Discussion Questions for 2018 BoC Retreat
/2. REGULATION OF HOUSING DENSITY ON THE OUTER BANKS
Corolla’s rent-per-bedroom has slowly declined from 2002 to the present based on analysis of Occupancy Tax receipts per bedroom, adjusting for inflation and the 2005 tax rate hike. Corolla’s weak rental market was first publicly noted in 2005 by the Chamber of Commerce during the Occupancy Tax rate hike hearing. By then the summer population density had already reached 7,000 people per square mile with more than 9,000 vehicles jamming parking lots and NC12 during the week. Given that Corolla was as crowded as many of the vacationers’ home cities it is not surprising that the 2007 Tourism survey flagged crowding as a significant dislike for our vacationers.
To combat weakening rental rates individual owners added bedrooms or built “single-family homes” of ten bedrooms or more to increase their rental prices, only making crowding worse for all. Today there are 50,000 vacationers and 12,000 vehicles each week. My handout at the LUP November meeting included photographic evidence of the crowding. With 30% of Corolla yet to be developed it is only going to get worse.
Here are some solutions I hope you consider. Please consider how these or other ideas might be best accomplished within the limits of the County’s authority.
Limit the “Occupancy” per acre for new development and remodeling– Property owners have a right to develop their property, but it is the County’s responsibility to ensure that development does not reduce the value of the neighborhood. But County tax records show a trend to more than double the occupancy per acre for new development, significantly increasing crowding. Consider setting the limit to the current average “Occupancy density” to cap the rate of crowding growth.
Increase the setbacks required for larger structures – I think that the arguments over larger homes got us side-tracked over the last few years. A large home on a large lot with “occupancy density” equal to the current average should be allowed. (The infamous Black Stallion 20,000 SF home is on a very large 1.9 acre lot.) The issues for large homes are the proximity to their neighbors and the nature of their commercial use. In the past there have been several instances where a single large home caught fire, but the intensity of the flames and the proximity to neighbors caused multiple homes to be lost. Increasing setbacks for larger homes reduces the radiant heat load on the adjacent homes and gives our fire department a better chance to at least save the neighbors. Larger setbacks also will mitigate some of the deleterious noise and traffic impact of large “event homes.”
Limit conversion of COBX commercial property for residential purposes – Tax records show just over 400 acres of commercially zoned property, all in Corolla. This is the only commercial area on all of COBX and must serve 4,000 acres of residential area. With half of the commercial area yet to be developed the focus should be on providing services and recreational options for our vacationer market. Instead developers have taken advantage of the 60% lot coverage allowance on commercial land for high-density residential development making the crowding worse. Vacationers need more retail, restaurants and recreational services, not more bodies on the narrowing beaches or more cars on NC12 competing for the limited parking spots.