may change this year.
The Southern Shores Beacon 