The Board will conduct a Public Hearing at 9:00 a.m. on June 7, 2021 to consider the proposed county service districts related to the Avon Beach Nourishment Project. Avon Beach Nourishment Project Report and Notice of Public Hearing For Establishment of County Service District For Beach Erosion Control and Flood and Hurricane Protection Works In Accordance With the Provisions of NCGS 153A-301-et seq.
For many years Highway 12 at various locations on Hatteras Island has been closed as a result of weather events ranging from storms to nor’easters to hurricanes. These closures, often on multiple occasions in a given year and sometimes for extended periods of time create severe disruptions to the life, health, safety and welfare of the residents of and visitors to Hatteras Island. These repeated closures have had and will continue to have significant negative impacts.
NCDOT, recognizing the negative impacts and after multiple closures and significant hardships to the residents of and visitors to Hatteras Island, began efforts to protect Highway 12 by restoring the beach at Rodanthe and implementing a series of bridge projects. However the area of Highway 12 at the north end of Buxton, though often in peril, was not included in the NCDOT plans. As a result, and in order to minimize future road closures and damage to homes and infrastructure in the Buxton area, Dare County constructed a beach nourishment project in Buxton.
Similar to Rodanthe and Buxton, in recent years Highway 12 in Avon is often closed from ocean overwash, sometimes for extended periods of time, creating severe disruptions to the life, health, safety and welfare of the residents of and visitors to Hatteras Island. These repeated closures have had, and will continue to have, significant negative impacts. In addition, homes and infrastructure on the oceanside of Highway 12 are often flooded, damaged and at risk of destruction. As a result, and in order to minimize future road closures in Avon and to mitigate damage and flooding to structures on the oceanside of Highway 12, the Dare County Board of Commissioners engaged Coastal Science and Engineering to perform a study to determine the feasibility of a beach restoration project to protect Highway 12 and other infrastructure in Avon. The study found the project to be feasible and the county began the process to design and permit the project.
The project cost is estimated at approximately $12,684,358 which equates to $12.68 per cubic yard of sand. The project will be funded from a combination of funds from the Dare County Beach Nourishment Fund and from revenues generated by two county service districts. Service District A will include all properties in Avon east of Highway 12 and south of Due East Road. Service District B will be all properties in Avon. For legal reasons the service district alignment is slightly different than what was discussed at the previous public hearing and in the previous letter, but will result in the same revenue generation and the same net cost to the taxpayer. (For example, using the rates set out in the previous letter, 25 cents for properties east of Highway 12 and south of Due East Road, and 5 cents for properties west of Highway 12, under the new service district alignment, the properties east of Highway 12 and south of Due East Road would now pay 20 cents as the Service District A tax. Every property on either side of Highway 12 in Avon would pay the Service District B tax of 5 cents. The result is the properties east of Highway 12 and south of Due East Road would be members of both service districts and their tax rate would be 20 cents for District A + 5 cents for District B, totaling 25 cents just as before. Those properties west of Highway 12 would be members of District B only and their rate would remain at 5 cents, just as before.)
Section 153A-301 of the North Carolina General Statutes authorizes the county to create a service district to finance, provide, or maintain for the district beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works. The Avon beach nourishment project is designed to provide beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works and is authorized by Section 153A-301 of the North Carolina General Statutes.
Section 153A-302 of the North Carolina General Statutes allows counties to establish service districts upon finding that there is a demonstrable need for providing the service in the district, that it is impossible or impracticable to provide the service on a countywide basis, that it is economically feasible to provide the proposed services in the district without unreasonable or burdensome taxes, and that there is a demonstrable demand for the services by persons residing in the district. At its April 19, 2021 meeting the Dare County Board of Commissioners made the foregoing findings and voted to move forward with establishing two county service districts: Service District A will include all properties in Avon east of Highway 12 and south of Due East Road. Service District B will include all properties in Avon.
