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A visual comment
South Nags Head provides a powerful argument for both sides of the debate over rebuilding the beach.
Spectacular and ugly at the same time, it can offer magnificent surf and wonderful views. After so many storms, it is also a wasteland of exposed septic tanks, toppled houses, dangling stairs, huge sandbags and various forms of debris.
Houses in South Nags Head can pull in as much as $12,000 a week. They can also leave tourists with a bad taste after a vacation on a deck because there is little or no beach.
Related commentary: Take the warranty
Proponents of beach nourishment will say time is almost out. The beach is going fast and when it’s gone, the visitors, the tourist dollars and the tax base will be, too. It’s not just about South Nags Head. It’s about the Outer Banks and its reputation. This is what can happen when the beach is unprotected.
Opponents will say South Nags Head has already lost three or four rows of houses and a dune line. The science is unproven. Houses don’t belong on top of the beach. Putting more sand on the beach is futile. Use the money for something else.
These photos of South Nags Head are by Pat Morris. Most were taken at Surfside Drive, which is the worst-hit area of South Nags Head. It is not representative of the whole beach, but it shows what has happened and what can happen.
The debate, of course, is much more complicated and will continue. But the photos speak for themselves.
See what people are saying:
Join the discussion:
-
- Lowe's unveils plans for store at Landing Drive
53 comments - Sand plan banking on oceanfront owners
51 comments - KDH panel looks at easing hotel height restrictions
42 comments - Plan has Nags Head assessing itself for sand
30 comments - An Outer Banks time warp
30 comments - Nags Head puts sand petition on a fast track
18 comments - Fifty-foot oceanfront limit still on the table in KDH
17 comments
- Lowe's unveils plans for store at Landing Drive
Jay says:
It’s a shame when someone’s house is destroyed by the ocean, but as a Dare County taxpayer, it is not my problem. Nags Head is fighting a losing battle. Tear down the first row and there will be plenty of new beach for the tourists to enjoy.
sally says:
Thanks for presenting both sides of this issue. Personally, I lean towards “move ‘em and lose ‘em”.
Kathy says:
I was at Surfside Drive shooting a lot of pictures also, and I feel for those people who are losing their houses. But, no matter how much sand is replaced, it can’t alter the fact that the Outer Banks are slowly migrating westward, and sooner or later any house built along the oceanfront will be eaten by the waves. That can’t be stopped, only slowed down by beach nourishment. Mother Nature will always win in the end.
Ray says:
I did not buy oceanfront property for that simple reason. Until you stop wave action, you cannot stop beach erosion. Look what happened last time the county spent millions of dollars dumping sand on the beach. We had a coastal storm several weeks later and it was gone.
If you are going to do anything, why not dredge out Oregon Inlet & pump the sand down the beach? I know they say it’s not the same kind of sand, but it would be much cheaper than the current idea of a dredge offshore pumping it in. What happens when we have a storm like today? You have a big dredge in the ocean that’s low to the water, plus all the piping floating around. What hapeens when all that washes up on the beach? Look how many years Oregon Inlet has been dredged out & it’s in no better shape. What’s the right choice? That will probably be the 10 or 20 million dollar question.
Rob Morris says:
Just a note: My understanding is that the plan would not allow dredging in the winter. You could argue, though, that dredging other times of the year could present its own set of issues.
Ray Midgett says:
The distance involved in pumping sand from Oregon Inlet north to Nags Head makes that a much more expensive project; plus the sand is not compatible. Also, Rob, I don’t know of but one cottage in south Nags Head that rents for $12,000 per year; most are much lower on the end of the scale, due to age and condition. Sea level is much lower in that area, something proponents refuse to acknowledge. One only has to look west and see the marshland and filled lots on the other side of Old Oregon Inlet Road to know that. Nags Head needs to bite the bullet and start formulating a plan for how to handle each
site, which is in imminent danger. Right now they are not even doing a good job of keeping the beaches clean up there. And, don’t even mention the canals on the highway.
If they can use politics to push for nourishment, they can use politics to get that mess cleaned up.
J. says:
-SERENDIPITY is the best example. Mother Nature is stronger; she wins the battle every time; the (new) owners bought a new lot and moved it to save their house. Do you, the reader, think that you should be sent a bill come January 1 to pay for ‘your share’ of SERENDIPITY’s move?
