THE BEACON: Who Are We?

Hatteraslight

Hello, Beacon readers!

Welcome, Beacon followers!

Some of you have sent us messages through this website or through the Beacon Facebook page, inquiring about who is on our editorial board. We just posted a response to the Who Are We? (or Who Are You?, if you prefer) inquiry on our Facebook page. The bottom line is that we would like to earn your trust and respect through our reporting, not through our identities. Our reporting will establish our credibility and reliability.

We can tell you, however, that we are a group of 10 people who represent a cross-section of the Southern Shores community. We live in Chicahauk and in the woods and dunes of Southern Shores, as well as on the beach.

Some of us own seasonal rental property. Some of us own small businesses.

Some of us have small children. Others have small grandchildren.

We come from many walks of life and are in different stages of life.

We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.

We are transplanted Northerners and homegrown Southerners.

The defining characteristics of our diversity could go on . . .

What unites us is that we have chosen to live in Southern Shores because we love it, and we would like to preserve its character, charm, and beauty for today and for tomorrow. We believe that in order to do that, property owners need to be informed about what’s happening in Southern Shores–from shore to shore and from north to south.

Please give us time to get established and to grow.

And, please, stay in touch.

Thank you so much.

Beacon Editorial Board, April 19, 2018

BUDGET WORK SESSION APRIL 17: NEWS ON EAST DOGWOOD TRAIL WALKWAY DESIGN OPTIONS (concrete or more eco-friendly surface?); Income-Expense Shortfall Currently Projected

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The Town Council budget work session scheduled at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Pitts Center is noteworthy for its emphasis on a review of the proposed East Dogwood Trail “walking path,” whose construction startup is tentatively budgeted in FY 2018-19 for a scaled-back $250,000.

Deel Engineering will present design plan options for the 5-foot-wide walkway, which will start at the N-S-E Dogwood trails intersection in the woods and run about 4,325 feet to NC 12 (Duck Road), BEFORE Town Manager and Budget Officer Peter Rascoe and Town Finance Officer Bonnie Swain go over projected expenses and revenues with Mayor Tom Bennett and the four Town Council members.

Deel Engineering, PLLC, which is associated with Anlauf Engineering, PLLC, both of Kitty Hawk, has a multi-year contract with the Town to provide engineering, architectural, and other construction-related services on infrastructure projects.

The Beacon urges anyone interested in the future of East Dogwood Trail and South Dogwood Trail, and the impact walkway construction will have on homeowners, to attend at least the first hour of the budget session—or send a friend.

Besides the low-ball cost figure proffered by Deel/Anlauf for the East Dogwood Trail walkway, other noteworthy numbers in the draft budget submitted by Mr. Rascoe are a request of $267,700 for “architectural services” in support of the new Southern Shores fire station, a project expected to cost, in total, well in excess of $6 million; an increase in annual capital street appropriation of $138,870; and an update of the beach vulnerability survey, which was previously done, for $94,000.

(Southern Shores’ financial obligation for last summer’s beach nourishment project in front of Pelican Watch, at the southern end of town, was $500,000, $150,000 of which is expected to be paid by Pelican Watch homeowners through a tax assessment. According to a video on the town website, the project added 180 feet to the beach width, but earlier this month, a representative of the Pelican Watch homeowners assn. appealed to the Town Council at its regular meeting for help with restoring the dune, which he claimed had been damaged in a March 2018 storm.)

Currently projected FY 2018-19 expenses total $6,388,835, an amount that is $296,261 more than projected income. The Beacon does not recall a projected Town budget ever showing a shortfall between income and expenses.

Town expenses for salaried employees constitute roughly 35-40 percent of the total projected expenses. Southern Shores has among the highest salaried employees on the Outer Banks. The town manager’s position costs the Town more than $200,000 annually.

In FY 2018-19, Mr. Rascoe will have help with administering his job. Town Planning Director Wes Haskett will be salaried as a part-time deputy town manager, a job he has already assumed, in addition to his planning department duties and responsibilities.

The Beacon is curious to know why the Town thought this reallocation/expansion of duties was necessary. We do not recall being informed in the newsletter about this change, the reasoning behind it, and the anticipated consequences it will have.

