Collapse of culvert viewed on left; project construction on right. (Photos by Town of Southern Shores)
A portion of the culvert that channels water underneath the Juniper Trail/Trinitie Trail Bridge, which has been closed to all traffic since Monday, caved in earlier today when a construction crane knocked it down, according to two news releases issued by Southern Shores Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, the first one at 12:30 p.m.
The crane was being put in place by contractor Smith-Rowe LLC, of Raleigh, for use next week in removing the culvert when a piece of the structure gave way, Mr. Ogburn explained.
No one was injured as a result of the impact and cave-in, he said, and crews were said to be “actively working to remove the crane” as of 2 p.m. today.
Mr. Ogburn asked that no one visit the construction site while this work takes place.
The bridge was closed Monday to all vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and boaters for an anticipated seven months of construction during which it will be replaced. (See The Beacon, 12/2/24, for background.)
The Town of Southern Shores sent out the following “special announcement” email from Mayor Elizabeth Morey and Eddie Hayman, Chairman of the Board of the Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Dept. (SSVFD), late yesterday afternoon:
“To the Residents, Property and Business Owners of the Town of Southern Shores,
“To maintain our excellent fire protection services, we are writing to share with you a path forward as we feel the time has come to evaluate the long-term sustainability of our present volunteer system. We are extremely thankful for our volunteer firefighters, past and present. They continue to provide excellent services aimed at preventing, limiting, and reducing damage of personal injury and property damage caused by fire or other emergencies. The volunteer organization is very much a part of the foundation that makes this a great place, and we will always be committed to keeping volunteers in place. Chief Ed Limbacher does an excellent job of leading the department, having gone far and above what’s expected for the past ten years. There are many people to thank through all the years of dedicated, loyal, generous and tireless service.
“We have been extremely fortunate to have received these services under our present contract and have not had to sacrifice any loss in protection while saving our taxpayers a considerable amount of their tax dollars. Considering any potential transition is an important decision. We have determined that working with a fire service consultant to help evaluate the feasibility of the Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Department becoming part of the Town of Southern Shores municipal government, is appropriate at this time.
“We will continue to keep you informed of our progress in the coming months. While we feel the time has come to evaluate where we are and to ensure we continue to do what is best for Southern Shores and for those that serve as volunteers, we want to assure everyone that our focus remains on keeping you all safe.
“With Greatest Respects,” signed by Mayor Morey and Mr. Hayman
We have highlighted the significant language in this letter. After reading it, you might have asked, as we did: Why?
Why has the time come for a long-term evaluation of the volunteer fire department system?
Why is it appropriate now for the Town to work with a “fire service consultant” to help evaluate the “feasibility” of the SSVFD becoming a Town department, rather than remaining an independent, non-profit corporation?
What’s going on?
We don’t have answers, just questions, but we can provide you with some information that may be useful as situational context begins to emerge.
FACTS ABOUT THE SSVFD AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN
The Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Dept. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that was incorporated in 1982. A history on the SSVFD’s website traces its origins to “nine dedicated citizens” in Kitty Hawk who borrowed money to build a fire station near Wink’s Grocery Store on the beach road.
In 1968, according to the history, a fire district was established to provide fire protection services to Colington, Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores, and Duck. Subsequently, all four established their own standalone fire departments.
You might enjoy watching a videotape on the SSVFD website in which former Fire Chief David Sanders describes the department’s tremendous growth in the 1990s when he was in charge. Mr. Sanders, who also served on the Town Council, still lives in Southern Shores. (See http://www.ssvfd.net.)
The modern-day SSVFD provides contracted fire protection services and emergency medical support to Southern Shores and Martin’s Point. The current contract with Southern Shores started July 1, 2019 and is in effect until June 30, 2029. Previous contracts also have been for 10 years.
The Town of Southern Shores’ budget for the SSVFD in FY 2024-25 is $1,207,335: $893,315 for contracted services and $314,020 for the annual debt on the new fire station at 15 S. Dogwood Trail.
The Town assumed a 25-year mortgage in FY 2020-21 to pay for the construction of the station, which cost $5,419,223. Financed at an interest rate of 3.71 percent, the original annual debt payment was expected to be $333,552, but it was subsequently lowered to $314,020.
The Town’s SSVFD budget was $1,073,539 in FY 2023-24; $1,004,243 in FY 2022-23; and $964,378 in FY 2021-22. Dare County also contributes funding, and the SSVFD provides support throughout the county, when needed.
The only SSVFD firefighters who receive a salary and benefits are the Fire Chief and the Deputy Fire Chief. All others are unpaid professionals.
In 2023, Southern Shores Town Manager Cliff Ogburn asked the Town Council to increase the Town’s minimum required Undesignated Fund Balance (UFB) from $1.75 million to $3.5 million as a hedge against the possibility that the Town would have to “assume ownership of the assets and responsibility to provide fire services,” should its contract with SSVFD become “void.”
This possibility did not come to pass, and there has been no public discussion about the Town becoming the owner of the fire department.
The UFB is a Town set-aside of funding for emergency and disaster relief.
The Town Council held a closed session Tuesday night after completing the business agenda of its meeting. When it returned, the Mayor announced that she and her colleagues had authorized the Town Manager to hire a consultant “to help us with long-term town planning.” The Mayor did not elaborate.
SSVFD DEPUTY CHIEF MATTHEW DUDEK LEAVES FOR DUCK
The Duck Fire Dept. announced on Wednesday that it had hired Southern Shores Deputy Chief Matthew Dudek, effective immediately, as its new Deputy Fire Chief and Acting Fire Chief while Duck Fire Chief Donna Black transitions to her new position in Washington, D.C., as Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator.
One might assume that Mr. Dudek will succeed Ms. Black after her departure.
The Duck Fire Dept. is also a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation staffed by volunteers, but according to budgetary materials on the Town of Duck website, more firefighting professionals are compensated than are paid in Southern Shores.
Deputy Chief Dudek joined the SSVFD in May 2021, after he and his family relocated to Southern Shores. A U.S. Navy veteran, the Deputy Chief has more than 25 years of fire service, including 20 years with fire departments in upstate New York.
