Setback Rules are under Review

From the News-Times, written by Shannon Kemp - excerpts to help undertand what is being discussed...hope it helps!

"While the Carteret County beach commission decided to not take a position on proposed static line of vegetation setback rules for oceanfront developments, the public will have a chance to state their own position during a public hearing Nov 29 and 30 at the City Hotel and Bistro in Greenville.

...
In North Carolina, the vegetation line extends from the first line of vegetation 30 times the annual erosion rate to a particular development site and it set up before a beach is renourished.

If a community's erosion rate, which is determined by the DCM, is 2 feet or less per year, it makes the setback for oceanfront structures 60 feet from the fist line of vegetation.

For commercial and multifamily developments that are more than 5,000 square feet, the setback is 60 times the annual erosion rate.

When a beach is renourished, the shoreline extends seaward. Because sea grass naturally grows closer to the water when a beach is renourished, as the shoreline moves farther out, the first line of stable vegetation moves with it, but the static line stays in its established position forever.

The existing rules prohibit development from inching forward with the vegetation line. Mr. Rudolph explained if a building is nonconforming or a lot is unbuildable before the static line was established, then they are forever nonconforming or unbuildable.

The two proposed rules make it possible for individual communities to apply to the CRC for an exemption - with certain conditions - from the static line rules, thus allowing development to move out with the beach that builds up after a renourishment project ....

The first of the proposed rules ...offers three changes, Mr.Rudolph said. ... it tweaks the definition of the vegetation line and how that line is determined; it changes language concerning an alternative vegetation line that is related to Brunswick County beaches and it changes the parameters for a large scale beach renourishment project, which is the trigger for the establishment of a static line.

The second rule.. involves the changes for ocean front setbacks and specifications for an exemption to the static line.

The new rule takes into account the total square footage of living space. Where before it was just the heated floor space, now anything covered will be considered in determining the oceanfront setback.

Also, while the minimum setback will remain 30 times the erosion rate for structures less than 5000 square feet as the current rule states, the new graduated setback rule has a total of eight major categories that determine the setback - which increases based on the size of the structure.

...There is also concern with the contentious issue of the proposed 2,000 square foot limitation for any construction that has received a static line exemption. "If you have a 4,000 square foot house that received a static line exemption and the house burns down, you have to rebuild a 2,000 square foot house," Mr. Rudolph explained.

Also if an empty lot gets a static line exemption, the property owners can only build a 2,000 square foot structure on the lot."



There is no agenda set for the November meeting at this time....stay tuned. Things could get really interesting!