Earlier this month the Southern Shores Town Council appointed seven people to what is currently being called the Southern Shores Entry Corridor Enhancement Committee.
The idea for the “entry corridor” committee flows from Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal’s long-held desire, as he explained at the Council’s Aug. 6 meeting, “to build a blue-sky vision” of Southern Shores, which would be, essentially, a future plan for the town that might extend up to 30 years.
Mr. Neal, a local builder, has described his goal as designing the commercial district—into which the “entry corridor,” or main entry route into Southern Shores, leads—as well as beautifying and improving the remainder of the town.
Mr. Neal nominated the following residents as committee members, all of whom were unanimously approved by the Council at its Oct. 1 meeting:
*Mayor Elizabeth Morey
*Mr. Neal himself
*Matt Savage Price, a partner in Savage Land LLC, a real estate holding company
*Wes Haskett, Deputy Town Manager/Town Planning Director
*Michael Zehner, an Alternate on the Town Planning Board and a professional planning consultant
*Jim Gould, Community Planner for the Town of Duck
*Linda Lauby, an independent publisher and writer
Mr. Neal said at the October meeting that he “canvassed our community” for members of the committee, but we submit that he didn’t conduct a very wide canvass. We know all of these people, and they do not represent what we would consider a cross-section of the community. Also, none of them is a commercial property owner in Southern Shores or likely to become one.
Further, it seems redundant to us to have three professional planners on the committee, even if Mr. Haskett serves exclusively as staff.
Mr. Zehner is the Director of Planning and Community Development for Berkley Group, a private consulting firm operating in Virginia and North Carolina that specializes in municipal planning. Since his appointment to the Planning Board as its Second Alternate—he is now the First Alternate—Mr. Zehner has functioned largely as a full member of the Planning Board, without voting power.
A former planning director for the Town of Nags Head, Mr. Zehner took a very prominent role in the Planning Board’s hearings during September-November 2023 on SAGA’s special use permit application for its Ginguite Creek project. He also has actively promoted affordable housing with the Board and the Town Council.
Mr. Zehner would seem to be a better choice for an adviser to the “entry corridor” committee, rather than a voting member.
Why not appoint one of the five regular members of the Town Planning Board to the committee? They have their fingers on the pulse of Southern Shores residents and know the Town Zoning Ordinance.
In Mr. Neal’s selection of committee members, we do not see the “citizen input” that the Town Council spoke of seeking when it considered committee membership in September.
In response to a request by the Town Council at its August meeting that Town Staff make recommendations to the Council about developing a vision for the Town’s 38-acre commercial district, Town Manager Cliff Ogburn suggested at the September meeting that the working committee charged with this task consist of:
*The Mayor or another Council member
*The Mayor Pro Tem or another Council member
*Two commercial property owners
*Three at-large members
*The Deputy Town Manager/Planning Director
Mr. Haskett would serve as staff to the other seven people.
The Town Council—in particular, Council Members Mark Batenic and Rob Neilson—responded favorably to the inclusion of commercial property owners, as obvious “stakeholders,” and stressed “input” from the community. Either one could serve in lieu of the Mayor and bring a fresh perspective.
Mr. Neal clearly has ideas for this endeavor, which he has called his “baby,” and spoke at the October meeting about “enhancing the commercial district” and “designing a small area plan.” He mentioned the interest that some residents have in a town square or a central gathering place in town.
He also said that developing a “mission statement” and “goals” would be the first action items for the “entry corridor” committee.
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In his presentation to the Council in September, Mr. Ogburn recommended that the “entry corridor” committee consider the following in developing a vision for the commercial district:
*Current Town ordinances
*Enhancements for pedestrians and bicyclists
*Connectivity
*Architectural standards
*Economic vitality
*Potential stressors, such as burdens on adjacent property owners
*A Process for continuous review for compliance and success
*Maintenance of the Town’s identity
To be honest, we’re not that keen on thinking of our small neighborly beach town/community as having an entry corridor, like a billboard-marked or banner-decorated roadway into a city, but if this is the direction that Southern Shores homeowners would like to go, we would not vigorously object. We also appreciate the concept of a “blue-sky vision” for Southern Shores, especially for the commercial district.
