Aldermen to draft letter to CRC

Mayor Pro-tem Bill Blair said he understands the rationale for increasing oceanfront setbacks, but broad regulations could unfairly impact the economies of small beach towns.

“It looked to me like it was all about trying to keep mistakes in the future that had been made in the past. Part of the problem is people who built too close to the ocean knowing there is erosion,” Blair said. “The setbacks need to be looked at not necessarily from the standpoint of being restrictive. You also have to consider, whether you like it or not, what the financial impact to the community is.”

The Holiday Inn SunSpree is a good example of a large structure built too close to the ocean, said N.C. Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources coastal hazards specialist Jeff Warren. The Holiday Inn SunSpree is currently 60 feet landward of the static vegetation line, so it only meets the CRC’s mandated setback for small structures.

“Under current rules, it’s a nonconforming structure. It could not be rebuilt in the same footprint today if it were destroyed more than 50 percent,” Warren said.

Current CRC rules state that structures of 100,000 square feet or greater, like the Holiday Inn SunSpree, must be 120 feet landward of the static line of vegetation. Proposed CRC regulations would require a 180-foot setback for structures like the Holiday Inn.

Steve Everhart, Wilmington district manager for the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, explained that the Holiday Inn SunSpree received a building permit in December 1997 due to an exception in CRC regulations regarding existing bulkheads.

“It was an existing bulkheaded structure, which we would consider an existing hardened structure on the beach, which we would not allow under existing CRC rules,” Everhart said.

The proposed CRC regulations set higher standards for oceanfront setbacks. All structures less than 5,000 square feet would require a minimum setback factor of 60 feet or 30 times the shoreline erosion rate, whichever is greater. The shoreline erosion rate of Wrightsville Beach is calculated at
2 feet per year, Warren said.

The new regulations put forth a graduated scale of setback requirements that range from 60 feet up to 180 feet from the static vegetation line. The new rules would place the Holiday Inn SunSpree at even greater odds against the state agency, Warren added.

“The SunSpree couldn’t rebuild in its current footprint today, but even with the 180-foot setback line, they would have to redesign a different footprint anyway,” Warren said.

“The big move for (the CRC) was putting everything in line based on size and not use because they felt the hazard was the same on those structures,” Warren said. “This is looking at redevelopment in the future, rising sea levels and terminal erosion. It’s not saying you can’t build a large building, it’s saying you can’t build it this close.”