Mr. Dudek also has a Bachelor’s degree in Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management from State University of New York-Empire State College and a Master’s degree in Homeland Security from the Naval Postgraduate School, according to his Linked-In page. (The announcement of Deputy Chief Dudek’s appointment was carried on the Town of Duck website and in “The Outer Banks Voice.”)
The Town of Duck’s FY 2024-25 budget for its fire department is $2,065,851.
In anticipation of its 2025 property tax revaluation, Dare County has launched an informational webpage to assist property owner-taxpayers. It can be accessed at DareNC.gov/Revaluation.
If you have a sense that Dare County “just” reassessed property values, you are correct. It has reduced the time between revaluations by two years, the last revaluation being conducted in 2020, on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As The Beacon reported 6/2/24, when we learned about the 2025 reassessment by reviewing Southern Shores’ recommended FY 2024-25 budget, the State of North Carolina requires all counties to conduct property revaluations at least every eight years, on an “octennial cycle.” (See N.C. General Statutes sec. 105-286)
Counties may “advance” the revaluation cycle, however, if they choose.
Our records show that Dare County has largely observed a septennial revaluation cycle in recent years, having conducted revaluations on Jan. 1, 1998, Jan. 1, 2005, Jan. 1, 2013, and Jan. 1, 2020. It has never before scheduled a five-year cycle.
When the County revalues properties, it purportedly updates them to align with their current fair market values, which reflect “the most probable price a particular property would bring at sale in an open and competitive market,” according to a press release by Dare County.
Taxpayers will have 30 days after the date of their Value Notices to submit informal appeals to the Dare Tax Department, requesting an adjustment of new assessed property values.
Sales of homes comparable to a property being revalued are typically considered indicative of market value and are used by taxpayers to argue that Dare’s revaluation is incorrect. The Dare County 2025 Revaluation webpage actually has a comparable sales search tool that you may use to assess the accuracy and fairness of your property’s revaluation.
We will evaluate the search tool in January after we receive Value Notices to “test.”
The Dare County Board of Commissioners will set tax rates in June 2025, and the County will mail tax bills with new values in July and August, according to the timeline.
The new webpage also includes an overview of the revaluation process, answers to frequently asked questions, and Dare County’s “pledge” to work with all property owners to “ensure that every property is appraised at a reasonable estimate of its market value.”
Do the Southern Shores beaches need “maintenance” in 2027 already?
The Southern Shores Town Council made short work on Tuesday night of a provision in a tree-removal/lot disturbance permit ordinance that the Planning Board had resurrected, after the Town removed it, and sent back to the Town Council for “reexamination.”
So swift was the Town Council’s dismissal of key language supported unanimously by the Planning Board in proposed Zoning Text Amendment 24-05 that we were left wondering if the principals on each board ever speak to each other, much less consult one another.
Thirty seconds after the public hearing on ZTA 24-05 ended, Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal made a motion to approve the zoning amendment as written except “omitting the text change on page three, line 1200.”
Mr. Neal did not even speak aloud the words that the Planning Board had inserted and overwhelmingly recommended for approval at its Nov. 18 meeting. He used a citation, instead!
When Mayor Elizabeth Morey summarized the Mayor Pro Tem’s motion, she, too, skipped over the Planning Board’s recommended change, referring to it only as omitted text.
ZTA 24-05 ESTABLISHES EXCEPTIONS FOR GETTING PERMIT TO REMOVE TREES IN SETBACKS ON VACANT COMMERCIAL PROPERTY.
The Beacon explained ZTA 24-05 in detail on 11/17/24, and we will be brief here in reminding you what it is about.
In April, the Town Council adopted ZTA 24-02, which was a predecessor bill to ZTA 24-05. That legislation established that an owner of unimproved commercial property must obtain a lot disturbance/stormwater management (“LDSM”) permit before removing trees that are greater than 6 inches in diameter, measured at 4.5 feet above the ground, from within the front, side, and rear yard setbacks on any lot.
ZTA 24-02 amended Town Code section 36-171, which pertains to lot disturbance and stormwater management and sets forth the requirements for an LDSM permit—the obtaining of which is an early step in the building process.
Neither ZTA 24-02 nor ZTA 24-05 was a tree-preservation ordinance: Both dealt with vegetative buffers in lot setback areas, and both only required an LDSM permit before removing large-growth trees; neither prohibited their removal.
The Planning Board sought to extend this permit requirement to owners of undeveloped property in all zoning districts in Southern Shores, even though the Town Council passed ZTA 24-02 because it applied only to the general commercial district. Those three words, all zoning districts, were the “omitted text” that the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem would not say.
ZTA 24-05 also included exceptions to the LDSM permit requirement for proposed tree removal in setback areas of commercial property when an “emergency” exists.
Again, we refer you to our earlier explanation on 11/17/14 and to the meeting preview we published on 11/30/24. Mr. Neal came up with the idea of legislating exceptions to the permit requirement.
The Town Council did exactly what The Beacon expected it to do with ZTA 24-05, albeit more furtively and summarily than we think a municipal government should act, so why did the Planning Board expect a different result? Or did it? Was this just a power play? Or was something else afoot? A lack of communication? Of understanding?
The Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem both said that in striking the words that they would not speak– “all zoning districts”—from the ZTA, they were restoring what “we originally intended,” which had to do with vegetative buffer requirements in the commercial district.
Mr. Neal’s motion passed, 4-0—Councilman Robert Neilsen was absent—within a minute after it was made and seconded. The emergency exceptions to the permit requirement were in; the extension of the permit requirement to all zoning districts was out.
Give-and-Take Between the Town Council and Planning Board
There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark between the Town Council and the Town Planning Board, which spent considerable time at its Nov. 18 meeting deliberating over the new provisions of ZTA 24-05—an effort that was not recognized by the Council on Tuesday. We note that this is not the first time the Town Council has ignored the Planning Board’s judgment, without offering an on-the-record explanation.
