The autumn Southern Shores bulk-waste collection will be Friday, Oct. 13, the Town announced in an online notice today.
Each year, the Town schedules two roadside bulk-waste collections, one in April, and the other in October.
The Town requests that residents not place approved items for pickup in the street rights-of-way until Friday, Oct. 6, and have all items on the roadside no later than Thursday, Oct. 12.
Some of the large items approved for collection are furniture, including sofas, chairs, mattresses, and dressers, etc.; exercise equipment; refrigerators, provided the Freon has been removed and the item is so marked; and yard waste or vegetative debris bagged in clear or brown paper bags.
Some of the many unapproved large items include televisions, hot tubs, water heaters, basketball goal posts, hazardous materials (such as paints, solvents, and chemicals), tires, and building materials. Windows, roofing, doors, screens, carpets, rugs, toilets, cabinets, and demolition debris are prohibited.
Any item that is rejected by the contractor will be marked with an X.
The townside collection will take place all day on Oct. 13 and possibly go late into the evening. The Town asks residents not to call Town Hall about missed pick-up inquiries until the business day after the collection, which would be Monday, Oct. 16.
CORRECTIONre PROPOSED GINGUITE CREEK CONDOS
In preparing for Part Two of our report on the Planning Board’s consideration of a special use permit application submitted by SAGA/Ginguite LLC for its proposed two-building residential-commercial development at 6195 N. Croatan Hwy., we discovered that we erred in representing the number and size of the “multifamily” dwelling units in the creekfront project. (See The Beacon, 9/19/23.)
The proposed project calls for 36 total multifamily residences, according to Sumit Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of SAGA Realty & Construction, 30 of them in the eastern residential building, which will have ground-floor parking, and six in the western residential-office-retail-restaurant building.
The 30 eastern building units will have two, three, or four bedrooms, Mr. Gupta said, and the six western building units will have three or four bedrooms.
We regret any confusion we may have caused.
We will be posting Part Two of our report later this week without the pressure of a deadline.
AND A REMINDER . . . OCT. 2 CANDIDATES’ FORUM
The Southern Shores Town Council candidates’ forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Dare County, will be held on Monday, Oct. 2, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center.
The four candidates vying for three positions on the Town Council are incumbents Matt Neal and Mark Batenic and challengers Robert E. Neilson and Michael Guarracino.
If you would like to submit a question for the forum, email it to LWVdare@gmail.com. The LWV asks that you include your name and your town with your question(s).
Crews from Ripple Fiber will begin necessary installation work soon in the public rights-of-way of Southern Shores roads to enable residents to receive high-speed fiber Internet, according to a notice posted yesterday on the Town website.
The construction is expected to take several months, according to a release by the Charlotte-based Ripple Fiber linked to the Town’s notice. The work includes a “restoration phase” after the construction is finished—more details of which appear in the FAQ listed in the release.
Ripple Fiber warns in its release that its “installation process” may present “inconveniences [and that the fiber Internet provider] is committed to restoration of all damage resulting from the construction.”
Ripple Fiber promises to “restore the affected areas to pre-construction conditions” after it finishes its construction. The company may temporarily place seed and straw, for example, on property owners’ lawns.
We strongly urge you to read the FAQ included in the release, which advises, in part, that the Town of Southern Shores cannot deny access to a cable/Internet franchise looking to do business here, as a matter of federal law; that Fiber Ripple will only be conducting work in public easements, which also may include utility easements in property owners’ yards; and that the installation fee for the high-speed fiber Internet service is $200 per customer, a fee that may be waived for “preorders,” defined as orders received before construction restoration.
You may learn about Ripple Fiber, including its product pricing, at ripplefiber.com and send inquiries to the company about construction issues (once it’s under way) and sales and service at ripplefiber.com/contact. Its telephone numbers are (252) 862-3407; and (800) 359-5767.