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DOGWOOD TRAIL WALKWAY OPTIONS: Concrete, Asphalt, or Flexi®-Pave? Lowest-Impact, Eco-Friendly Surface Proposed Also Most Costly; Public Forum Urged

Deel/Anlauf have submitted preliminary engineering cost estimates for three design options for the proposed East Dogwood Trail “path,” each of which is constructed of a different material. The cheapest option calls for a concrete walkway. The most expensive, and most environmentally friendly, calls for KBI (K.B. Industries) Flexi®-pave, which, The Beacon has learned from an online search, is a heavy-duty porous material made from recycled tires and stone. The third option is an asphalt walkway, which, like the concrete path, would be impervious.

According to some online engineering claims, Flexi-pave actually cleans rainwater as it passes through.

According to an April 10, 2018 memorandum from engineer Joseph Anlauf to Mr. Rascoe, the $250,000 expense included in the draft FY 2018-19 budget for the East Dogwood Trail walkway covers only construction of a concrete “main path” along East Dogwood Trail from the Dogwoods intersection to NC 12. The estimated expense does not include:

*asphalt demolition, previously proposed in order to narrow East Dogwood Trail in the divided-roadway section in the dunes;

*any new asphalt and associated curbing that would be required;

*shade trellises, park benches, bike racks, municipal garbage cans/recycling cans and other niceties proposed to be built or positioned along the walkway; and

*any crosswalks to perpendicular streets

Since the South and East Dogwoods Task Force filed its final report in January 2017, the South and East Dogwood Trails walkway project has become a neglected and/or protracted and certainly confusing project.

The task force, chaired by Michael Fletcher, recommended a 5-foot-wide path that would meander around trees and would have “elements of a greenway.”

https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/170117-FINAL-REPORT-DWTF.pdf

Before a decision is made on the surface material to use and other design details and on the money to expend on this massive, community-altering construction project—some property owners will lose much of their front yards—The Beacon urges the Town to hold a public forum to explain what is contemplated and how it will benefit and infringe upon property owners. This is follow-up that hasn’t occurred and should.

Anecdotally speaking, The Beacon finds that many homeowners on the affected streets are unaware of the walkways being contemplated.

Public officials should do more to inform property owners than just refer them to online material that is difficult to access and assess.

The Beacon is also concerned about the lack of long-range planning being discussed by the Town Manager, Finance Officer, and the Town Council, despite several requests by Town Council members at their regular meetings for such planning. The Beacon especially would like to know how much the Town will be paying annually, and in total, for the new fire station, while it’s also paying for other big-ticket items, such as the Dogwoods walkways and, potentially, another beach-nourishment project.

Beacon Editorial Board, April 16, 2017

ALERT: 2018-19 BUDGET-PLANNING MATERIALS NOW ON TOWN WEBSITE; also Design Plans for “Conceptual” Walkway Along South Dogwood Trail

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The Southern Shores Town Hall newsletter published today (April 13) contains links to budget materials that will be discussed at the budget-planning work session April 17 and to plans described as “preliminary design” work for “a conceptual walkway along South Dogwood Trail.”

Construction of the Dogwood trails walkway system is one of the big-ticket items expected to command the attention of the mayor and Town Council when Town Manager Peter Rascoe presents the anticipated income and expenses for FY 2018-19.

The Beacon doesn’t really understand what a conceptual walkway is and will endeavor to sort through the fragmented content on the website about the proposed South and East Dogwood Trail walkways and report back to you soon. We believe the walkway system is beyond mere concept.

You will find the agenda for the April 17 budget-planning session, which will be held at 9 a.m.—and last until such time as our public officials decide to adjourn—in the Pitts Center here:

https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/minutes-agendas-newsletters/Agendas_2018-04-17.pdf

A meeting packet for the budget-planning session, which details facts and figures that will be under discussion, is available on the town website here:

https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/minutes-agendas-newsletters/Meeting-Packet_2018-04-17.pdf

The Beacon will highlight some of the proposed budget items in a report before the April 17 planning session.

An April 13 “Draft of preliminary design plans for a conceptual walkway along South Dogwood Trail” may be accessed here:

https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/4-13-18-south-east-dogwood-trail-walkway-paths/

According to information under this link, the South and East Dogwood Trails “paths” have been broken into three segments, described as follows:

Segment 1: “runs along South Dogwood Trail from the SS Cemetery to Fairway Drive.”

Segment 2: “runs along South Dogwood Trail from the Dogwood Intersection down to Fairway Drive.”

Segment 3: “runs from the Dogwood Intersection to NC 12.”

It would appear from these descriptions that when construction on South Dogwood Trail occurs, it will be done first from south to north and then second, from north to south, with a convergence at Fairway Drive. The Beacon has not studied the 33 links under the listed segments, which are described in terms of six “paths,” to ascertain if this is what is “conceptualized.”

