Wednesday, October 14, 2026
By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on November 6, 2025
A new petition posted on the Facebook pages of the Corolla Civic Association and Corolla Fire and Rescue calls for “immediate action to address Currituck beach erosion” and urges the Currituck Board of Commissioners (BOC) to take a series of steps to address the issue.
The petition is the latest chapter in the longstanding and still unresolved issue of how Currituck County will protect its beaches and oceanfront properties.
It starkly warns that “vacationers are starting to go elsewhere and Currituck will soon join Buxton on the evening news.” The numerous recent oceanfront house collapses in Buxton have become a major national story. You can read the petition here: Petition URGENT action required on Currituck’s beach
“It has been clear for more than a decade that sections of Currituck’s shoreline are rapidly receding. As the beach has narrowed, its ability to heal itself was eliminated. Surf has taken pools and stairs. Core dunes, built in the 1930s, have had yards sheared off,” the petition states.
It also asserts that although the BOC has been studying the issue since 2019 https://currituckcountync.gov/shoreline-stability-study/ “no action has been take to address the issue…Meanwhile, every other county or township in the Outer Banks has acted. They have requested and received grants. They engaged State legislators. Contracts were executed. Sand was moved. Economies were protected.”
Noting that the 2025 storms have “accelerated beach and property destruction,” the petition calls for the BOC to immediately take the following actions.
The petition comes after Currituck County announced in September that it is developing a Beach Management Plan, with a draft hopefully ready by the end of 2025. Currituck County is the only coastal county in North Carolina that has not used beach nourishment to maintain its shoreline. The Outer Banks Voice – As Currituck works on Beach Management Plan, beach nourishment seems unlikely
Comments
WindyBill
It would be a serious public service to publish the locations of the specific “most threatened areas and structures”.
Arthur Pewty
The pictures really tell the story! Do they have more cartoons of generic houses floating away to aid me in appreciating the severity of their imminent peril?
Tom
Mother Nature is taking care of the uncontrolled over development of Corolla. Good for her!
Mainland Mike
I have an idea. The mainlanders don’t want to contribute any money to help those in Corolla or Carova. How about the mainlanders pay for all of the mainland problems and the Currituck OBX tax revenue only pays for the issues in Corolla and Carova? Stop being “takers” mainlanders and pull yourselves up by your bootstraps! And then have the greedy Currituck county commissioners stop approving every single building permit that comes across their desks.
AM
I won’t discuss my qualifications, but people calling for beach nourishment are literally dented. The sand will wash away in a year or two tops. Do you not see Buxton? Do you think a couple extra tons or 10s of tons of sand would’ve made a difference? Grow up this isn’t 1960. The only chance currituck has is massive jetty/groin placement and dune nourishment. Even with this a large storm will easily knock any of it out. Old people whining pretending like it’s the good old days — LOL. Welcome to the real world you’ve left for our generation by your decades of neglect so you can lower your taxes and pad your 401ks. Now we have to deal with a mid-destruction environment with little tax base except rich almost dead aholes that think dumping some sand can fix generations of worldwide neglect. Go back to voting for trump do you can feel good while screwing over your grandchildren with your 9th grade education level opinions. Jesus. This entire area is an embarrassment and we deserve to be destroyed. I do feel bad for the horses who don’t deserve your dumbass shit.
Jay
I wish the members of the CCA would just go back to Massachusetts an Connecticut with all their nonsense and extreme lack of common sense. They are much more of a pain in the rear than Mother Nature has ever been. I would support a petition regarding that.
Currituck
Buyer beware. This edict has always guided me when seeking to buy an auto, boat, home or land. The county, state or Federal Government should never be required to safeguard a poor or short sighted decision. Bearing the cost of a bad purchase decision makes you a better informed buyer in future transactions.
DC
Photos of the affected areas would be helpful in deciding.
Comments like Tom’s aren’t and show his lack of common sense.
Ann
I hope like hell the other resident’s of Currituck don’t have to pay for it by having our taxes raised!
Dave
Windy Bill – sections of Ocean Hill are probably the worst off, there are homes there that have lost all their dune, and have their pools falling on to the beach. Ocean Hill is the northern most neighborhood before you get to the fence where the 4WD area starts. Also, the southern section of Whalehead (the area behind the Corolla Food Lion) is not as bad as Ocean Hill, but isn’t that far behind. If anyone is interested you can use Google Earth Pro to see the changes. With Google Earth Pro you can access satellite photos going back to about 1993, and then use the Google Maps measure tool to measure the distance lost. Using this I estimate that over the last 30 years we’ve lost ~ 75 feet of beach where Albacore St. intersects with Whalehead Dr. There are probably other areas further south, but I’m not as familiar with them.
Beachiekeen
I agree tax revenue ought not be spent on private investments. But perhaps a wake up call to consider addressing a one pony economy.
If CCA and County truly had a plan they’d start with limiting building permits for all the original houses along Lighthouse that have been expanded to mini hotels and have some ongoing inspection and legal authority to protect dunes from homeowners who have cut through to replace or add gazebos and walkways. One homeowner cut a dune to install a required pool so Twiddy would represent. And calling sheriff for backhoes cutting dunes. people climbing or setting chars on dunes off season, dogs running loose, poop and litter they say it’s not their jurisdiction.
Also “require” OF properties to install and maintain sand fences and dune vegetation. Last winter a swath from Herring to Tuna only 1 house had a recently repaired fence and 3 others older – but their timeline was intact as compared to surrounding properties.
There are neutral publications even ACE that details the pros and cons of various approaches and I recall now Sen Hanig referencing projects in Europe that could be replicated.
KIM the blame path is wide including the RE agents selling the homes, the rental companies demanding eco-risky amenities yet blaming is not a solution.
PS the house with pool was compromised long before the partial collapse and owners had opportunities for remediation including relocating the pool- and that area is a main access for the thousands of horse tour vehicles each season.
Yes Buyer Beware
Craig
I won’t take a side on beach nourishment and fortifications, but the immediate priority should be a plan for condemning and removal of structures prior to collapse.
I don’t see that here.
PhD Physics
A. The science of beach nourishment is well understood. It works to protect the tax base and the summer beach experience that benefits all in the county. A hundred successful projects along the east coast. Yes, it has to be redone periodically, so the taxes to do it continue.
B. The cost is born from taxes generated in the beach area. The mainlanders don’t pay, but they lose and keep losing as beach tax values decline and they have to pay an increased tax rate to balance the budget.
The science and the economics fully support action in a tourist area like Corolla.
Big Kahuna
Aloha
Give the Ponies back the Sand..
Get the 4wheelers and
developers off the Land.
Mahalo