A public hearing on a Zoning Text Amendment submitted by the Southern Shores Civic Assn. to increase the maximum allowable height of fences around “community recreational facilities” in all zoning districts from 6 feet to 10 feet and to restrict their construction material, was not held at the Town Council meeting this morning because the applicant withdrew the ZTA.

(See The Beacon, 1/5/26 for background.)

According to Mayor Elizabeth Morey, the SSCA removed ZTA 25-06 for “clarification that needs to take place.”

The Civic Association owns nine community recreational facilities in town, including the Sea Oats Park, pictured above.

The newly clarified proposed amendment will be considered by the Planning Board at its next meeting before it returns to the Town Council for hearing and consideration.

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

Beach Nourishment: Town Manager Cliff Ogburn gave an informative report regarding a second potential beach nourishment project in Southern Shores, which would likely occur in 2027, five years after the inaugural project in 2022-23; in 2028 (six years); or in 2029 (seven years), in conjunction with projects by Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, and Duck.

The Town Council has not made an official commitment to a project of any kind yet.

“We’re in really good shape,” Mr. Ogburn told the Council, explaining that the Southern Shores beaches have 32 percent more sand volume on them now than was added in 2022-23.

According to the Town Manager, more than 1 million cubic yards (cy) of sand were placed on the beaches in 2022-2023, and they currently have 333,900 cubic yards over that 1 million.

Further, he said, “The project was designed with the assumption that the beach would lose 3 cubic yards [of sand] per foot per year (cy/ft/yr).”

Instead, the beaches have gained 4.3 cy/ft/yr since the 2022-23 project.

“We’ve done better than projected,” he noted.

The Beacon will provide more details from the Town Manager’s beach nourishment report, including cost projections, as soon as we have time.

New SSFD Captains: Southern Shores Fire Dept. Chief Ed Limberger introduced the four newly hired SSFD captains, with a short biography about each young man. We encourage you to view the Chief’s introductions on the Town’s YouTube website.

When we publish again, we will have the correct spelling of the four new captains’ names, whose first names are Matt, Dakota, Daniel, and Lawson. The only last name we could catch from the Chief’s introductions on the You Tube stream was Jones, as in Matt Jones. We can only guess at the others.

It would have been helpful if the four captains’ names and their biographies had been included in the meeting packet, along with the names of the four SSFD Auxiliary Board members whom Chief Limberger recognized.

Presumably, a photo of the newly sworn captains will appear in the next Town newsletter with their full names.

It also would be helpful if Town Council members—especially Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal, who is notorious for not speaking loudly enough—spoke into their microphones when they talked. They should be mindful that they are creating a public record. Only the Mayor makes a point of speaking loudly and clearly.

That’s all for now, folks. TBC.

(We apologize to subscribers who received multiple emails of this post. We had technical difficulties that necessitated a deletion of the first post and an insertion of its replacement.)

By The Southern Shores Beacon, 1/6/26    

A public hearing on a Zoning Text Amendment submitted by the Southern Shores Civic Assn. to increase the maximum allowable height of fences around “community recreational facilities” from 6 feet to 10 feet will be held at the Town Council’s first meeting of the year tomorrow at 10 a.m., in the Kern Pitts Center behind Town Hall.

See the meeting agenda and packet here:

https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/soshoresnc-pubu/MEET-Packet-4f8b3bddf86c46e78e4edf301f1dd453.pdf.

ZTA 25-06 seeks to amend Town Code section 36-97, an ordinance regulating walls and fences, not only to increase the maximum height of fences around community recreational facilities, but to require such fences to be constructed only of “see-through chain-link fabrication.”

“Community recreational facilities” are defined in Town Code section 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.”

According to Planning Director/Deputy Town Manager Wes Haskett’s summary of the ZTA, which can be found in the Council’s meeting packet, the SSCA currently owns and operates nine community recreational facilities in town.

The SSCA is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, dedicated to promoting the interests and welfare of its members and their community and environment. 

The Town Planning Board unanimously recommended approval of ZTA 25-06 at its Dec. 15 meeting.

This ZTA would seem to be an improvement at SSCA’s recreational facilities. If any resident thinks otherwise, we would appreciate hearing from you. Thank you.

PLEASE NOTE: Since last March, the Town Council has permitted only one public-comment period in its meetings, eliminating the long-held second public-comment period scheduled after all business has been heard and before its adjournment. The only public-comment period on the Council’s agenda now comes after special presentations and staff reports, but before the Council conducts “old” and “new” business.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS on Tuesday’s meeting agenda include:

• Introductions of the new staff at the Southern Shores Fire Dept. and members of the Fire Auxiliary Board;
• An overview of the events planned for the Outer Banks “A250 Initiative,” commemorating the 250^th anniversary of the nation’s founding and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, by Katelin Kight from the Dare County public relations department;
• An update on the 2027 beach nourishment project, to which the Town Council has yet to commit officially, by Town Manager Cliff Ogburn; and
• A quarterly financial report by Mr. Ogburn.

CHRISTMAS TREE DISPOSAL

You may place your undecorated Christmas trees (no tinsel!) in your “limb and branch” pile in the public right-of-way for pickup during your regularly scheduled sector pickup. Wreaths are excluded from this collection.

In case you did not know, the Town is divided into four sectors. Each sector’s limb and branch collection lasts a week, and chippers alternate among the sectors from week-to-week. (In our experience, collection usually occurs on the first day of a sector’s week.)

To find out which sector your property is in, and when its next collection is scheduled, see the limb/branch collection calendar at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/12991.

Happy New Year, everyone.

The Beacon will continue on indefinite hiatus in 2026, posting news updates when time permits.

By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 1/5/26