Mayor Elizabeth Morey will host a Mayor’s chat on Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center—the first such chat this year and in quite some time. Mayor Morey has said that she discontinued her informal gatherings with Southern Shores residents, which she began during the first year of her tenure, because they were poorly attended.
Town staff members, including Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, also will attend the Mayor’s chat.
Also next week, the Southern Shores Planning Board will meet Monday at 5 p.m. in the Pitts Center for its regular monthly meeting. Board members will take up a new Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA 24-04) that proposes establishing planned unit developments as a special use in the general commercial district and prohibiting bitcoin mining in all zoning districts. The Town Code currently permits PUDs as of right.
ZTA 24-04 also revisits an issue that first arose in ZTA 24-02. It proposes requiring property owners to obtain a lot disturbance/stormwater management permit in order to remove trees greater than 6 inches in diameter and at least 4.5 feet tall from a front, side, or rear yard setback on any unimproved lot in all zoning districts. The earlier proposed provision applied only in the general commercial district, not in the residential and government-institutional districts, as well. The Board directed the Town staff to revise the proposed provision so that it applies throughout town.
The Planning Board will continue its discussion about accessory dwelling units in town. The N.C. General Assembly, which ends its 2023-24 session on July 31, has proposed a bill that would require municipalities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family housing residential districts. The bill has passed the House, but not the Senate.
For information about the Board’s meeting, see https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/bc-pb/page/planning-board-meeting-july-15-2024. You may live-stream the meeting on the Town’s You Tube website.
We note that when the cut-through weekend traffic was still considered a talking point in town, the Mayor drew a vocal group of residents to a summertime chat. Perhaps residents can target pedestrians in town roadways with more success.
Too often pedestrians walking on roads without sidewalks walk in the direction of the traffic rather than against oncoming traffic, as North Carolina law (N.C. General Statutes sec. 20-174(d)), the National Highway Safety Administration, and common-sense safety dictate. Perhaps the Town could post some “Walk Facing Traffic” signs on heavily traveled roads. (We note that the law requires bicyclists traveling in roadways to go with the traffic.)
We regret that we have been unable to attend or keep up with Town meetings in recent months. We will strive to have a report of the July 2 Town Council meeting posted on our blog before the Mayor’s chat on Wednesday.
THE SOUTHERN SHORES BEACON
The Southern Shores Beacon 