-We should end the beach nourishment debate…continuing it just puts things on hold. If owners of oceanfront houses realize that they will not be receiving a ‘community bailout’ – instead of keep hoping that it will happen – they will have to decide to ‘move it or lose it’. That it is their responsibility, and their expense, to save their house if they want to.
-I would guess that the OBX would still hold a place in the world of popular tourism destinations with one less row of oceanfront houses along only a several-mile stretch of our 60-mile-long beach resort area.
-Perhaps local banks can offer special second mortgage rates to assist those owners who wish to relocate their house.
-And maybe negotiating with a house moving company (or several) to offer a volume rate discount (especially in this economy) to come down here and get multiple jobs would allow more owners to be able to consider this option.
-Ocracoke doesn’t have oceanfront houses…but has tourism. So do lots of other beach destination resorts.
-Exactly why I didn’t build my house oceanfront…
-A ‘barrier island’ by definition is a shifting land mass. If someone bought property without knowing what happens to beaches over time, they didn’t do their research.
-If some owners want to enhance their lots they should be the only ones charged to do that. Not owners who don’t have that amenity, and who don’t pull in the higher rental rates for that amenity.
-If owners or folks who bought or built their homes – or their financial investments (ie rental income machines) – want more sand, they should be the only ones asked to pay for that sand. Afterall, it is an enhancement to their lot, not mine.
-There are still other lots available for purchase to solve the problem of a house falling into the ocean. But that would be at their own personal expense to buy another lot and pay for their house to be moved. Again, did we all bail out SERENDIPITY ? ….no. And we all realize that it was a losing battle… Mother Nature always wins. Makes no sense to fight her; it is just denial of the inevitable.
-Can someone put some numbers to this? Are there 100, 200, 500 houses that will are in danger of falling into the ocean and benefit directly from beach nourishment dollars? How many houses are there in our tourism area? (I heard 15,000 but have no idea if this is anywhere near correct… Maybe someone with real numbers can chime in.) If we knew the exact math maybe more would see that it doesn’t add up to ask 14,500 property owners to pay for 500 property owners to benefit. Especially since those 500 property owners have views that the 14,500 don’t and/or the higher rental incomes.
Yes, there are lots of viewpoints. But the rallying cry of the minority (those with the endangered houses) seems to be the louder voice these past few years. The sentiments of the more silent majority need to be communicated better.
Kathy says:
For purely selfish reasons, I wish Nag Head and all the other towns would go back to the way it was 20 years ago when we started vacationing there. I always wanted to retire on the Outer Banks and would gladly bring my money…but the chopped up towns, taxes and commerical corporation i.e. Walmart etc…have ruined it. We enjoyed the seclusion, ma & pa stores and restaurants! Now it’s just another Myrtle Beach. Homeowners are out of towners trying to make a buck off me and OBX by not providing a nice home to rent for the money. Mega mansions for a family of three doesn’t figure in our budget. Time for a facelift, and combine the towns. Maybe you’d get alot more accomplished.
barbara says:
To J:
I dont know who you are, but if I did, I’d love to shake your hand for one of the most well-written, accurate posts on the topic of BN. Very nicely said and I agree with everything you said. I too, have wondered why the commissioners have not offered any type of alternative plans such as house-moving funds, buyouts, other tax structures, which put the burden on who it belongs to, the OF owners. Nice post!
Vinnie says:
I have always wanted to own a beach-front home. I think the smart thing to do is buy a home one block in from the beach. Sooner or later it will be beach front!
Tom says:
Beach erosion is caused mainly by tidal currents which vary along the oceanfront. Look at the damage to South Nags Head and Kitty Hawk every time there’s a storm. Why don’t we see the same degree of damage to North Nags Head or Kill Devil Hills? Because the tidal currents are different. Solution? Maybe the commissioners could take off the blinders and talk to the experts about artificial reefs. The Navy would be happy to donate any number of old hulks which could be cleaned and sunk offshore to alter the currents. These artificial reefs have been very successful in Florida and other places along the coast.
An added benefit would be a new home for sea life and places for sport divers to explore.