As a public service, we include a link to an August 2023 article on highspeedinternet.com that compares fiber Internet with 5G home Internet: See https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/fiber-vs-5g-home-internet. We make no representations about the content of the information provided.
This aerial photograph of the Southern Shores Marketplace was provided by Klein Enterprises. The parking lot in front of the Food Lion was still undergoing re-pavement at the time it was taken.
Klein Enterprises, a diversified real estate developer, investor, and operator, has acquired the Southern Shores Marketplace, the Baltimore-based company announced yesterday.
According to a company release, an affiliate of Klein Enterprises purchased the 140,000-square foot shopping center on North Croatan Highway from the Charlotte-based Aston Properties, which recently undertook a significant redevelopment there, bringing in Marshalls, Rack Room Shoes, and Five Below leases.
The Marketplace Food Lion, which anchors the shopping center, is considered “high-performing” and was further incentive for Klein to “establish our footprint in the rapidly growing North Carolina market,” the release said.
Said Sean Garland, Klein’s chief investment officer: “The acquisition of Southern Shores Marketplace achieves several important goals, including delivering stable cash flow with long-term leases from a blend of national and local tenants, along with manageable geographic expansion.”
According to the company’s release, the purchase deal was structured as an off-market transaction and facilitated by Berkeley Capital Advisors, with financing provided by TD Bank.
The acquisition represents Klein’s first asset in North Carolina and serves as the 1031 exchange replacement property for the company’s sale earlier this year of Deer Park Business Center, a nearly 170,000-square-foot office/flex center property in Randallstown, Md., outside of Baltimore.
Broadly stated, a 1031 exchange is the swap of one real estate investment property for another that allows capital gains taxes to be deferred. The properties must be considered “like-kind” in order for the Internal Revenue Service to recognize a tax deferral. The exchange derives its name from Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code.
According to The Daily Record, a Baltimore-based business and legal journal, commercial real estate owner/operator Fernau LeBlanc Investment Partners of Bethesda, Md., purchased Deer Park in April for an undisclosed amount.
The Marketplace acquisition is Klein’s 13th retail acquisition in the past two years, as the 75-year-old, fourth-generation company continues an active transaction and development period. The company currently has nearly 60 assets “comprised of over 6 million square feet including 3.5 million square feet of commercial properties and approximately 3,000 Class A multifamily units owned or in development,” the release said.
For more information about Klein Enterprises’ portfolio holdings and investment strategy, see www.kleinenterprises.com.
Aerial view of the SAGA/Ginguite property, outlined in red, as it appears in Dare County GIS.
A standing-room-only crowd of Southern Shores property owners turned out yesterday evening at the Planning Board meeting to oppose the Board’s approval of a SAGA investor group’s proposal/site plan to develop a large tract on U.S. Hwy. 158 that fronts on Ginguite Creek into a “mixed-use” development of condominiums, offices, retail shops, restaurants, and a marina.
Common among the sentiments expressed by the 20 property owners who spoke against the project at 6195 N. Croatan Hwy., which is located next to the Southern Shores Landing, were those of Dixie Kirby of North Dogwood Trail who said she was “appalled” by its “size and extent” and called it “against the spirit of Southern Shores.”
Although the Planning Board did not meet yesterday to approve or disapprove the proposed development—that boat already has sailed (see below)—it did begin a painstaking review of the special use permit application (SUP 23-01) that must be approved by the Town Council before property owner Ginguite LLC can apply for a building permit.
Deputy Town Manager/Planning Director Wes Haskett has recommended that the SUP be approved, subject to a number of conditions–ranging from the procurement of mandatory State permits to the conduct of an updated fire hydrant flow test–to which the Planning Board may add more.
The Planning Board will make a recommendation about Ginguite’s application to the Town Council, and the Council will make the final decision.
