TOWN REPORT

REAL ESTATE town report

What’s happening in your town? Here’s a report from all over the Outer Banks.

COMPILED BY CATHERINE KOZAK

Kitty Hawk

Currituck County

Construction of three new walkovers to replace deteriorating infrastructure at the Barracuda, Perch and Sail street beach accesses on Lighthouse Drive began this past January at the Whalehead subdivision in Corolla. The project is the fi rst phase of the county’s multi-year replacement of 13 public beach walkovers.

Another infrastructure improvement in Corolla also began in January, with an upgrade to the raw water main line that serves the reverse osmosis treatment plant. The project, which involves the installation of a new 16-inch pipe to increase fl ow from the county wells to the Southern Outer Banks Water Plant, will be located within the transportation right-of-way off N.C. 12 and Albacore Street from the water plant to Corolla Drive. The project is expected to be completed by May.

As of February 3, the Historic Jarvisburg Colored School Museum was also reopened to the public for three days a week. The restored two-story museum, which captures the history of the area’s Black community between the late 1800s through the mid-20th century, is the oldest standing colored school in North Carolina. Currituck County partnered with the nonprofi t Historic Jarvisburg Colored School Association in the restoration of the building, which opened as a museum in 2014.

Duck

More than six months after the resignation of former town manager Chris Layton, the town of Duck announced in January that it has hired Drew Havens to fi ll the position. Havens, who started work on February 15, previously served as the town manager in the Wake County suburb of Apex since April 2016.

According to a press release posted on the town’s website, Havens earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984 from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in public administration in 2009 from Walden University. During his earlier career, he also worked as a police offi cer and a fi refi ghter.

Southern Shores

In ongoing discussions about funding the proposed 2022 beach re-nourishment project, Southern Shores is considering establishing Municipal Service Districts to provide targeted tax revenue. In addition to defi ning boundaries for the districts, the process involves determining the tax rate for property owners within those districts.

A draft report that includes maps of two proposed municipal tax districts will be the subject of public hearings held before the plan is fi nalized. With funding from the Dare County Beach Nourishment Occupancy Fund still uncertain, Town Manager Cliff Ogburn explained at a December town council meeting that the tax rate can be applied after the districts are established.

The town has hired Coastal Planning Engineering of North Carolina to do the design and permitting work for the proposed project, which would place 591,000 cubic yards of sand on the town’s entire 3.7 miles of ocean beach, with the fi ll dredged from an off shore borrow site in federal waters.

Ogburn said that the town expects a need to generate $1,224,775 annually for fi ve years to cover its portion of the estimated $16 million project. Development of a trail connecting Kitty Hawk Park off West Kitty Hawk Road to a 1.8-mile trail in Kitty Hawk Woods was approved this past February by the town council. According to Town Manager Andy Stewart, combined grant funds from the Outer Banks Tourism Bureau and the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund totaling $117,000 should pay for much of the project. The town approved a bid of about $130,000 from LSI Marine Construction to develop the connector trail, which is expected to be completed this summer.

Kill Devil Hills

Construction of a proposed cluster home project was approved in January by the Kill Devil Hills Board of Commissioners, allowing SAGA Realty and Construction to start moving forward on plans to develop 14 detached single-family houses, each 2,500 square feet or less. The plans show that the homes would have shared driveways and parking located under each house, as well as covered decks and pools.

Nags Head

This past February, Nags Head town offi cials agreed to consider amending its Unifi ed Development Ordinance to make it easier for nine older non-conforming motels and hotels in the town to secure conditional-use permits in order to make necessary improvements. The issue is expected to be discussed in the near future by the town’s planning committee.

Manteo

Two newly rechartered panels were organized early this year to address two important town issues: policing and special events. At their organizational meeting in February, the Community Police Advisory Board, with six volunteers appointed by the Manteo Board of Commissioners, discussed a review of current policing activities, community outreach and feedback options, according to the town manager’s weekly newsletter.

The new Special Events Committee held its third meeting in February, reviewing projected Christmas events and a year of limited activities because of shutdowns resulting from Covid-19 – which includes plans to resume the July Fourth fi reworks in 2021, virus concerns permitting.

The town has also announced that recycling pickup is no longer provided as part of the residential trash service as of this past January, although a subscription-based service is available through Bay Disposal for $11.35 a week. Residents can also drop off recycling at the Dare County Recycling Center at 1018 Driftwood Drive in Manteo.

Dare County

In partnership with the towns of Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head and Manteo, Dare County has implemented a new mobile alert system for emergency and other local notifi cations. The new platform with Rave Mobile Safety, which has been providing primarily opt-in emergency alerts since 2017, has been expanded and rebranded as OBX Alerts. In addition to alerts about severe weather, public safety, county evacuations and other emergency-related notices, the mobile service will also deliver routine information such as changes in trash pickups or meeting delays, as well as distribute media releases and other non-emergency information.

The county’s previously used system expired on February 28, and sign-up information for the new system can be found on the county’s offi cial website.

In other news, the Dare County Board of Commissioners approved a new cluster home development in Frisco this past February. The project, called Maritime Ridge, is planned to be built off N.C. 12 and is expected to include four 900-square-foot buildings.