Deciphering What Can Be Built, Where and Why

Driving the “Beach Road” of the Outer Banks, it’s hard not to marvel at the distinct aesthetic of each town. The small cottages staring defiantly at the sea from their dune perch in Kitty Hawk remind one of early Outer Banks postcards. Northwards, small concrete flattop houses curiously intermingle with large modern glass and metal structures in Southern Shores. A bit further in Duck, the live oak lined enclaves hidden from the drive by onlookers offer little public parking and secluded cul-de-sac communities. Crossing into the Currituck Beaches of Pine Island and Corolla, large pastel vacation homes and condos rule the view with a business area boasting large shopping centers. The paved road then ends and (with an aired down 4×4) you are in Carova, where stretching from the sound to the sea, classic long-time family-owned beach boxes mix with large event venue homes while wild horses rule the dunes.

South of Kitty Hawk, as the beach widens past the Avalon Pier, hotels and motels, restaurants and condos begin to appear, making one ponder if this is the same sandbar. Whilst some houses offer a peek of the ocean by their dune shielded dwelling, newer towering vacation homes shade the sea oats. On the bypass, fast food chains, local restaurants, and grocery stores create a hectic environment. Nags Head begins and ends similarly, but in the center with “Millionaires Row” and Jockeys Ridge, a view into the past offers itself with its historic stretch of homes representing the origins of visitation to the Outer Banks by wealthy inland residents who used it as a retreat from the inshore summer heat and bugs on breezy cedar shake porches.

South of Oregon Inlet you reach the TriVillages of Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo. The north end of Rodanthe is left to its fate east of the jug handle bridge, but the historic lifesaving station museum honors the past. The small older houses raised just a few feet off the ground along the road in Salvo and Waves catch the eye. Along with the large KOA, several RV and camping parks sit nearly level with the sound. After another pass through the protected Hatteras seashore, Avon with its larger Kinakeet Shores and shopping center challenges its remoteness. Buxton then whisks you back into the past with its sandblasted hotels and motels holding fort as you enter this town, very much holding onto its roots, despite the clusters of big vacation homes. Frisco follows the theme, though Brigands Bay boasts some larger builds but most of Hatteras Island is in the protected Hatteras park or Buxton Woods. Hatteras and the soundside Village shows itself as a boating community with the bustling marina, Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, and shop filled ferry terminal.

Why the differences? Was there some overall design plan that deigned Kill Devil Hills “the gas station capital of the Outer Banks?” Did some monster decide to build Duck’s pedestrian center around a throughway to an extremely busy beach? Does Kitty Hawk management restrict the size of houses but let corporations build big? Who is responsible for these disparities and why can’t they be stopped? The answer to this question is both simple and complex. Simply, there is an overarching force that creates these problems, but it’s not some man behind a curtain pulling levers­—it’s us.

How did I come to this conclusion? Attempting to define why each place has its distinct characteristics, I emailed my local Kill Devil Hills Planning Director Meredith Guns. My email included several questions about the cottage court, “McMansions,” Airbnb, and Accessory Dwelling Permits. I guess Planner Guns did not want to write my article, so I asked to meet. I rode my bike to the Town Center and we had a surprisingly frank discussion about management of a complex coastal community. During my conversation with Guns and Deputy Planning Director Cameron Ray both of the KDH planning department, it occurred that: Despite feeling like an island unto itself, the Outer Banks is very much in North Carolina (and also not all an island, but that’s another story).

Describing the layers of zoning and past development decisions as, “an onion,” Guns explains that the North Carolina building code has its roots in the state house in Raleigh, with layers of overlapping regulations from CAMA, Counties, and Towns. Decisions made years ago when the bypass was freshly paved mix with new regulations by recently elected officials, the paper coating of it all being the Unified Building Code, which as the name suggests, applies to all of North Carolina.

Attempting to slice through this onion without making your eyes water with zoning language is quite a challenge and too much for this single article. As Cameron Ray put it, “it’s a hard topic.” So, I’ll just focus on the most asked questions for the Kill Devil Hills area that I had included in my original email, and we’ll look at other areas of the Outer Banks in future pieces.