Regardless of what may emerge from the committee about the appearance of the entry corridor, Kitty Hawk, which shares that corridor, would have to be consulted.
We would like to point out, however, that Southern Shores is not Duck. (We note Mr. Gould’s participation.) Duck is a tourist village, a happy vacation playground with only 746 year-round residents, as of the 2020 U.S. Census. Duck was designed to cater to vacationers’ amusement, not year-rounders’ needs. Southern Shores is a year-round town with a population of 3,107 people.
Since Southern Shores’ 1979 incorporation, it has had a “small” commercial district located on “the southern edge of town” that has been focused on “convenience shopping and services” for residents, according to the vision statements of all of the Land Use Plans of the past 45 years.
The recently approved Land Use Plan update, which is now being reviewed by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, encourages the sort of planning that Mr. Neal proposes with his committee. We would just ask that the viewpoints of people in the larger community be considered, not just those of the relatively small sampling of committee members who have been handpicked to participate in the discussion.
One final thought: As a committee officially appointed by the Town Council, the Southern Shores Entry Corridor Enhancement Committee should hold all of its meetings in public, and minutes of its meetings should be recorded and readily available to the public.
The Council did not address the workings of the committee when it approved its membership.
A WORD ABOUT ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS
Also at the October meeting, the Town Council expressed an interest in getting out in front of the N.C. General Assembly in legislating the legalities of accessory dwelling units in Southern Shores.
A pair of House and Senate bills introduced in the 2023-24 N.C. General Assembly session would have required local governments to allow at least one ADU per single-family dwelling.
The House Bill (409) passed; the Senate Bill (374) did not. Had it been enacted, the legislation would not have affected Chicahauk because it has private covenants among property owners relating to dwelling type restrictions.
See the text of the bill here: https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewBillDocument/2023/2431/0/DRS55034-MQ-72A.
Currently, the Southern Shores Town Code permits accessory dwelling units on residential property, as long as they are not used for “living space.” Living space has typically been evaluated by whether there are cooking facilities in the ADU.
Viewing ADUs as a means by which affordable housing may be created, the Town Council decided at its October meeting to engage in pertinent information gathering before deciding what, if any, Zoning Code amendments it might recommend.
Mayor Pro Tem Neal suggested that all existing covenants that run with deeds to Southern Shores properties be ascertained to determine how many landowners already have the right to build an ADU.
It was fairly common for the original Southern Shores developers to create lots that would accommodate both a primary residence and a guest house. You still can see evidence of this trend on the oceanfront.
Mayor Elizabeth Morey also suggested that a count of the lots that still have coverage space for building be ascertained. New homeowners who have developed vacant lots or torn down existing structures in order to build have tended to max out the allowable 30-percent lot coverage.
Council members said they would try to enlist the help of the Southern Shores Civic Assn., the Chicahauk Property Owners Assn., and the Town staff in collecting this data—although Mr. Neal offered to do some searches himself and tried to draft his Council colleagues into doing the same.
The next Town Council meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon
The Southern Shores Beacon 
There are some facts out there that are not entirely true or misleading from what I am hearing on this topic. After 30 years as a full time resident on the OBX, Southern Shores is anything but a “year round” community on the Outer Banks. It is a mix of year round residents, second homes, and rentals (like most Westside/Oceanside properties). That is irrefutable, and the long standing history in Southern Shores and beyond.
Major developmental visions are better suited at inception of land development and not an after thought of what moved this beach to begin with. Increasing value while maintaining the Southern Shores historical essence should be the #1 consideration on this topic. “Hand picked” anything requires further exploration and LOTS of relevant questions at future meetings. The idea sounds interesting but what exactly is the vision without managing the bureaucracy to understand what the vision is today? Making Southern Shores (or part of it) exclusive to year round residents? Short term rental restrictions? Is the vision just a beautification effort that attracts more investors or those who want to move here? There’s nothing wrong with change, but what really needs improvement in Southern Shores? Trees can be planted, but you cannot rebuild “soul” once it’s gone.
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