Nags Head residents weigh in on housing ordinance

By Kip Tabb | Outer Banks Voice on September 18, 2024

Nags Head Resident Amanda Kornegay raised concerns about traffic if the Kelly’s Tavern property is developed. And Duke Geraghty, Government Affairs Director for the Outer Banks Homebuilders Association, felt the ordinance would have to be revisited from time to time. (Photos by Kip Tabb/OBV)

Commissioners expected to vote on new multi-family measure on Oct. 2

By Kip Tabb | Outer Banks Voice

With a scheduled Oct. 2 vote on a new multi-family housing ordinance, the Nags Head Commissioners held a public hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 18, giving residents and others an opportunity to voice concerns and ask questions.

If passed, the ordinance will lift a moratorium on new multi-family construction that has been in place in the town since January 2023.

A public hearing at the Sept. 4 Nags Head Commissioners meeting featured some opposition to provisions in the proposed ordinance, particularly to deed restrictions that would prohibit short-term (weekly) rentals and allocate housing units to workers employed in Dare County.

“No private developer will construct a multi-family development in Nags Head with the deed restrictions proposed in the amendment,” said Peter Pinto, a principal of the LLC that owns the property that formerly house Mike Kelly’s restaurant, during that Sept. 4 meeting.

Opposition to the ordinance at the Sept. 18 hearing was limited to mild concerns about a cap in how many large projects would be permitted. All of the 18 people who came to the podium during spoke in favor of the ordinance, although there were a number of questions about its contents and how it would affect neighborhoods.

The ordinance divides multi-family lots into two categories. Small multi-family lots would range between 15,000 and 26,000 square feet. Large multi-family lots are greater than 26,000 square feet.

Concerned about traffic and density impacts on the town if too many large lots were developed in a short period of time, the ordinance includes a cap of three large multi-family developments per year.

Duke Geraghty, Government Affairs Director for the Outer Banks Homebuilders Association, and Donna Creef, Government Affairs Director for the Outer Banks Association of Realtors, did not support that provision, with Creef telling the commissioners, “I would…urge you to consider that very carefully.”

Geraghty felt any cap on permitting was premature and that the cost of construction could create its own limit, suggesting market forces would determine how many multi-family units would be built. “It’s expensive to build, and it’s more profitable for any developer to build short-term rentals,” he said.

Deed restrictions that require a minimum 90-day lease and that units be rented to workers employed in Dare County are a key provision of the proposed ordinance. The small multi-family units are 100% deed restricted, meaning at least one person living in the unit must work in Dare County. The large multi-family units are 60% deed restricted for occupancy, although the 90-day provision remains in effect for all units.

There was considerable discussion about how the deed restrictions would be enforced. Town Manager Andy Garman and Mayor Ben Cahoon felt the town would be able to enforce the restrictions and that a violation of the workforce ordinance would result in civil penalties. Cahoon explained that those penalties could be significant.

“Civil penalties like those, every day is a separate violation,” he said. “If you’re found to be in violation of the occupancy of a unit. it’s a [daily] penalty…Every day that unit is improperly occupied is a new penalty.”

Another concern that surfaced concerned the former Kelly restaurant property on the north end of the town.

Amanda Kornegay, who lives in the neighborhood directly behind the property, noted that traffic is already very heavy in that area and that a proposal that would add 100 residents or more would exacerbate the problem.

“How does that affect the traffic at the beginning of Nags Head, the traffic lights, all of that… we’re very concerned about something like this being approved in Nags Head,” she said.

Her concerns were echoed by Nags Head resident Ken Morgan, who also lives behind that property.

“I’ve not heard anybody speak about traffic surveys, and I know the impact this is going to be. I did thirty-three years in traffic engineering,” he said.

Town Engineer David Ryan pointed out that a traffic study of that area had been done when the previous owner of the tract, the German supermarket company Lidl, submitted a site plan in February 2022. That site plan, Garman told the Voice, had been approved, although Lidl decided not to proceed with the project.

During the meeting, Geraghty told the commissioners that any new ordinance might need to be amended later. “We may have to look at this again a year from now,” he said.

As Cahoon adjourned the meeting, he said that “We look forward to getting the best ordinance we can back on the books. It’s not going to be perfect,” adding that, “I will second Duke’s comment earlier. We will be back to this…We can come back and revisit this over time.”