It used to be customary for the Planning Board chairperson to attend Town Council meetings and to explain the Board’s decision-making on Zoning Text Amendments. Longtime Chairperson Sam Williams was a fixture at Town Council meetings, and his successor, Glenn Wyder, was carrying on in Williams’s tradition before he died suddenly in November 2018.
The custom of having the Planning Board Chairperson attend and participate in Town Council meetings ended when now-Mayor Elizabeth Morey assumed the position. Current Chairperson Andy Ward, who succeeded Ms. Morey, has appeared occasionally, but not on a regular basis.
We do not believe that the Town Council gives Planning Board members, all of whom it has appointed, the deference they are due. The Planning Board does not exist to serve the Town Council. It serves the town and its residents, and its voice should be heard and answered.
We would like to hear from the Planning Board Chairperson or another Board member on every ZTA. A public give-and-take between the two commissions should be restored.
2023-24 BEACH MONITORING REPORT NEEDS A PLAIN-ENGLISH SUMMARY.
Before the Town Council dispatched ZTA 24-05, beach nourishment consultant Ken Willson of Coastal Protection & Engineering of North Carolina, gave another redundant, overly complicated presentation to the Council, this time reporting on CPE’s monitoring of the Southern Shores’ shoreline and beach sand volume between June 2023 and June 2024.
CPE submits annual reports on the state of the beaches.
Unfortunately, because he reviews so much, Mr. Willson has been presenting much of the same material to the Town Council since 2017.
We have heard him speak, and read his abstruse reports, for seven years. You may read his latest report, which he submitted with Tuesday night’s presentation, here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/obzhiqimd6hl4pe5r9hgr/2024- SS-KH-KDH-Monitoring-Report.pdf?rlkey=sjpcikcs939y9n3u615f8sn6f&e=1&st=budjawlp&dl=0.
This report includes shoreline and volume changes measured by monitoring the beaches in Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, as well as Southern Shores, which makes it even more difficult to read.
With all due respect, Mr. Willson has a knack for stringing together familiar words in sentences that are meaningless to most people—except perhaps Mayor Pro Tem Neal and Town Manager Cliff Ogburn.
After he finished, Mayor Morey thanked Mr. Willson for “making” his “comprehensive” report “so we can understand it.”
We doubt anyone in the Pitts Center who listened to his presentation—other than the aforementioned—understood what he said. Mr. Neal’s questions showed familiarity with Mr. Willson’s report.
The Town Council should ask Mr. Willson to explain in one page what the annual beach monitoring showed. Not an “Executive Summary,” like he includes in his report, but a one-page, plain-English, what-did-the-profiling-show synopsis.
If he were to undertake this task, we believe he could write in about 250 words how well the Southern Shores beaches are doing—because of the 2022-23 nourishment project and because of natural forces. All of the figures and coastal-engineering speak that he employs only obscure the bottom-line assessment.
One detail of Mr. Willson’s presentation that was clearly understood by the Town Council, however, was his assumption that the Town will do a 2027 beach-maintenance project that is estimated to cost at least $6.6 million.
Councilman Batenic, who we recall made comments during his first year in office indicating his lack of awareness of the every-five-years “maintenance” schedule, asked Mr. Willson about this eventuality and its cost. His eyes clearly rolled upward, behind his glasses, with mention of the price tag.
Originally appointed to his seat after Town Council Member Elizabeth Morey was elected mayor, Mr. Batenic has proved to be a thoughtful representative of the public, one who has an independent streak that we would like to see him to exercise more often. (He ran for office in 2023 and earned his elected seat.)
When we pointed out to the Mayor in 2020 that Mr. Batenic was not informed about the five-year maintenance plan, she told us that the plan was not set in stone. The Town might not adhere to that schedule, she said. Mr. Willson certainly acted on Tuesday like it is a done deal.
CHICAHAUK SIDEWALK MAINTENANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE SPACE.
Speaking of deals, the Town Council unanimously approved accepting a revised agreement between the Town and the Chicahauk Property Owners Assn. (CPOA) that calls for the Town to do $79,000 of maintenance on Chicahauk sidewalks in exchange for receiving 12,711 more square feet of easement space.
The additional square footage would be incorporated into an existing easement granted to the Town by the CPOA for the Town’s use of a parking area near the Chicahauk Trail and N.C. 12 intersection. (See The Beacon, 11/30/24, for a full description.)
Exercising his independent streak, Mr. Batenic, who is a Chicahauk resident, pointedly asked Town Manager Ogburn: “Is that all we get?”
“Somehow I feel like we’re being hoodwinked here,” he said.
“We’re being handed sidewalks—and being asked to fix them—that they let deteriorate.”
Quite rightly.
In our pre-meeting report 11/30/24, we expressed concern for residents whose back yards might front on the Town’s expanded easement space. We don’t think 10-foot vegetative buffers do much to blunt noise from parking or any other ingress-and-egress with vehicles. But now we appreciate Councilman Batenic’s perspective.
Why isn’t the CPOA contributing some money to the sidewalk repair?
Mr. Ogburn related that the CPOA had declined to make a financial contribution, and because the sidewalks, which the CPOA owns, are in the Town’s right-of-ways, the Town has responsibility for maintaining their condition.
“It’s the best deal we’re going to get,” Mayor Morey said.
HELP WANTED: LONG-RANGE TOWN PLANNING CONSULTANT.
The Town Council held a closed session Tuesday night after completing its business agenda. When it returned, the Mayor announced that she and her colleagues had authorized the Town Manager to hire a consultant “to help us with long-term town planning.” We wonder what the Town Council has in mind, but, as usual, the Mayor offered no elaboration.
AND FINALLY, WE CONGRATULATE POLICE CHIEF DAVID M. KOLE on marking 40 years of service in law enforcement.
Southern Shores Deputy Police Chief Jonathan M. Slegel presented Chief Kole with an award Tuesday in recognition of his milestone achievement. The Chief has served in Southern Shores since early 2007. Before arriving in town, he served 22 ½ years as Chief of Police for the Village of Horseheads, N.Y.