While The Beacon appreciates notice about the design plans for this massive construction project on South and East Dogwood Trails, it would much rather have them synthesized and summarized in a written report, rather than presented in multiple links as drawings and figures. Certainly someone familiar with this project can explain the options and costs being contemplated in a few easy-to-read paragraphs. Most of us are not engineers and those who are undoubtedly have plenty of other work to do.

The Beacon will report again after the April 17 budget-planning session, too.

(To read yesterday’s blog post about the Town Council’s effort to change the law on calculating 30% lot coverage, so as to enable construction of larger houses, click on the link in the right-hand column of this page.)

Beacon Editorial Board, April 13, 2018

APRIL 16 PLANNING BOARD BUSINESS: Town Council Seeks Change to 30% Lot Coverage Limit That Would Enable Larger Homes

Also: Elizabeth City businessman applies for zoning-law exemption so he can open drive-through ice cream shop on small lot between banks on Hwy. 158; and SSVFD prepares for new fire station

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The Southern Shores Planning Board will consider an amendment to the town’s zoning ordinance that would redefine how residential lot coverage is calculated and effectively allow larger homes to be built and undeveloped lot area to be decreased. The Board will hold a hearing on the proposed change to the law during its regular meeting Monday, April 16, at 5:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center.

The Planning Board also will consider zoning amendments proposed by the Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Dept., related to construction of its new state-of-the-art fire station; and by a business applicant seeking an exception to the town code so it can open a drive-through ice-cream shop on Hwy. 158 in front of the Marketplace. (See below.)

It should be an entertaining night.

Section 36-202(d)(6) of the Southern Shores Town Code (which is the town’s law book) defines “maximum allowable lot coverage” in the low-density single-family residential district as 30 percent, except for town-owned facilities and fire stations.

The zoning amendment, prepared by town staff upon motion by the Town Council, permits specific exemptions to the 30-percent limitation. Councilman and architect Christopher Nason proposed the change, and Mayor Tom Bennett and Councilman Jim Conners voted in favor; Councilmen Gary McDonald and Fred Newberry voted against it.

Lot coverage is the ratio of the total “footprint” area of all structures on a lot to the net lot area. The footprint typically includes principal (your house) and accessory structures, such as garages, carports, covered patios and roofed porches, decks, swimming pools, driveways, and parking pads.

You may think of lot coverage as the percentage of the lot (your land) that is covered by building area. The building area consists of the total horizontal area that you see in a building plan. Some of the area may actually touch the ground, as your house does; other parts may hang over the ground, as eaves on a roof do. The idea is that land is covered, thus affecting the flow of water.

The proposed zoning text amendment, known as ZTA-18-04, would eliminate from the footprint, and, therefore, from the lot-coverage calculation the following construction, previously taken into account:

*Gravel walkways

*Gravel or grass driveways with a pervious base

*The outermost 4 feet of [roof] eaves

*Up to 500 square feet of the water area of a swimming pool

*Open-slatted decks constructed over pervious material (not to exceed a total of 25 percent of the total footprint)

ZTA-18-04 also would exempt from calculation 50 percent of the area consumed by pervious materials and turfstone/pavers for driveways and parking areas.

Stormwater management is a major factor to consider whenever buildings are erected and lot disturbance occurs. Too much lot coverage can lead to excessive stormwater runoff and flooding. Surfaces that are “pervious” allow water to percolate into the ground. Impervious surfaces, such as concrete and asphalt, prevent water from percolating into the ground.

Would the proposed change in the law result in more puddling during and after storms than we currently experience?

You may read the proposed amendment in full at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ZTA-18-04-Lot-Coverage.pdf. Scroll down to page 3 for the new legal language.

The Beacon can easily see how, if ZTA-18-04 becomes law, a property owner could build a larger new home than his neighbor did just last year by including a gravel or grass driveway with a pervious base and open-slatted decks over pervious materials. He also might be able to have that swimming pool that an earlier homeowner could not build because its construction would have put his lot coverage over the 30 percent limit.

Would enactment of ZTA-18-04 lead to an explosion in swimming pools throughout Southern Shores?

Would people convert concrete driveways to gravel and alter their decks in order to build the additions that they didn’t think would meet code?

What do you think? Is ZTA-18-04 change for the better or for the worse?