According to SUP 23-01, Ginguite LLC, which was represented at the Board meeting by Sumit Gupta, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SAGA Realty & Construction, and engineer Michael Strader of Quible & Associates, proposes to build two three-story wood-framed buildings, 200 parking spaces, a marina, and associated infrastructure on what it claims is about 4.55 acres (net acreage) of a 6.96-acre property that is zoned predominantly commercial, with a small section of R-1 low-density residential in the northern end. (The “net acreage” does not include any areas covered by “waterways, wetlands, or marshes.”)
The easternmost building would house 30 residences, which Mr. Gupta heretofore has referred to as “luxury condominiums,” and the western building would house six residences, about 9,255 square feet of office space, and 6,985 square feet of combined retail and restaurant space.
Upon questioning by Planning Board member Robert McClendon, Mr. Gupta revealed that the “multi-family” residences he intends to build in the eastern building would have two or three bedrooms, and the residences in the western building would have three or four bedrooms.
He waffled on whether they would be rentals or sales, expressed a clear preference for condos, not apartments, and declined to mention a sales price. He told Board Chairperson Andy Ward that he envisions a total of 140 bedrooms.
None of the lot being developed includes areas covered by “waterways, wetlands, or marshes,” according to Ginguite’s application, although it is difficult to argue that the development will not have, as homeowner Elizabeth Ryan said in public comments, a “detrimental effect” on the “unique and natural beauty” of the Ginguite Creek area.
In its review of Ginguite’s SUP, the Planning Board is analyzing the impact of the proposed development on adjacent properties, transportation and transportation systems, stormwater, utilities and telecommunications, vegetation and other elements of the natural environment, and noise, among other factors, and ensuring Ginguite’s compliance with regulations and requirements imposed by the Town Code.
Questions posed by the Planning Board were so detailed and wide-ranging that Mr. Strader remarked in frustration that the “types of questions” being asked “should have been ironed out before tonight, quite frankly.” (We will delve into some of the questions, especially those pertaining to lot coverage, in Part Two of our report.)
Mr. Strader’s comment came after an extended exchange over a wastewater utility easement and the use of a lift station in a common area of the Landing development. (We struggled to follow Board members’ train of thought.)
Mr. Ward replied that “We intend to question everything” on Ginguite’s “site narrative,” which was submitted with its site plan and other materials.
“It’s our right,” he emphasized, adding “Just as long as we can make reasonable progress, we can move forward.”
Earlier, the Board Chairperson informed the audience that last night’s meeting was “just the starting point in our process” of a “complex review” that was “likely to take at least two meetings.”
CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL OF SUP
Among the many conditions that Mr. Haskett recommended in his staff report were two that dealt with mandatory 50-foot setbacks from the property lines of the adjacent Southern Shores Landing and All Saints’ Episcopal Church, as well as the preservation of existing natural vegetative buffers between them.
Lynn Usher of Ocean Boulevard, who described himself as a member of the vestry of All Saints’, spoke beautifully about how the Ginguite development “will inevitably intrude on our outdoor sanctuary,” where people “contemplate their lives and remember those who have passed.”
Equally poignant were remarks by Arline Arnold of Holly Trail about the detrimental impact of the development on the children’s playground at All Saints’ that she dedicated “in memory of our granddaughter who was killed at Sandy Hook [Elementary School].”
Mr. Haskett further pointed out that marinas, which he defined as a “series of docks and piers,” are not permitted in the C General Commercial District. He cited an unattributed “interpretation letter” dated Aug. 14, 2023, for this opinion, which we have learned was written by him to the named SUP applicant, Quible engineer Cathleen M. Saunders.
Although the Town did not recommend that Ginguite do a traffic impact assessment or traffic study to evaluate how the mixed-use development will affect traffic in this well-traveled area of U.S. 158—a significant concern for most of the property owners who spoke—it did condition Ginguite’s submission of its Building Permit application on completion of such a study, if the N.C. Dept. of Transportation requires one.