In his earlier staff report to the Town Council, Chief Kole announced that Sergeant Matthew W. Cooke received the Police Department’s 2024 “Top Gun” award for having the highest firearms proficiency, and Officer Tracy M. Mann, who is the School Resource Officer, received the 2024 “Officer of the Year” award, an honor given by her peers.
Closure of the Juniper Trail/Trinitie Trail culvert bridge to all traffic–a move that was expected to occur in November–will take place next Monday, Dec. 9, according to a press release issued today by the Town of Southern Shores.
The bridge, well known for its roller-coaster ride despite repeated repairs, will be replaced with a cored slab bridge, the construction of which is expected to take 210 days, or about seven months, to complete, the Town said.
Earlier this year, Town Manager Cliff Ogburn said that construction of the replacement bridge would start in November and be finished by “summer 2025,” with the bridge being closed for up to six months. (See The Beacon, 3/8/24.) The closure period has since increased.
During the closure, no vehicles, pedestrians, or bicyclists may cross the bridge, and no boaters may pass under it.
The Southern Shores Town Council voted unanimously on Oct. 10 to accept a construction bid of $1,667,178.70 by Smith-Rowe LLC for what is now being called the Trinitie Trail Bridge Construction Project and to authorize the Town Manager to execute a contract on behalf of the Town with the Mt. Airy, N.C. construction company.
Smith-Rowe’s bid was the lowest bid received among four competing contractors. (See The Beacon, 10/10/24.)
The 32-year-old company claims on its website to have built more than 400 bridges in its service area, which includes Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia, as well as the heart of North Carolina.
The Town has been engaged with engineering/planning/design consultant Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., of Raleigh, on this project for about two years.
The bridge replacement is a public construction project and, as such, is subject to N.C. statutory requirements and supervision by the N.C. Dept. of Transportation.
REMEMBER: THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETS TOMORROW AT 5:30 p.m. IN THE PITTS CENTER. The Beacon previewed the meeting highlights on Saturday, 11/30/24.
Beach nourishment project manager Ken Willson will report on shoreline and sand volume changes on the Southern Shores beaches during the past year at the Town Council’s last meeting of the year, Tuesday, at 5:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center.
The Council also will consider a revised agreement between the Town and the Chicahauk Property Owners Assn. (CPOA) for sidewalk maintenance that would involve the CPOA expanding an existing easement to give the Town more space for vehicular parking; and it will hold a public hearing on the tree removal regulatory change (ZTA 24-05), upon which The Beacon reported 11/17/24.
You will find all materials related to Zoning Text Amendment 24-05, which the Planning Board unanimously recommended adopting at its Nov. 18 meeting, and to the CPOA-Town agreement regarding the Town’s maintenance of some of the concrete sidewalks owned by the CPOA in the meeting materials. We elaborate on some details below.
CPE’s assessment of the Southern Shores beaches is a positive one, with the Northern Section (north of Fourth Avenue) and Central Section of the 2022-23 beach nourishment project area faring better than the problematic Southern Section (south of Chicahauk Trail), which has long been the case.
Mr. Willson’s recommendation is to continue the annual beach monitoring.
According to the agenda, Town Manager Cliff Ogburn will give updates on the Juniper/Trinitie Trail Bridge Replacement Project, which was to start in November, and the Town Hall Renovation Project, which drew only two bids from contractors, both of which far exceeded envisioned costs.
At its November meeting, the Town Council authorized Mr. Ogburn to “value-engineer” with Sussex Development Corp., the low bidder on the Town Hall remodel, and report his progress at next week’s meeting.
Mr. Ogburn has described the renovations as constructing interior “improvements mainly for safety reasons.” The Beacon detailed these improvements in our 11/17/24 report. They include remodeling the front entrance and front reception area of Town Hall, about which there has not been much public discussion, and expanding the property file room, which has been extensively discussed by the Town Council. Files have already been digitized, and the paper versions are being retained.
ADDITIONAL TOWN SPACE IN EXCHANGE FOR SIDEWALK MAINTENANCE?
The CPOA has asked the Town of Southern Shores to assume responsibility for maintaining the sidewalks on the east side of Trinitie Trail, the north side of Chicahauk Trail, and the west side of Spindrift Trail, according to a staff report in the meeting packet. In exchange, the Town has asked that an additional 12,711 square feet of space be incorporated into an existing easement granted to it by the CPOA for the Town’s use of a parking area near the Chicahauk Trail and N.C. 12 intersection.
The proposed additional space abuts the existing easement area on the south end and appears from an aerial view photo to be between the back yards of 93 Ocean Blvd. and 94 Spindrift Trail. (See photo at top.) The Town would be required to maintain a 10-foot vegetative buffer along the boundary line with each of these properties.
The proposed amendment to the easement, which also is included in the meeting packet, refers to buffers with the (rear) property lines of 94 and 96 Spindrift Trail and does not mention 93 Ocean Blvd.
It does not appear to us from the aerial view that there would be an impact on 96 Spindrift Trail, which already backs up to an area of the existing easement. But, if the aerial view is incorrect, and a section of what is designated on the image as “existing easement” is actually proposed additional space, then there should be a buffer with 95 Ocean Blvd., too.
A survey done 9/25/24, and included in the meeting packet, depicts a section labeled “existing easement” in the aerial view as “new easement area.” This will have to be clarified.
According to the staff report, the cost of the repairs to the designated sidewalks is $72,500, and the work has already been put out for, and received, bids.
The staff report dates the sidewalk maintenance agreement to a September 2019 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Town, which owns the rights-of-way upon which the public streets in the Chicahauk Subdivision have been built, and the CPOA, which owns the concrete sidewalks and associated sidewalk infrastructure. (We find the MOU to be a bit sketchy in stating the parties’ intent.)
David A. Stager signed the MOU as president of the Chicahauk Property Owners Assn.
Clearly, the most significant aspect of this sidewalk maintenance-for-larger easement space agreement is the impact the Town’s use of the additional space would have on the abutting properties, even with 10-foot buffers. We certainly would not want a parking lot or Town storage sheds in our back yard. It also would be possible to amend the easement for new uses, not stated in the proposed amendment.