Barrier islands all along the Atlantic coast are migrating southward and beach erosion moves the shoreline westward at the same time. Replenishing the sand doesn’t work; replenishing the sand hasn’t worked. Replenishing the sand won’t work. Hello. Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. So try thinking out of the box, commissioners.
Tim says:
We need to get our head out of the sand and fix the problem. I have never meet mother nature, but she would say “fix the beach.” We fix much greater problems than this in our great country. Beach nourishment along with some other stabilization projects will work.
Ray says:
As a kid, have you ever sat on the beach and built a sandcastle, only to watch the waves from the tide take it away. The same results will happen to the beach and houses. You have to stop the wave action. Look at islands that have barrier reefs in front of them. The only time they have a problem is when a massive storm hits them. Here, a northeastern for two or three days, and we have ocean overwash and house damages. I have to agree with Tom, but getting a commissioner to think out of the box??
Rick says:
SERENDIPITY’s oceanfront was on park land, not allowed to do anything to protect it. This is not anything like Nags Head, KDH, etc. Not a good example. I think the Outer Banks are the only East Coast beaches that don’t have a beach nourishment plan. Tell Florida and Virginia Beach that it doesn’t work. Florida says imagine how much more damage would have occurred if their beaches hadn’t been built up. Some of those house in South Nags Head were there for 30 years before being lost, so if nourishment added another 30 years . . .
People say we have dumped sand on the beaches before and it didn’t work. That is correct, “dumped” sand on the beach. We haven’t had an engineered beach nourishment yet. That’s what we need. Let’s see. We did have one engineered plan after the Great Depression when the government built the dune system here 70 years ago.
Mary says:
When the beautiful Diplomat Hotel was built on Hollywood Beach in Florida they spent millions on beach nourishment. The hotel opened, a big storm hit, the beach was gone. It’s still gone.
I looked at beachfront property in Nags Head. Sure the thought off living – yes living – not renting my house on the ocean was romantic. Then I saw the sand bags and bought inland. It’s common sense, people. Had I made the mistake of buying said house, I wouldn’t expect everyone else to pay for my mistake. It’s a risk you take, like buying a boat that can sink.
Someone needs to put a stop to the insanity. The voters said no. Why won’t the commissioners listen? We are taxed to death as it is. Pay premium prices for EVERYTHING, and now the Town of Nags Head wants to put the screws to residents and tourists with parking fees and penny taxes?
People need to take responsibility for their choices. If your house is falling into the ocean – you made a bad choice. Sorry to be so brutal but it’s the truth.
Butch Stone says:
Mary
The oceanfront homes where a dream to people that bought them. They worked all their lives to buy them and still have to pay the loans — even if they are gone!
Yes, when you buy an oceanfront home, you expect the people will take care of the beach. Didnt happen? Still you are fighting it — WHY??? The beach belongs to the people of the Outer Banks. It is the reason the tourists come here and spend there money, your new cars, homes, put your kids through college. The reale state taxes here are the lowest around — only about 38 cents per hundred dollars. Richmond’s rate is 1.38 per hundred. You have one of the best school systems — and you help support all of the lower income counties in N.C. The Beach supports everything — TAKE CARE OF IT — SUPPORT THE ONE PENNY TAX — SAVE THE BEACHES
newjake says:
Butch, Mary hit the nail on the head. So did J.
The voters have made their feelings clear many, many times on beach nourishment. Our tourism industry is continuing, and thriving, without nourishment. There will always be small battles we lose to the ocean, and a few homes Nags Head will likely be the next.
The majority of voters, time and time again, looked rationally at the numbers, the chance of success and the reality of the environmental situation, then we voted down the tax and voted out the special interests.
No matter how cleverly a new batch of realtors or out-of-area homeowners in here and on the Nags Head board try to worm a new approach to the challenge, there are thousands of locals out here who will be happy to defeat this ridiculous idea once again.
John says:
I’d be more supportive of the project if it included a terminal groin in South Nags Head. It stabilized the south side of Oregon Inlet, and I believe Nags Head would benefit too. I’m not opposed to a groin; I just don’t want our shoreline covered with rocks.