There are two accesses in and out of the proposed development, one of which fronts on the highway and is already being used, and the other of which is Landing Trail, an access easement that Ginguite shares with the Southern Shores Landing. Mr. Strader said Ginguite has in mind preventing a left turn from its development into the Landing and would be “open to further changes” so that “no unchecked through traffic” occurs in the Landing.
Jim Baker, president of the Martin’s Point Homeowners Assn., predicted that it will be “impossible to make a left-hand turn” on to U.S. Hwy. 158 from the Ginguite development, so residents and visitors will turn right on the highway and then use the Martin’s Point service road to turn around.
After a lengthy discussion with Mr. Strader and Mr. Gupta, the Planning Board adjourned without taking a vote on whether to recommend the SUP’s conditional approval.
It will resume its review of what Mr. Ward referred to as Ginguite’s “grandiose proposal” at its next meeting, Oct. 16, at 5 p.m. in the Pitts Center.
WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE: THE MIXED-USE ORDINANCE
It was clear from property owners’ comments that many had just learned yesterday about this controversial creekfront project, even though the Town’s discussion about it dates back to February 2022, when Ginguite, LLC sought to amend the Southern Shores Town Code to authorize and define mixed-use developments in the General C Commercial District. The SAGA investor group introduced a Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) to make that change.
Until the Town Council unanimously voted on June 7, 2022 to amend Town Code sec. 36-207(c) to add “mixed-use” as a conditional use in the Town’s commercial district, and specified the requirements for such developments, with the Ginguite project specifically in mind, such developments were prohibited in Southern Shores. (See the amendment at Town Code 36-207(c)(11))
The Planning Board negotiated for months with Mr. Gupta on the wording of the ZTA that it eventually recommended for approval to the Town Council. As we previously reported, the SAGA CEO met personally with Mayor Elizabeth Morey, Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal, and Town Manager Cliff Ogburn on the morning of the meeting in which the Council passed a mixed-used ordinance (ZTA 22-06) that was more generous in terms of maximum allowable lot coverage than the one the Planning Board recommended.
Mr. Neal attended yesterday’s meeting. He was the only one of the four candidates running in November for three seats on the Town Council who did.
We have been writing on the social media site, Next Door, today to try to catch homeowners up with the events last year that led to enactment of Southern Shores’ mixed-use ordinance, which makes “mixed use group development of commercial and residential buildings” a conditional use in the general commercial district. (Because of a change in nomenclature by the N.C. General Assembly, conditional uses are now being called special uses.)
After listening to homeowners’ negative comments about his project, Mr. Gupta informed the Board and the audience yesterday, “We studied the rules. There’s an ordinance in Southern Shores, and we followed it to a T.”
The mixed-use ordinance specifies such matters as minimum building size (2,500 square feet); residential density (limited to RS-8 “high-density” district allowances); minimum front, side, and rear setbacks; maximum building height (35 feet); the minimum and maximum lot coverage of the net parcel area that can be associated with the residential-use footprint (25 and 40 percent, respectively), and more.
“We met all dimensional requirements,” Mr. Gupta said yesterday. “. . . We don’t ask [the Town] for anything.”
He further noted that “We purchased a sewage system to develop this property.”
Mr. Gupta said he has no issue with the SUP approval conditions suggested by Mr. Haskett, except for the 50-foot setback imposed from his property’s eastern boundary line to buildings, parking spaces, incinerators, and other structures on it.
Saying that the Landing is a commercial property—which, because of a Town zoning map error and the type of development it is, appears to be true (more troubled water under the bridge)—Mr. Gupta argued that it was not entitled to such a lengthy setback. Only residential properties receive a 50-foot side setback from commercial developments under the Town Code.
Nonetheless, the SAGA developer said he had arranged for a 34-foot setback, which is more than twice the 15 feet that the mixed-use ordinance requires for side-yard setbacks.