We have long heard that the Town was going to pay for and handle repairs to Chicahauk sidewalks, but this is the first we’ve heard that it has sought an expanded easement in return for the maintenance. We hope the property owners in Chicahauk are aware of this arrangement. It appears from the meeting materials that it is going to be approved on Tuesday.
TREE REMOVAL ZTA EXTENDS PERMIT MANDATE TO ALL ZONING DISTRICTS
As we previously reported, the Town Council adopted in April a Zoning Text Amendment establishing that an owner of unimproved commercial property must obtain a lot disturbance/stormwater management (“LDSM”) permit before removing trees that are greater than 6 inches in diameter, measured at 4.5 feet above the ground, from within the front, side, and rear yard setbacks on any lot.
This ZTA amended Town Code section 36-171, which pertains to lot disturbance and stormwater management and sets forth the requirements for an LDSM permit.
ZTA 24-05, which will be subject to public hearing on Tuesday, proposes expanding this permit requirement to owners of undeveloped property in all zoning districts in Southern Shores, not just the general commercial district. The Planning Board felt strongly that the requirement should apply throughout Town and requested this ZTA. (See The Beacon, 11/17/24.)
ZTA 24-05 also contains a new proposed subsection of 36-171 that spells out exceptions to the permit requirement for tree removal when an “emergency” exists. Under the proposed new regulation, tree emergencies are deemed to exist when:
(a) A tree has become an imminent danger or hazard to persons or property as a result of fire, motor vehicle accident, or natural occurrence such as lightning, windstorm, ice storm, flood or other similar event; or
(b) A tree must be removed in order to perform emergency repair or replacement of public or private water, sewer, electric, gas, or telecommunications utilities.
In the case of a tree emergency, the Zoning Administrator (Planning Director Wes Haskett) would have the authority to issue an LDSM within 72 hours after a tree is removed or to waive the LDSM requirement.
Please note that the permit requirement only applies to the removal of large trees in the setback areas of an undeveloped lot, not to large trees elsewhere on a property.
Also on the Town Council meeting agenda are the proposed reappointments of Regular Members Charlie Andrews and Michael Guarracino to new three-year terms on the Southern Shores Historic Landmarks Commission and the appointment of Alternate Member Wander Brett-Jordan to a three-year term on the Commission to succeed outgoing Regular Member Tony DiBernardo.
EXTRA BULLETIN: SETBACK FOR MID-CURRITUCK BRIDGE
The Outer Banks Voice reported on Wednesday that the N.C. Turnpike Authority will not be receiving a requested $425 million federal grant to fund the Mid-Currituck Bridge, whose cost is now estimated to be $1.139 billion. The Turnpike Authority will have to identify another source of funds to make up for the shortfall.
Southern Shores Town Manager Ogburn is quoted at the end of the article as being disappointed and describing the “planning and preparation” for the bridge as “a continuous one step forward, two steps back.”
Mentioned in the article are “other proposals to alleviate the traffic woes,” which those of us who have been in town for a while have heard before and rejected. They include a “flyover at the NC12/US158 intersection in Kitty Hawk and improvements to N.C. 12,” according to The Voice.
The only “improvement” we have ever heard discussed is the widening of Highway 12 in Southern Shores.
We refer you to The Outer Banks Voice for more on the subject.
Since this lot on North Dogwood Trail was clear-cut, stormwater has run off the front yard and pooled in the street. Before the lot was developed, the “old growth” trees absorbed the stormwater.
The Town Planning Board will revisit an ordinance regulating tree removal on unimproved lots at its regular monthly meeting tomorrow at 5 p.m., and the newly formed Southern Shores Entry Corridor Committee will hold its first meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Both meetings will be held in the Pitts Center. No agenda for the Corridor Committee has been posted on the Town website. The Planning Board agenda may be found at https://www.southernshores- nc.gov/media/11201. If the Planning Board recommends approval of Zoning Text Amendment 24-05, which will be before it tomorrow, it may find itself in opposition to views held by members of the Town Council, including Mayor Elizabeth Morey. While property owners often speak of “individual property rights” as if they were absolute, such rights have long been subjugated to reasonable land-use and zoning regulations that are designed to protect and preserve communities.
PLANNING BOARD HAS SHOWN INTEREST IN REGULATING REMOVAL OF TREES IN YARD SETBACKS ON UNIMPROVED LOTS THROUGHOUT TOWN; TOWN COUNCIL HAS LIMITED REGULATION TO COMMERCIAL PROPERTY.