Photo by Outer Banks Drone

“McMansions”
Planning director Guns explains, “We’ve done everything we can to control ‘McMansions’—that’s the state building code.” I then asked why, if it’s the state code, why KDH seems to have more than other OBX towns. She replied that the lots were deep as, “our topography is totally different than the other municipalities,” with some lots being 30-40k square feet. She points out the most bedrooms in one house in KDH is 28 with a 32-bedroom house being under review. The parking rules are also the same as Nags Head, and other towns, and the code will not allow regulations to call houses over a certain size “anything other than single family dwellings, even though we have written letters…the answer has been no.” The allowance of cottage courts was intended as an alternative to large homes, but are also considered single family homes with the same regulatory freedom.

KDH “Cottage Court” coverage and fire lane width Director Guns explains that “if we can’t call it (large vacation homes) anything else we’re gonna put in some requirements that the setbacks are greater for larger homes unless you put fire suppression, and that’s a safety measure the (planning) board put in to provide protection for adjacent properties.” She also mentioned the board using other “incentivized ordinances” like commercial buffers and fire lane requirements as efforts by commissioners to increase safety, as NC code does not allow the requirements of fire suppression in single family homes.
At the time of writing, the board is discussing other ways to ensure these courts meet the original vision of the ordinance.

KDH “Density”
“Our lot coverage is no different than Dare County,” but some areas, like West Avalon with its smaller lots “were platted in the ’50s and …we weren’t a town.” This combined with large lots on the ocean and a commercial zoned tract set up in the ’70s is the basis of the current development. With access to private sewage instead of leach field septic increasing lot coverage ability as well, the coverage that falls within permitted limits cannot be found in most areas of the Outer Banks. Cameron points out, “there’s more usable land,” and that is reflected in higher lot prices, thus “the sand value is so high there’re going to build something that holds more equity.”

ADUs and Airbnbs
“The passing of the ADU (zoning allowance) was to try to create long term housing, it has a deed restriction.” Guns cautions me though to try to explain ADUs as, “the building code just changed and you can no longer build detached living space, it has to be a full dwelling unit” which requires a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, and deed restriction. Cameron Ray surmises it was passed by the state in an effort to ensure people have adequate amenities in their living space, it means according to Guns, “you can’t have a she-shed…no conditioned (finished) space” but something attached or in your house, “you can Airbnb all day long.” She continues, “when you say Airbnb, you’re really talking about short term rentals which is what this beach is built on, restricting short term rentals is restricting Dare County’s economy.” She admits though that, “technology has changed the rental market and that has affected our long-term ability.”

“French Fry Alley”
Speaking on the commercial zoning along the bypass in KDH, Guns says, “That goes back to the forefathers of Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and Kitty Hawk and they decided KDH would get the commercial because we’re in the middle.” Ray adds for those that oppose the approval of new commercial ventures like gas stations, “in the seventies that property was granted property rights for those uses that were listed—so to say no, no you can’t, if you meet the rules and you’re taking their property rights that they’ve had for 30-40 years.” Guns adds the Wawa property, “was zoned commercial before the first house was built in Wright Shores.”

To sum up our meandering interview, about a subject a bit too vast for one conversation, Meredith Guns emphasizes, “The efforts to change things have been to address public concerns like large houses … but a majority have been to increase safety in what we do have. How can we make it safe, and that has been a big push of our board.”

Some folks may remember when the bypass was an unlit stretch of sand, and you could eat a Vidalia onion like an apple. Well, these many years later it’s hard to imagine that road without its brightly lit shops and stores and you’d be brought to tears if you bit into what’s labeled Vidalia. The folks that had the vision of a remote stretch of sand as a vacation destination created the lots and zones as they saw the future from their time of beach boxes and unairconditioned hotels, it’s hard to fault someone for not thinking about the possibilities for 30-bedroom houses and giant retail stores. Their decisions may leave a bitter taste for those that remember a sweeter time, but their legacy is our current state, and nothing being developed was not built into the possibilities of each lot when they were delineated.

Currently Meredith Guns and Cameron Ray from the Planning Department are focused on fire safety and local housing, both pressing issues. With their help, it’s been made clear to me how planning choices of the past have shaped our present, so it is so important to help people understand how we can make the future meet our communities’ needs.

Author: Jes Gray