The five-member Planning Board will hear public comments on the proposed amendment Monday and then vote, as is typically the case, to recommend its adoption or not. Planning Board Chairman Sam Williams will report the Board’s action to the Town Council at its next regular meeting, which is May 1^st. The council likely will hear further public comments on ZTA-18-04 then, before it votes on final action.

Is ZTA-18-04 good law? Is it fair? Who benefits? Who doesn’t? You decide.

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DRIVE-THROUGH ICE-CREAM SHOP BETWEEN THE BANKS?

Doing business as 5415 OBX-LLC—one of numerous “OBX-LLCs” (limited liability companies) that have sprung up in Southern Shores recently— Spiros Giannakopoulos, 45, of Elizabeth City has applied to the Planning Board to obtain necessary town code changes and a conditional use permit to allow him to open a drive-through ice cream shop at 5415 N. Croatan Hwy. Mr. Giannakopoulos’s Nu-Quality Ice Cream would be located between Wells Fargo and First National banks, in front of the Marketplace.

If your first thought is that there’s not enough land at 5415 N. Croatan Hwy. to open a drive-through shop, you’re right.

The Southern Shores Town Code currently requires a “drive-through facility or establishment” to be located on a lot that is equal to or greater than 2.5 acres.

According to 5415 OBX-LLC’s application, the lot at 5415 N. Croatan Hwy. is 18,260 square feet, or 0.42 acres. Mr. Giannakopoulos, aka 5415 OBX-LLC, proposes to build a 910-square-foot shop with a parking lot there.

5415 OBX-LLC, which is being represented by Quible & Associates of Kitty Hawk, proposes to eliminate this major obstacle to its commercial plan by amending the zoning ordinance to allow drive-through ice cream shops—and only ice cream shops—to operate in Southern Shores on less than 2.5 acres.

The Beacon can’t help but wonder why the Planning Board or the Town Council would favor ice cream shops over all other drive-through establishments and how these public officials will respond when/if Nu-Quality Ice Cream goes belly-up as so many new businesses do. Will they then go back to the code and amend it for the next OBX-LLC with a drive-through business that comes calling?

The Beacon is also very concerned about the traffic flow into the drive-through shop and its impact on a very congested thoroughfare. The 2.5-acre restriction established by a previous Town Council did not come out of thin air.

What do you think?

You may read the nitty-gritty about Mr. Giannakopoulos’s proposed business and what he and his LLC would require from the Town of Southern Shores in order to operate at https://www.dropbox.com/s/drjff5ey9hcsdq1/P15167.1-CombinedSitePkg.reduced.pdf?dl=0.

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And finally, in other Planning Board business . . . the SSVFD is seeking zoning changes that would establish different parking, signage, and setback requirements than are currently imposed by ordinance in preparation for its anticipated new fire station. SSVFD is looking to amend town code sections 36-163, 36-165, and 36-205.

You will find the Planning Board’s full agenda here: https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/southern-shores-planning-board-meet-april-16-2018/.

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UPCOMING PLANNING BOARD APPOINTMENTS

The three-year terms of Chairman Williams and Planning Board member David Neal expire June 30, 2018, as do the terms of the two non-voting alternate members of the Board. If you are interested in applying for one of these important volunteer positions, you will find info and an application at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/10-14-16-Board-Volunteer-Application.pdf.

At its April 3^rd regular meeting, the Town Council filled a vacancy on the Planning Board, created by the departure of member Jim Morrison, by elevating Board alternate Glenn Wyder. Councilman Conners nominated Mr. Wyder to the Board, after Councilman McDonald nominated Carlos Gomez, the other Planning Board alternate, to the seat.

Mr. Wyder earned the nomination by a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Bennett and Councilman Nason joining Mr. Conners in supporting him, while Mr. Gomez received the votes of Councilmen McDonald and Newberry.

Such a 3-2 division is a common one on this Council.

The Beacon found it very disappointing that the Town Council did not engage in any discussion about the merits, relative and otherwise, of either applicant.

Mr. Newberry pointed out that Mr. Gomez had served longer in an alternate capacity than Mr. Wyder had and that Mr. Gomez is a longtime civil engineer. No one supporting Mr. Wyder, however, said anything about his qualifications—his background, education, skills, employment, etc.— and why he deserved the appointment over Mr. Gomez. Mr. Conners said simply that he was better qualified, but offered no detail.

The Beacon expects better from its elected officials than an apparent “I have my guy, you have yours” difference of opinion, without explanation. Too much important business comes before the Planning Board for appointments to be made on the basis of undisclosed favoritism and bias.

The Beacon, April 12, 2018