On April 9, the Town Council adopted Zoning Text Amendment 24-02, which established that a property owner must obtain a lot disturbance/stormwater management (“LDSM”) permit before removing trees that are greater than 6 inches in diameter, measured at 4.5 feet above the ground, within the front, side, and rear yard setbacks on any unimproved lot in the general commercial zoning district. ZTA 24-02 amended Town Code section 36-171, which pertains to lot disturbance and stormwater management and sets forth the requirements for an LDSM permit. (Chapter 36 of the Town Code is the zoning chapter.) ZTA 24-02 was a much narrower version of an earlier proposed ordinance, known as ZTA 24-01, that also addressed tree removal and LDSM permits. ZTA 24-01 required property owners in all zoning districts, not just the general commercial district, to obtain a LDSM permit before removing trees of the specified size from anywhere on an unimproved lot, not just those in the setback areas. Neither ZTA had any relevance to developed lots. The Planning Board was scheduled to take action on ZTA 24-01 at its Feb. 21 meeting, but Planning Director/Deputy Managing Editor Wes Haskett withdrew the proposed ordinance, informing the Board that ZTA 24-01 would be redrafted into a new ZTA. He did not explain why. The revised ZTA 24-02 came before the Planning Board at its March 18 meeting, with its application narrowed to the commercial district only and to trees only in the setback areas, not elsewhere on lots. When questioned about the omission of other zoning districts, in particular, residential districts, Mr. Haskett referred to a preference for focusing on buffers between commercial property and adjacent lots and for not burdening residential property owners. The five-member Board discussed the ZTA thoroughly, unanimously expressing disappointment that the proposed ordinance no longer applied to residential districts, just the commercial district. The Board viewed the objective of the ZTA as protecting adjacent properties from stormwater runoff, which typically increases when old-growth trees that absorb the water are removed. Board Chairperson Andy Ward was especially adamant that the tree-removal permit requirement be extended to residential districts. The Planning Board ultimately decided to recommend approval of ZTA 24-02, as presented—by a 4-1 vote, with Mr. Ward dissenting—while also recommending, by consensus, that the tree-removal permit requirement be applied to property owners in the residential districts. The Town Council did not mention this request during its discussion on April 9 after the public hearing on ZTA 24-02. It unanimously approved the ordinance. ZTA 24-02 became law. The Planning Board brought up the issue again at its June 17 meeting and asked Mr. Haskett to draft a new ZTA to apply the tree-removal permit requirement now imposed only on commercial property owners to property owners in all zoning districts. ZTA 24-05, which the Planning Board will consider at its meeting tomorrow, is the result. See the text of ZTA 24-05 at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/11196. ZTA 24-05 also contains a new proposed section spelling out exceptions to the permit requirement for tree removal when an “emergency” exists. Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal first mentioned carving out emergency exceptions, for commercial property owners, at the April 9 public hearing. According to ZTA 24-05, tree emergencies are deemed to exist when: (a) A tree has become an imminent danger or hazard to persons or property as a result of fire, motor vehicle accident, or natural occurrence such as lightning, windstorm, ice storm, flood or other similar event; or (b) A tree must be removed in order to perform emergency repair or replacement of public or private water, sewer, electric, gas, or telecommunications utilities. The Town’s current Land Use Plan sets forth two land-use compatibility policies that are pertinent to ZTA 24-05: 1) “to monitor and preserve maritime forests and other tree canopy coverage”; and 2) “to consider reviewing standards for tree preservation in new development and redevelopment to ensure they protect and preserve the existing canopy and forest coverage.” Mr. Haskett cites these policies in his staff report on ZTA 24-05 and recommends approval of the proposed ordinance. See his staff report at https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/11191. Assuming the Planning Board recommends approval of ZTA 24-05, the measure will likely be subject to a public hearing before the Town Council in January.
HIGHLIGHTS OF TOWN COUNCIL’S NOV. 12 MEETING
The Town Council’s November meeting lasted just a little over an hour. Some highlights include:
TOWN HALL RENOVATIONS: Town Manager Cliff Ogburn informed the Town Council that he had received only two bids for the Town Hall Renovation Project, which he described as constructing interior “improvements mainly for safety reasons.” The project was bid twice because the Town did not receive the minimum three bids the first time it advertised. The same two bidders, however, submitted bids both times: They were Sussex Development Corp., which was low bidder at $512,041.23; and AR Chesson Construction, which came in slightly higher at $522,000. Both of these bids exceed the $380,000 that the Town has budgeted for the Town Hall remodel, and neither includes important security improvements for the Police Department and the Pitts Center. Mr. Ogburn sought the Town Council’s permission to “value-engineer” with Sussex to see if he could redefine the project at a lower cost. Mr. Ogburn and the Town Council engaged in a prolonged discussion about the scope, cost, and priority of various Town Hall renovations, which have long been envisioned, but heretofore not undertaken. According to the Town Manager, they include: *Making the front entrance compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act *Remodeling the front reception area, so that the receptionist faces the entry door *Installing more secure doors and glass *Expanding the property file room and the conference room *Removing the half-wall between the front reception area and the current office of Permit Officer Marcey Baum Mr. Ogburn also identified the replacement of 13 doors in the Police Department (10), and the Pitts Center (three), as well as three doors in the Town Hall, with a new secure door-access system that employs safety glass and cameras as a top priority. The Town Council gave him permission to proceed with the 16 doors, which Mr. Ogburn priced at $94,573, only $38,00 of which, he said, was included in Sussex’s bid. The cost to expand the file room has previously been estimated at $111,000, but it was unclear from the Manager-Council discussion how the cost for other improvements might break down. The Council authorized Mr. Ogburn to value-engineer with Sussex and come back with his results. LIGHT POLLUTION INITIATIVE: In her Council comments at the end of the meeting, Councilwoman Paula Sherlock said several residents had approached her with questions about Dare County’s initiative to reduce light pollution. We are aware that the Town of Duck has had a Dark Sky Ordinance since its 2002 incorporation, but we have not heard of a county-wide initiative. Ms. Sherlock said she would look into what Dare County is doing to reduce artificial lighting and see if Southern Shores can join in any on-going effort. Light pollution can harm wildlife, detract from the natural environment, and diminish residents’ quality of life. We look forward to hearing what Ms. Sherlock has to say at the December Town Council meeting. PROTECTION OF JOCKEY’S RIDGE: The Town Council unanimously approved a Town resolution in support of reinstituting the designation of an “Area of Environmental Concern” (AEC) for Jockey’s Ridge State Park. The resolution was included in the Council’s consent agenda and did not receive any discussion.
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Moyer will speak at the Southern Shores 2024 Veterans Day ceremony on Monday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. in the Pitts Center.
Officer Moyer, CW02, is a decorated 26-year veteran of the USCG and a Southern Shores resident, according to a release by the Town of Southern Shores, which sponsors the annual Veterans Day ceremony with the Knights of Columbus Assembly 2989.
The event is free to all members of the public.
The Southern Shores ceremony is one of four ceremonies being held in Dare County towns this year to honor veterans. Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and Manteo also are holding memorial celebrations on Veterans Day. You can learn the details about these events and other special activities planned during Dare’s Outer Banks Veterans Week, which runs tomorrow through Nov. 11, at https://www.darearts.org/veteransdirectory.
Outer Banks Veterans Week celebrates veterans and their families through the arts. It is sponsored by The Coastal Studies Institute, Hotel Manteo, the Veterans Writing Project, and the Pioneer Theater, and funded in part by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.