About 10 years ago, Nags Head placed a “seven year berm” that I don’t think lasted two years.To just dump sand on the beach, have it wash down to the north side of Oregon Inlet and then bring in a pipeline dredge to pump it down to Pea Island just doesn’t make sense. The dredge sand has been available to Nags Head for years. Why didn’t we get it back???
I don’t believe property owners should take a hit on their taxes, with the exception of those owning oceanfront property. A sales tax increase would make everyone pay and that’s the way it should be, considering we all benefit by having an attractive beach.
Butch Stone says:
to newjake
What Mary said has nothing at all to do with OBX — it was in Florida
Have you never been to Va, Beach — our neighbors?
It’s just around the bend from us — look at the beach.
It didn’t just get that way on its own. They did a beach nourishment long ago and so did Sandbridge. Take a look at them if you want to do any comparing Do you realize how many more people will come to the beach and spend there money here — if we have a nice beach — is this the reason for you to take the stand you have?
Pump the sand from the ocean and put it back where it was — on the beach!
barbara says:
We have 60-70 miles of natural beaches, Butch. Va. beach has 16 city blocks and 16-story hotels. That is how they can pay for it. And if SNH gets 24 mil, you better believe KH, KDH S. Shores, Duck and Hatteras Island will want sand. Fair is fair. We could never afford to nourish the county’s beaches, so don’t do it for one town and not the other! The Town of NH needs to go it alone and pay for it themselves. And frankly, I pray that the OBX NEVER looks anything like Va. beach. If that is what you want, then move up there or buy property up there. Leave our beautiful OBX area alone!
newjake says:
Butch, like Mary said, the voters said no. Twice. By huge margins.
I loved the comment from J that those few homeowners need to come to grips with the fact that there is no public support for this project other than a few loud homeowners and realtors.
You’re talking about nourishing a tiny portion of our beach system, pretending it is the entire tourism economy at stake.
It’s just not at risk. Dare County tourism is just fine, and it will continue to be that way.
Tim says:
Anyone who is against beach nourishment has not looked at any numbers. To retreat from the ocean is going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars from Duck to Hatteras. The cost of retreat is much more than beach nourishment and has much more of a negative affect on the environment.
Butch Stone says:
You are so right Tim!
newjake says:
Tim, my first post, day 1, was to see those numbers. Show something that is not made up. How is it going to cost us? You guys keep running these scare tactics at people.
I agree, it’s ugly in that tiny stretch in SNH, but overall, we have very healthy beaches where people have not built their homes over the top of the dune.
Tim says:
Take a look at the town of Kitty Hawk’s numbers. They spent alot of money buying property, taking houses down and hauling them to the landfill. They lost a lot of tax base and have the same problem.
Tim says:
We do not have healthy beaches. Go look at them from Duck to Hatteras. It is not scare tactics. It is a fact money is going to have to be spent. We should invest in a positive way that gives us a return on investments. Not throw money into the landfills and lose money and assets in every way.
barbara says:
Although I do not know the cost of buying out those 12 (?) homes in Kitty Hawk, I will say this. The beaches there are much nicer now that the homes are cleared. The Town has been able to effectively build and maintain healthy dunes where those homes used to stand. The road isn’t undermined everytime a small storm blows though because the town of Kitty Hawk has been able to maintain a dune that otherwise wouldn’t be there if a house were there (just like SNH).
I think Kitty Hawk proves they were successful in retreating. The homes were in disrepair. I doubt the Town made any money off the homes if you considered all the money and effort it took to rebuild the road every time a storm came.
And tourism . . . there is now a nice wide beach there! Lots of room for people to spread out and enjoy the beach, not next to someone’s septic tank! When beaches look unhealthy it is generally because of some man-made structure, Tim. I think Kitty Hawk is a good case for the pros of relocation and how nice their beaches and REAL protection of infrastructure (N.C. 12, cable, power lines, etc)
Tim says:
Look at the amount of money Kitty Hawk spent and the NCDOT spent. Compare to nourishment if the sand is pumped from the ocean. Your are right. It is an option. The taxpayers need to be prepared to spend money on any option.
Butch Stone says:
to Barbra
I own an oceanfront house, MP 3 1/2 in Kitty Hawk. I bought it just before Isabel hit — great timing. My home made it with very little damage. The dune I had ended up on beach road, then the state brought in trucks and equipment from all over and trucked the sand that was in front of my home down to MP 4 where Black Pelican Restaurant is. I was so mad because I wanted it to be put back in front of my home, where it came from.
The road was completely wiped out at MP 4 because there were no homes there to protect the road. About a year later the state or county put in these huge sand bags underground there also — it must have been 15 feet in the ground — also to protect the road.
Yes the homes help protect the beach road. I don’t know, but I would think it is because of the pilings. They must help to hold back the sand, and when oceanfront beach homes do a beach push the homeowner pays for it. But we have no rights to the beach. If you are in front of my home, I cant ask you to leave.
I would love to know just how much it cost to make MP 4 like it is. I am sure that if homes where still there and a beach nourishment had been done, maybe in the long run, would it have cost as much? The county would still be collecting real estate taxes and renters tax on the homes that would be still there. Think of how devastating it must me to lose your dream home!
P.S. The county does not buy any condemn homes, and if they are more that 50% damaged they make the homeowner remove them at their expense. Then all you have left is homeowner’s insurance and hope that it will be enough to finish paying off the mortgage . It’s so sad, don’t you think?
newjake says:
It’s sad Butch, but you took a chance. You bought oceanfront. Maybe the first mistake you made, and the town is making, is a total lack of respect for the ocean. This isn’t Florida or the Gulf Coast, where the water is as calm as a lake. We are the most exposed point on this seaboard.
Butch Stone says:
to newjake
This is a one penny tax, when you spend ten dollars it cost you, ten cents.
spend a hundred dollars,and it cost you one dollar, to save the Beach and the economy.
I always thought that a penny, that the Government made, out of copper, was a waste of time making it, you cant buy anything with a penny, not even gum, but it can Save the Outer Banks.
We now have the know how and equipment to move mountains, we can certainly hold back a ocean, and save the Outer Banks, from becoming a lot of islands.
The Ocean will soon take over OBX
It will reach the sound, if nothing is done.
The oceanfront homes have been holding back the ocean for years, there deep pilings, keep the sand from going in the ocean and the people doing sand pushes, help keep the sand on the beach.
Pump the sand back on the beaches, that we lost from the ocean taking it, back on the beach. Save OBX with a Penny.
Mary says:
I guess some of you missed my point. I could have had my dream home on the ocean. Would have loved to wake up to the beautiful Atlantic every day. But again, the thought of having the beautiful Atlantic under my house — well that and the sand bags were enough to convince me to buy my dream house a mile from the beach.
And, no, there is no difference between losing a beach to a storm in Florida or the Outer Banks. It’s Mother Nature. You can’t predict what will happen and I would bet money that if Nags Head did in fact spent millions on refurbishing it would be their dumb luck that the beach would wash away after one nor’easter or hurricane.
Butch Stone says:
Mary
I got your point
But, if the oceanfront homes were not there to begin with, the beach would be in worst shape, people doing beach pushes and their homes with its deep footings.
If we don’t do something, then it will take the next row of homes and then the next. Then one day it would get to your home and next, the ocean could some day reach the sound and it has in many places.
So we must stop raping the beach and keep all of the money she makes–and put some of that money back in a nourishment, and do it again whenever it needs it, just like you take care of your car or home. The more beach we have, the more the tourists will come back and spend there money here.
newjake says:
Butch, why not put a lien on your three beachfront properties, and get together with a bunch of other out-of-state-homeowners and local real estate managers…
…and use your personal property as collateral for that 36 million dollar loan?
If all goes the way you say, your property value would go way up, and your huge rentals will help you repay the loan.
Mary says:
To Butch: Who exactly is raping the beach? The builders that build homes on the shore, the realtors that sell them or the people that buy them?
The raping is in the debris that is left behind when these homes collapse into the sea.
Butch Stone says:
to Mary
The people who live here.
The raping is what people who live here do by never taking care of the beach. By keeping every penny they have made from the beach and doing nothing to save it.
The beach is your income.
Butch Stone says:
I do not own three oceanfront homes. Where did you get this information from?
Rob Morris says:
Another reminder: Don’t take it personally and don’t make it personal. Thanks.