We will stop here and pick up with our report of the Planning Board’s review of Ginguite’s SUP and the history of the mixed-use ordinance in Southern Shores either later this week or next week.
Please let us know if we have misspelled anyone’s name. We did not take the time to verify spelling with the Town Clerk.
A new eastside sidewalk is planned for N.C. Hwy. 12, starting at Triangle Park/the Duck Road split (above) and running to the East Dogwood Trail intersection.
The Town Council directed Town Manager Cliff Ogburn at its Sept. 5 meeting to submit an application to the Dare County Tourism Board for a grant to help with construction costs for a westside sidewalk on N.C. Hwy. 12/Duck Road from East Dogwood Trail to Hickory Trail.
The application for a Dare County Tourism Impact grant must be filed by the end of this month, a deadline that was the impetus for the town hall/public forum on potential new sidewalks that was held on Aug. 29.
More than 60 residents and property owners attended the town hall: Nearly all of the people who spoke opposed sidewalk segments proposed in a “priority” list prepared by the Town Council that was circulated before the meeting. Most of the opponents addressed potential sidewalks on streets along the cut-thru route, however, and did not single out Duck Road.
(See The Beacon, 8/30/23. See also The Beacon, 8/24/23 and 9/3/23.)
Also last week, the Council authorized survey work to be done for 1) a possible extension of the new Duck Road westside sidewalk from Hickory Trail to Hillcrest Drive; 2) a future sidewalk on the north side of Skyline Road, from the asphalt path that is by vacationers in Chicahauk to cut over from Spindrift Trail to Skyline, to Ocean Boulevard; and 3) a possible extension of the existing Juniper Trail sidewalk to U.S. Hwy. 158.
Council members debated the need for a sidewalk on Skyline Road, with Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal expressing doubt, but did not reach consensus.
The suggested extension on Juniper Trail would run along the east side of the street, from where the current sidewalk ends to the U.S. Hwy. 158 intersection.
The Town previously committed to construction of an eastside sidewalk on Duck Road from Triangle Park, where the cell tower is, to East Dogwood Trail. (See photo above.)
The Town Council next meets on Oct. 3, at 5:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center. Mayor Elizabeth Morey announced that the Mayor Pro Tem will chair the meeting in her absence.
PLANNING BOARD TO CONSIDER SAGA INVESTOR GROUP’S SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR MULTI-USE PROJECT AT GINGUITE CREEK
The Planning Board will consider at its Monday meeting a special use permit (SUP) application submitted by Ginguite, LLC/SAGA for a mixed-use group development of residential and commercial buildings at 6195 N. Croatan Hwy. (U.S. 158), next to the Southern Shores Landing.
The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. in the Pitts Center. The Beacon plans to cover it.
Quible & Associates, P.C., prepared the site plans for the project, which consists of luxury condominiums mixed with commercial businesses on what the applicant represents as a 300,000+ square-foot parcel of creekfront land. Cathleen M. Saunders, an engineer with Quible, will represent Ginguite LLC before the Planning Board, according to the permit application.
The League of Women Voters of Dare County will hold its Southern Shores candidates’ forum for the November municipal election on Monday, Oct. 2, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center, according to the LWV’s Facebook page.
The public may submit questions for the four candidates running for Southern Shores Town Council before the forum to LWVdare@gmail.com. The LWV asks that you include your name and your town with your question(s).
The four candidates vying for three positions on the Town Council are incumbents Matt Neal and Mark Batenic and challengers Robert E. Neilson and Michael Guarracino.
We have seen no evidence of campaigning in town, which is highly unusual—and, frankly, disappointing—considering early voting starts in less than six weeks.
The LWV will hold candidate forums in the towns of Manteo, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, and Duck on Oct. 3, 4, 5, 10, and 12, respectively, also from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Election Day is Nov. 7. Early voting begins Thurs., Oct. 19, and continues through Sat., Nov. 4. For the hours and days of early voting at the two polling places, the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall and Dare County Administrative Offices in Manteo, see https://www.darenc.gov/departments/elections/voting.
