Chamber letter on Dare resolutions

Dear Chamber Member,

On Monday, May 3, the Dare County Board of Commissioners will be voting on
two important beach renourishment issues. One is to appropriate a
significant portion of the available funds to the proposed Town of Nags Head
project and the other is to ask the legislature for the one percent
occupancy tax needed to fund part of the project.

We, as the Board of Directors of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, would
like to thank all of the communities and the County for working together to
create a viable solution to a difficult problem. Where we have been
critical of a “me first attitude, we are now appreciative of the “community
first” attitude that has prevailed. The work completed within the framework
of the Dare County Shoreline Management Commission allowed the many
collaborative interests to find the common footing to make sure a project
could move forward.

As we have stated before, our beaches are an extremely important asset that
needs to be maintained for our current economy to remain strong. Tourism
provides $774 million in direct financial benefit to the community
supporting 11,250 jobs. One study suggested that just a 10% reduction in
tourism would result in 587 fewer jobs, 65 fewer businesses, and $490
million in business assessed value. As 89% of our visitors report that it
is our beaches that they come here for, the connection between our beaches
and our economy becomes readily apparent. The actions of the towns and the
County reflect their understanding of the beach’s importance.

The Chamber recognizes that should the County Commissioners support both of
the initiatives on Monday, there is still some work to be done. The funding
plan leaves a gap in the Town of Nags Head project that will need to be made
up and we look forward to the Town of Nags Head’s solution to this problem.
The legislature will be appropriately reticent to support a tax increase at
this time and they will need continued reminders of how important our
beaches are to our economy. Finally, the Town of Nags Head is not the only
place that will need focus in the future. Our community still needs a
comprehensive plan that insures sustainability of all our beaches.

Again, we as a board would like to thank our towns and the County for their
work towards solutions that will help address our erosion problems both now
and in the future. We look forward to the decision of the County
Commissioners on Monday and to the work to be done ahead.

Sincerely,

The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors