Currituck County Loses $5M to $10M/ year in Tax Revenues Due to Beach Driving

March 2017

Currituck County taxpayers lose between $5M and $10M per year in tax revenues because the County allows driving on the beach in the summer months along the northern half of its 24 miles of oceanfront beach.  If captured these lost tax revenues could go towards schools, storm-water management or other important projects anywhere in the County. The southern half of Currituck beaches are in Corolla where beach driving is banned during the summer months. The northern half allows beach driving day and night, year-round.  Both sections have equivalent buildable acreage platted for residential development, but the southern half generates $20 million more in tax revenue than the northern half.  Beach driving costs all of us in the County.

The difference in tax contribution is tied to several factors that have depressed property values and dis-incentized investment to build homes.  The primary factor is that the beaches are neither safe nor pristine for use by families as long as cars and trucks parade up and down, day and night.  Thus, rental rates for equivalent vacation homes are less than a third of those in Corolla.   Owners of lots in the northern half are not making the investment to build homes, with only a quarter of lots developed versus more than 80% in Corolla. As a result the County is losing revenue it could use to improve the quality of life in the County.

But tax revenues are not the only reason to get traffic off the beach.  From May to October the Currituck beaches are the northern most nesting place for several species of endangered sea turtles.  After dark the mother turtles crawl up the beach to lay their eggs.  Scientists know that flashlights, headlights and other lights frighten the mothers away. Volunteer conservationists drive ATVs every morning to search for the mother’s tracks leading to new nests so that they can be marked and protected from destruction during the two months it takes for the sea turtle babies to hatch. Cars and trucks driving across the beach can crush the nests or obscure the evidence of the nesting, which is why even the famous Daytona Beach restricts beach driving in the summer.

As a simple first step the County can begin to enhance property values and recover some of this lost revenue by banning summer beach driving at least in front of platted residential areas.  These subdivisions all have public road rights-of-way in-land, behind the dunes. The in-land roads are sand also, but the beach is preserved for its highest and best use.   All the platted subdivision roads are dedicated for public use and thus open to the public.   The County is empowered by law to clear and maintain sand road rights-of-way in the area.  To encourage property value growth the County can work with the State to improve some of the in-land roads within statutory guidelines. As was the case in the historic growth of Corolla, every improvement in the roads will lead to greater investment and more tax revenues.  A next step would be to work with State and Federal authorities to open up the deeded rights of public access to the three large government tracts opening up all of Currituck’s beach for safe recreational use.

Let’s get the traffic off the beach and restore it to its highest and best use. Owners there will see their property values increase and many will be incentivized to build homes. More tax revenues will be generated allowing the County tax rates to remain low.    More kids can safely enjoy the beach during the day and sea turtles can safely propagate their species at night.