58.4 F
Wrightsville Beach
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Development rule deliberated by coastal commission

Must read

A new rule considered by the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission could change the way coastal communities measure setbacks for beachfront buildings, proposing a development line as an alternative to the static vegetation line.

To ensure beachfront development does not encroach too far seaward in communities with large beach renourishment projects, the static vegetation line, or the line of natural vegetation observed before the first project, is used to measure setbacks and other coastal building requirements. The intent of the static line rule is sound, said commission chairman Frank Gorham, who initiated the discussion about alternatives earlier in 2014, but questioned the purpose of a rule that is often not followed.

“We have a bunch of communities with static lines, and most of them have an exception to the static line,” Gorham said. “Just philosophically, if you have a rule and most people have an exception or it doesn’t apply, why do you have the rule?” Gorham estimated half of all variance requests the commission hears stem from static line restrictions.

Towns that can prove a reliable history and future for large-scale beach renourishment projects can apply for an exemption from the static line, allowing the town to adopt the new vegetation line for small building projects.

Based on the natural vegetation line documented in 1980 aerial photos, Wrightsville’s static line stretches approximately 2.3 miles down the beachfront from North Ridge Lane to Sprunt Street. The CRC granted a static line exemption to Wrightsville Beach in 2009, and again in 2014 when the town requested reauthorization.

Spencer Rogers, N.C. Sea Grant construction and erosion specialist, said the Wrightsville Beach static line would be much more restrictive if based on the pre-1965 vegetation line, when the beach received its first batch of sand, effectively prohibiting development south of the Holiday Inn Resort.

Coastal communities that sought sizeable renourishment projects following the big hurricanes of the 1990s struggle more with static lines restricting use of safe, buildable oceanfront lots, Rogers said.

Rogers served on a subcommittee, appointed during the commission’s last meeting in October, which examined an alternative to the static line proposed by Gorham: a development line, traced along the current row of beachfront houses. The development line would not change other building requirements that use the static line as a reference, Gorham said, only the reference point used to determine those requirements.

“If Wrightsville Beach chooses to go with a development line, then they can opt out of the static line. But everything else — building standards, building setbacks, size standards — all would stay in place,” Gorham said.

The commission hashed out concerns about the development line proposal during a Dec. 17 meeting in Beaufort, including how development lines would be drawn, before requesting the N.C. Division of Coastal Management draft language for two static line alternatives to be reviewed during a February meeting: a development line rule and a rule making static line exemptions broader and easier for communities to attain.

email [email protected]

- Advertisement -spot_img

More articles

- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest articles