Among the upcoming events are:
*Outer Banks Veterans Concert on Sat., Nov. 9, 7 p.m., at the Pioneer Theater, 109 Budleigh St. in downtown Manteo
Musicians Tony Rosario, the co-founder of Soldier Songs and Voices; Ron Capps, the founder of the Veterans Writing Project, and Jana Pochop, a singer/songwriter/producer, will perform a special song swap billed as an “intimate evening of storytelling through song” in a round-table format. The concert costs $5 for attendees with a military or veteran ID and $10 for all others. Tickets may be purchased online at ThePioneerTheater.com or at the door.
*Veterans Writing Workshop on Sat.-Sun., Nov. 9-10, at the UNC Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
Mr. Rosario and Ms. Pochop will lead a “hands-on songwriting workshop” for beginning and experienced songwriters. The two-day workshop is free for veterans, active-duty military, and their family members. Participants may bring a musical instrument, if they choose. Pre-registration for the workshop is required because space is limited.
To register for the songwriting workshop and to find out more about these events and others scheduled during Outer Banks Veterans Week, go to https://www.darearts. org/veterans.
*A new exhibit, “A Thousand Words: Photographs by Vietnam Veterans,” on display at the Outer Banks History Center, Roanoke Island Festival Park, Manteo, starting Tuesday, Nov. 4, and running through Dec. 31.
The photograph exhibit will be on display in the temporary exhibit space at the Outer Banks History Center from Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., until the end of the year. The exhibit is free to the public. (The OBHC is closed for three months of renovations.)
LOCAL DISCOUNTS FOR DARE COUNTY VETERANS WITH ID CARDS
In May 2012, the Dare County Board of Commissioners created the Veterans Advisory Council in recognition of the service and sacrifice of all Dare County veterans. The DCVAC’s signature project is the Dare County Veterans I.D. card, which enables veterans to receive discounts off of goods and services at many local businesses.
To obtain a veterans I.D. card, you must have your DD214 form showing an honorable discharge and a driver’s license with a Dare County address. To obtain your card, call Marsha Brown, Dare County Veterans Advisory Council member, at (252) 202-2058, or Patty O’Sullivan, Dare County Veteran Service Officer, at (252) 475-5604.
Among the businesses that accept the Dare County veterans I.D. card and offer discounts year-round are Ace Hardware, Artsy Octopus, Barefoot Bernie’s, High Cotton BBQ, Jolly Roger Restaurant, Kitty Hawk Kites, and Sugar Shack and Sugar Creek Seafood Restaurant.
Elsewhere in recognition of Veterans Day:
Atlantic Dentistry in Kitty Hawk is offering free dental services to all veterans on Fri., Nov. 9. Call (252) 261-7700 to schedule an appointment.
Morgan Family Dentistry, 10A Juniper Trail in Southern Shores, is holding its 10th annual veterans’ dental clinic on Friday, from 8 a.m. to noon. For more information, call (252) 256-9302.
The N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is offering 50 percent off its admission for all active duty, retired, and reserve members of the military and their immediate family members on Veterans Day. The aquarium is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 374 Airport Road in Manteo. Proof of service/I.D. is required.
The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills will waive all entrance fees on Veterans Day in honor of the holiday.
For all you need to know about the Dare County veterans card and the events being held during Outer Banks Veterans Week, see https://www.darearts.org/veteransdirectory.
AND DON’T FORGET: TUESDAY IS ELECTION DAY.
The Pitts Center is the polling place for all registered voters residing in Southern Shores. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Southern Shores Town Council’s regular monthly meeting, which is usually held on the first Tuesday of the month, will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center.
After a 5 ½-hour hearing, with two recesses, the Town Board of Adjustment voted unanimously last night to deny a variance to Anthony Mina that would have allowed him to subdivide the 46,500-square-foot property at 75 E. Dogwood Trail that he owns with his fiancée.
(See The Beacon, 10/19/24, for factual background.)
The hearing may have been excessively long, but the Board’s decision was made quickly and without discussion. It was a foregone conclusion. Mr. Mina did not have a meritorious case, just a personal grievance against the Town, in particular, against Town Deputy Manager/Planning Director Wes Haskett.
We are not acquainted with how this grievance escalated to the point of wasting 5 ½ hours of attendees’ time and public money spent on two attorneys (one representing the Town; the other representing the Board of Adjustment), one court reporter, three police officers (we believe one left early), and overtime for Mr. Haskett and Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, but we trust the Town will conduct a post-mortem and figure out how it could have handled interactions with Mr. Mina better.
We question the Town’s decision even to let Mr. Mina file a request for a variance, inasmuch as a variance is not the “appropriate remedy,” as Town Attorney Lauren Arigaza-Womble of Hornthal, Riley, Ellis & Maland said several times during the hearing, for the hardship that Mr. Mina claimed.
Ms. Arigaza-Womble quoted Professor Adam Lovelady, an expert in land-use law at the University of North Carolina School of Government, for the principle that: “A variance is not the appropriate remedy for a condition or hardship that is shared by the neighborhood or the community as a whole,” such as would be the case where a zoning ordinance, of which an individual complains, affects everyone in the community.
At the beginning of the hearing, it appeared that Mr. Mina had not even wanted to file a request for a variance, for which he paid a $350 fee. He sought to “preclude” the hearing and told the Board of Adjustment that the Town had “no legal basis to force me to be here.”
This posture was one of many confusing revelations by Mr. Mina, whose recourse with the Town is to attempt to change the ordinance that prevents him from subdividing his property in his favor.
TEDIOUS, EXHAUSTIVE HEARING
We did not stay for the conclusion of the hearing, dear readers, taking our leave at 9 p.m., when the second recess was called.
By then, we had heard a tedious and exhaustive recitation of Mr. Mina’s Variance Application 24-01, which BOA Chairperson Andy Ward took him through, section by section, even though the application was available for all Board members and the public to read, and Mr. Mina, who represented himself, could have summarized it in his direct testimony.
We also had heard an excessive amount of irrelevant material introduced by Mr. Mina into the record, through his oral testimony and his documentation, even though Ms. Arigaza-Womble, properly and continuously objected to it.