You may register to vote up until Fri., Oct. 13.
Requests for absentee ballots will be accepted by the Dare County Board of Elections until Tues., Oct. 31. All absentee ballots must be filed by 5 p.m. on Election Day.
For the first time in North Carolina, you will be required to show a photo ID when you vote in person. All absentee voters will have to submit a copy of an accepted ID with their ballot.
Registered voters who arrive at the polls without an acceptable photo ID may still vote with a provisional ballot if they:
1) complete a Photo ID Exception Form, which asks them to choose from among a number of “reasonable impediments”* that prevent them from showing an ID; OR
2) bring an acceptable photo ID to the Dare County Board of Elections office in Manteo by 5 p.m. on Nov. 16.
All provisional ballots submitted with properly completed ID exception forms must be counted.
All of the following are acceptable photo IDs, provided they are unexpired or expired for one year or less:
N.C. driver’s license
U.S. passport book/U.S. passport card
State ID from the N.C. Dept. of Motor Vehicles (“non-operator ID”)
N.C. voter photo ID card, issued by a county board of elections (free)
College/university student ID approved by the N.C. State Board of Elections
State/local government employee ID approved by the N.C. State Board of Elections
Driver’s license/non-driver ID from another state, D.C., or U.S. territory, provided the voter registered in N.C. within 90 days of the election
Any of the following are acceptable photo IDs, regardless of whether the ID contains an expiration or issuance date:
Military or veteran ID card issued by the U.S. government
Tribal enrollment card issued by a State or federally recognized tribe
ID card issued by a U.S. government agency or the State of N.C. for a public assistance program
You may obtain a free photo ID from the Dare County Board of Elections, which is located at 954 Marshall Collins Drive in the Dare County Administrative Offices complex in Manteo and open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F; phone: (252) 475-5631.
PLEASE NOTE: Voters age 65 and older may use an expired photo ID if it was unexpired on their 65th birthday.
*Reasonable impediments listed on the ID Exception Form include:
Lack of transportation
Disability or illness
Lack of birth certificate or other documents needed to obtain ID
Work or school schedule
Family responsibilities
Photo ID lost, stolen, or misplaced
Photo ID pending; have applied for it, but have not received it yet
Religious objection to being photographed
Victim of a natural disaster within 100 days before Election Day that resulted in a disaster declaration by the President of the United State of the Governor of North Carolina.
Voters who vote by mail may indicate that they are unable to attach a copy of a photo ID, provided they also include their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
To see the complete list of acceptable photo IDs and details on how to request State Board of Elections approval for student and employee IDs, see ncsbe.gov/voter-ID.
In light of the new photo ID requirement, we strongly encourage you to vote early. You can expect delays on Election Day related to implementation/management of the ID requirement. We see SNAFU and DELAY written all over this change in procedure.
A principal reason that the Town held the town hall on sidewalks last week was its interest in applying for a grant this month from the Dare County Tourism Board to help fund a sidewalk project. Indeed, it was during a discussion about this grant with Town Manager Cliff Ogburn at its August meeting that the Town Council had the idea for the town hall.
(The Town Council meets in September this Tuesday (9/5) at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. See the meeting agenda and business highlights, below.)
We do not believe that the Mayor, the Town Manager, and the other three Council members who attended the town hall expected to receive the negative reaction they did. (See The Beacon, 8/30/23, “Residents Resoundingly Reject More Sidewalks in Southern Shores.” Town Councilman Leo Holland could not attend.) Opponents turned out in force.
Among the objections to sidewalks cited by speakers were the following:
*Destruction of the natural environment, especially the trees and canopy.
*Damage to the aesthetics of tree-lined streets, neighborhood charm.
*Flooding caused by impervious concrete of 5-foot-wide, six-inch-deep sidewalks.