In order to establish the service districts the Dare County Board of Commissioners must hold a public hearing on the proposed districts. Prior to the public hearing, a report must be prepared containing: (1) a map of the proposed districts, showing their proposed boundaries; (2) a statement showing that the districts meet the standards set out in Section 153A-302 (a); and (3) a plan for providing the services.
The Dare County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed county service districts related to the Avon beach nourishment project on Monday, June 7, 2021 at 9:00 A.M. in the Commissioners Meeting Room, 954 Marshall Collins Dr., Manteo, NC 27954
In compliance with Section 153A-302(b) and prior to the public hearing Dare County provides the following information:
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Maps of the proposed districts, showing their proposed boundaries are attached as Exhibits A and B
- A statement showing the districts meet the standards set out in Section 153A-302(a):
The Dare County Board of Commissioners after considering the factors contained in GS 153A-302(a) finds as to both District A and District B
A. There is a demonstrable need for providing in the districts one or more of the services listed in GS 153A-301:
For many years, Highway 12 at various locations on Hatteras Island has been flooded, closed and damaged as result of various weather events, from winter winds to named storms. Over the last several years the beach and protective dune in Avon has eroded substantially and Highway 12 in Avon has become one of the locations that floods and closes often. Those closures, often on multiple occasions throughout the year and often for extended periods of time, create severe disruptions to the provision of critical public services (EMS, fire, law enforcement, trash collection) and create severe disruptions to the life, health, safety, and welfare of the residents of and the visitors to Hatteras Island and Avon in particular. In addition, the severe erosion to the beaches and protective dunes in Avon pose an immediate threat to the oceanside infrastructure located east of Highway 12. Damage to the oceanfront infrastructure and the repeated closures will continue to occur and will get worse and more frequent without action in the form of a beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works project.
B. It is impossible or impracticable to provide these services on a countywide basis:
The proposed Avon beach nourishment project is an oceanfront project. All of Dare County is not located on the oceanfront. The areas in and around Stumpy Point, Manns Harbor, East Lake , Roanoke Island and Colington, for example, are not located on the oceanfront and as a result a beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works project could not be built in those areas of the county.
C. It is economically feasible to provide the proposed services in the districts without an unreasonable or burdensome annual tax levy:
The project is proposed to be funded approximately 70% with funds from the Dare County Beach Nourishment Fund. The remaining 30% of the cost will be funded from two service districts. The amount to be paid and the amount of any proposed tax levy is in line with the initial rates in beach nourishment service districts in other areas of the County.
D. There is demonstrable demand for the proposed services by persons residing in the districts:
Multiple meetings were held over the last year or more with people residing in the districts who have requested a beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works project to address the issues outlined in A above. A public hearing has been held recently with most who spoke at the public hearing acknowledging that a beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works project is needed, though some questioned or made suggestions about proposed tax rates. In addition, the Board of Commissioners has received multiple emails and phone calls in support of the project.
(3) The plan for providing the beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works project (Avon beach nourishment project) to the districts:
The proposed Avon beach nourishment project is approximately 13,200 feet (2.5 miles) in length. The northern project limit is at Due East Road in Avon and the southern limit of the project is the southern boundary of Avon at the National Park Service line. The project will initially widen the beach by approximately 100 feet. Up to one million cubic yards of sand will be placed on the beach with a maximum average fill density of approximately 75 cubic yards per foot. The sand placed on the beach will be taken from a 200 acre borrow site located 1.5 to 2 miles offshore. The project cost is estimated at approximately $12,684,358. The project plan calls for bids to be let in the fall or early winter of 2021, with construction beginning in late spring or early summer of 2022 if bids come in within budget and contractor’s proposed construction period is viable.
If you need additional information, please contact Bobby Outten, County Manager, at
252-475-5811 or outten@darenc.com. A copy of this report is available for inspection at the office of the Clerk to the Dare County Board of Commissioners, 954 Marshall Collins Dr., Manteo, NC 27954 and on our website at www.darenc.com
Public comments may be presented to the Board in person. The meeting is available on the County’s YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/darecounty.
Exhibit A Map
Exhibit B Map