Mr. Ward allowed Mr. Mina to have his say, while also trying to keep him focused on facts and not on “innuendo” and “accusations.”
But Mr. Mina’s argument was based on fraud, not on any of the criteria relevant to the granting of a variance.
“Fraud,” he said early on, after moving to “preclude” last night’s hearing—a motion that became moot as the hearing continued—“is a big factor in me obtaining the variance.”
Mr. Mina claimed that Mr. Haskett and the Town of Southern Shores had led him to believe falsely that the lot at 75 E. Dogwood Trail, which he purchased July 5, 2023, could be subdivided, when, in fact, regulations in the Town Code of Ordinances prevent such a subdivision. He repeatedly said that Mr. Haskett had “hidden” the zoning code(s) from him.
He alleged a “real estate scam” or conspiracy to defraud him, and he has sued those people he believes are co-conspirators in federal court. Mr. Mina filed his lengthy complaint in the Eastern District of the U.S. District Court of North Carolina. (The case number is 2:24-CV-00042.)
Lest anyone be as confused as Mr. Mina clearly was about the zoning ordinances in the Town Code—which are sometimes referred to as the “Zoning Code” or the “Zoning Ordinance”—we would like to clarify that Southern Shores’ zoning ordinances are part of the Town Code, which is readily available on the Town website.
An ordinance is a municipal law: It is a law enacted by local government.
Mr. Haskett could not “hide” the Town’s ordinances if he wanted to.
When the Southern Shores Town Council passes a Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) or a Town Code Amendment (TCA), it is passing new law. The ZTA or TCA amends (changes) the text that already exists in the Town Code.
The Town Code is made up of chapters, the 36th of which is about zoning, and, therefore, is often referred to as the “Zoning Code.” The 30th chapter is about subdivisions and is often referred to as the “Subdivision Ordinance.” The so-called Zoning Code and Subdivision Ordinance are not separate from the Town Code; they are part of it.
ACCESS TO SUBDIVISION LOTS
Access to newly created lots is a significant issue with a subdivision.
Before Aug. 3, 2021, the Town Code allowed subdividers to create access by one of two ways: 1) by having all lots front on a public road; or 2) by creating a public-access easement that connected new lots to a public road and met certain standards of width, length, and the like.
On Aug. 3, 2021, however, the Town Council passed TCA 21-06, which eliminated the access-easement option then codifed in the subdivision chapter at section 30-96(f).
So, two years before Mr. Mina bought his property, the Town Council rendered it impossible for him to subdivide his lot without ensuring that each lot fronted on a public road.
Mr. Mina presented no evidence at the hearing to suggest, much less prove, that the required public notice of the hearing on TCA 21-06 was defective in any way. He insinuated that it was, but he presented no facts to bolster that insinuation.
As Mr. Haskett testified, he did not know Mr. Mina in 2021, and he was not the proponent of TCA 21-06. It was the Town Council that asked for a change in the law. (See our report of 10/19/24.)
Mr. Mina submitted to the Town two applications for a subdivision of 75 E. Dogwood, each of which had a preliminary plat and each of which appears to depend upon an easement for access to a back lot. The Town received both on July 3, 2024, and Mr. Haskett denied both. Mr. Mina did not appeal either denial during the 30 days allotted to him by ordinance for an appeal.
One of the denials also cited Mr. Mina’s failure to conform to a newly enacted zoning ordinance defining mandatory minimum lot size in the RS-1 single-family-dwelling residential district.
Contrary to Mr. Mina’s reading of the new lot-width ordinance, which is Town Code section 36-202(d), it only applies to lots created after June 6, 2023 through subdivision or recombination. It does not render all lots that are not 100 feet wide at every width measurement non-conforming.
The facts established that Mr. Mina exchanged many emails with Mr. Haskett in the month before the lot-width ordinance changed on June 6, 2023, which was about a month before he bought 75 E. Dogwood Trail. There were so many emails, according to Mr. Haskett, that it would take him hours to count them.
Mr. Mina states in his application that the Town Planning Director deliberately withheld from him “pertinent information” about the soon-to-be-changed lot-width ordinance.
Mr. Haskett testified that he had no reason to believe that minimum lot width would be relevant to any applications that Mr. Mina might submit.
Mr. Ward sustained objections from Ms. Arigaza-Womble about Mr. Mina’s allegations that the Town did not give proper notice for the public hearings that were held on the ZTA and TCA that changed the ordinances Mr. Mina cited. Mr. Ward stated for the record that the ordinances were legally adopted.
COMMUNICATING WITH AGGRIEVED PROPERTY OWNERS
We are not able to comment with knowledge about what happened between Mr. Haskett and Mr. Mina to sour their communications—and between Mr. Mina and Mr. Ogburn—and we will not make any assumptions.
It is clear from Mr. Mina’s variance application and from everything he said last night that he is confused and operating under misconceptions. It is also clear that he believes people have mistreated him. We are not going to speculate as to why.
Mr. Mina came across at the hearing as frenetic—what people would describe as hyper—and intense, but also polite and respectful.
We all know people who cannot be reasoned with, who cannot accept the truth or their own responsibility, and who look to blame others or even believe others are out to get them.
The question we are left with is the one we started with: How could the Town have prevented the exercise in futility that we witnessed last night?
No one benefited from what occurred, and if Mr. Mina appeals the Board’s decision to the Superior Court of Dare County—he has 30 days to decide, and he indicated last night he probably would—the Town will expend more hours and money on this case, as will Mr. Mina, who professed to be more interested in working on his home-improvement business than on litigation.
All we would suggest is that the next time a “problem” arises with an aggrieved property owner that the Town staff cannot handle that they have a means for resolving it that does not include referring that property owner to the Town Attorney. No one wants to talk to a lawyer. Unless they’re acting as independent dispute mediators, lawyers are adversaries and can be quite intimidating to people who are not accustomed to engaging with them.
A neutral third party might have been helpful in communicating with Mr. Mina.
The Southern Shores Beacon 