*Cost of building and maintaining sidewalks.
*Loss/encroachment of people’s front yards (although people recognize that the Town owns the public right of way).
*An inducement for drivers to drive faster because pedestrians are no longer in the roadway.
*Absence of proof that a major safety issue exists now.
Daphne Porter of Sea Oats Trail asked the Town to “take care of what we already have,” and Tony DiBernardo of Ninth Avenue spoke of maintaining the “founders’ plan,” which is reflected in the Town’s current Comprehensive CAMA Land Use Plan (LUP) and in the newly revised draft LUP.
The new Community Vision Statement states, in part, that “We strive to protect Southern Shores’ environment.”
Ken Sengel of Sea Oats Trail said he is “totally against having sidewalks,” and a homeowner on Skyline Road compared installing sidewalks on his street to “putting lipstick on a pig.”
The Town does not currently have a master plan for constructing sidewalks along well-traveled streets, including on the weekend traffic cut-thru route, according to Mr. Ogburn at the town hall. But the “priority list for future path segments” posted online by the Town in advance of the event—a list that was promoted as the focus of the forum—certainly suggests it does.
Mayor Elizabeth Morey has said at Council meetings that she favors “walking paths” and considers their construction a priority of the current Council, which prepared the list of 12 “future path segments” at its March 2022 retreat. (The first sidewalk project, along the east side of N.C. 12/Duck Road from Triangle Park to East Dogwood Trail, is already in progress.)
Residents and homeowners received a paper handout of this list at the town hall. They were asked to rank their “top 5” sidewalk projects, in order of priority, and to list “other segments of pedestrian improvements you feel are important and include those in your ranking.” The handout shows the “current rank” of priority assigned by the Town to a segment, with sections of the cut-thru route along Hickory Trail, Hillcrest Drive, and Sea Oats Trail receiving high rankings.
The deadline for submitting a Dare County “Tourism Impact” grant application to the Tourism Board is the end of this month, according to Mr. Ogburn.
The Mayor and Town Manager have asked residents/homeowners to submit their priority sidewalk segments ranking handouts to the Town by Sept. 15.
In light of the irony (futility?) inherent in asking people who are opposed to sidewalks to submit a list of priority rankings for their construction, we do not see much value in this community survey. We suggest that people advise the Mayor and Town Council of their opinions by emailing them at council@southernshores-nc.gov. The Council members may be reached individually by writing to emorey@, mneal@, psherlock@, lholland@, and mbatenic@southernshores-nc.gov. Mr. Ogburn may be emailed at cogburn@southernshores-nc.gov.
We doubt the Mayor, Town Manager, and Town Council will engage in a lengthy discussion at its Tuesday meeting about the town hall. We expect the Dare County Tourism Impact grant to be the emphasis of Mr. Ogburn’s update on paths/sidewalks.
Andrea Radford of Stewart Inc., the engineering, design, and planning firm hired by the Town to update its Comprehensive CAMA Land Use Plan, will present the most recent draft of the revised LUP to the Town Council and take members’ questions. The Council is expected to vote to refer the draft LUP, which is dated Sept. 1, to the N.C. Division of Coastal Management for review and comment, the next step in the update process.
Southern Shores Deputy Chief of Police Jonathan M. Slegel will give a presentation about active shooter training at the Town Council meeting, while Officer Jason M. Thompson will give a presentation/demonstration called “Project Lifesaver.”
Town Attorney Phil Hornthal, or another attorney from his law firm, will discuss “property acquisition action items” for the Town’s purchase of 13 Skyline Road.
***
NOTE ABOUT COVERAGE: September is a very busy month for The Beacon, and we are unsure how much coverage we will give Town news this month, including any news that comes out of Tuesday’s meeting. Please bear with us. We plan to cover the Planning Board meeting on Sept. 18 and to monitor Town Council election campaigns. Thank you.
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 Southern Shores Beacon 