New suggestions have been brought up by the Currituck County planning board for consideration on the 4x4 beaches to restrict the limitations of the lot coverage, permitted uses, and lot sizes. The County has gone so far as to suggest requiring land owners with adjacent property to combine their lots before being able to build just one structure. I think this may go down a very slippery slope towards violating property rights. Below is a piece of the discussion and also the full document with meeting times for the next meeting. This is no small thing...
Single-Family Residential Outer Banks-Limited Access Remote(SFLR)
The SFR district is the re-named Outer Banks Limited Access Residential (RO2) district, and is the only zoning designation for the northern outer banks beyond the terminus of Highway 12. This portion of the county has no paved roads, water or sewer infrastructure, and vehicular access to lots is obtained from the beach. There are federal wildlife refuges, wild horse habitat, and several thousand platted lots (most of which are vacant) in the area. The district allows single-family dwellings, family care homes, public safety uses, churches, marinas, offices, campgrounds, landfills, agriculture, silviculture, airports, utilities, telecommunications, and wind energy facilities. The 2006 Land Use Plan contains clear guidance that this area is not intended for paved roads, water or sewer infrastructure, commercial development, (other than the development authorized under the approved subdivisions). As a result, the range of allowable uses will be reduced in the SFR district to single-family detached dwellings, public safety uses, and utilities (the current district also allows family care homes, churches, marinas, offices, campgrounds, landfills, agriculture, and airports). The current RO2 district has a minimum lot size of 120,000 square feet (2.75 acres), though most of the platted lots are considerably smaller. It currently allows conservation subdivision-style development with a minimum lot size of 65,340 square feet (1.5 acres), and family subdivisions, provided a minimum lot size of 120,000 square feet is maintained. The new SFR district will continue to allow single-family development on lots platted before April 2,1989, that do not meet the minimum lot area requirements for the district (this includes approximately 90% of the lots in the district). However, it limits the ability to use the conservation subdivision process (as mentioned on Page 2.36 of the Code Assessment), and requires vacant lots under common ownership to be recombined (as a means of achieving compliance with the zoning district dimensional standards, to the maximum possible extent) prior to development. The current RO2 district has a maximum lot coverage figure of 30 percent. The new UDO includes requirements for on-site stormwater treatment for uses with lot coverages of 25 percent or more. The SFL district will continue to be subject to special dune, maritime forest, and exterior lighting provisions that were included in the former Outer Banks Overlay district that has now been incorporated into the development standards in Chapter 5 of the new UDO. Discussions to this point considered the application of special design standards to homes over 5,000 square feet in size, however, the Legislature may pre-empt the application of design standards to single-family homes during the 2011 legislative session. As a result, these standards will not be included in the UDO.
Sadly, this may be a well intended plan but with drastic impositions placed on individual property owners. Will see how this develops. For a copy of the entire UDO re-write and the next meeting times, I have included the email from Planning director Ben Woody below:
The Planning Board will review Module 2 of the new UDO at their September meeting. A digital copy is posted on the county website. The meeting is open to the public and scheduled for Tuesday, September 13 at 7:00pm in the Historic Currituck Courthouse.
Please send comments or questions to my attention via email, or in writing at: 153 Courthouse Road, Suite 110, Currituck, NC 27929.
Thank you.
http://www.newcodecurrituck.com/wp-content/filez/2009/11/currituck-module-2-20110805.pdf
Ben E. Woody, AICP
Planning Director
Currituck County
153 Courthouse Road, Suite 110
Currituck, North Carolina 27929
(252) 232.6029
www.currituckgovernment.com
