THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408180385
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 55 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Earlier this year, the Dare County Board of Commissioners decided to move forward on the next phase of the Dare Beaches Shoreline Protection Project. This ongoing initiative is the result of recommendations included in the Outer Banks Erosion Task Force Report. This committee concluded that beach nourishment was the most practicable shoreline management technique for beach erosion on the Outer Banks. Two decades earlier, a local agency known as the Dare Beaches Authority reached the same conclusion, but its recommmendation was never implemented.
The Board of Commissioners, in conjunction with the Board of Commissioners from the Town of Nags Head, the Town of Kill Devil Hills, and the Kitty Hawk Town Council, have studied the alternatives, the expert opinions, and have chosen to move forward. We all recognize that our economy needs both the barrier island beaches and the buildings that line our shores. And we recognize that there are those who question this policy and offer a much simpler but totally unrealistic alternative - which is commonly called ``retreat``.
Further examination of ``retreat'' reveals its flaws. First and foremost, there is the constitutional issue of the government forcing anyone to abandon their personal property. It is unrealistic to think ``retreat'' will be voluntary. Now imagine the loss of the entire first row of all oceanfront structures in Dare County, valued at approximately $760 million and ask yourself who would absorb that loss. Factor in revenue lost in occupancy taxes not collected because the structures are gone or are no longer desirable. Then factor in the actual cost of destroying or relocating these structures. The sum of these factors is the cash cost of ``retreat.'' Also to be considered are lost wages and unemployment paid to those who lost service industry jobs.
In either scenario, there is a price to pay. This time the elected officials of Dare County intend to act. And we are committed to proceed, with caution, in the direction the most respected experts in the field of coastal management tell us is the only realistic option.
Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens, Jr.
Chairman
Dare County Board
of Commissioners by CNB