Name: County to create affordable housing task force
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County to create affordable housing task force

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Podcasthttps://www.outerbanksvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/20231005-222414.mp3Oct. 6: Oct. 12 web conference on managing threatened oceanfront homes/County seeks motorcyclists to escort “The Wall that Heels”/Substance Use and Mental Health Summit on Oct. 26.You can hear Voice newscasts daily at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. on Dixie 105.7, 102.5 The Shark, 96.7 The Coast, 98.1 The Score.PopularPopular posts:Local LinksToday's top stories‘Never imagine it’d be us:...High Rip Current Risk from Duck to Buxto...OBX environmental film fest to debut nex...Questions linger about Kinnakeet Church ...By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on October 3, 2023Manteo resident Sybil Ross said the county had not consulted with the community over housing. Board Chairman Bob Woodard called some criticism of the county’s role “inappropriate and wrong.”During an Oct. 2 board meeting that was largely contentious and occasionally conciliatory, the Dare County Commissioners agreed to create a task force featuring representatives of the six county municipalities to make another effort at mitigating what has proved to be an intractable workforce housing problem.At the meeting, County Manager Bobby Outten indicated the task force would be made up of an elected official from each town, the town manager in each town, and potentially, a planner from each town. Outten and Commissioner Chairman Bob Woodard indicated that there was receptivity to the idea on the part of both mayors and town managers.The meeting itself took place against the backdrop of anger and confusion about a special provision dropped into the state budget that would restrict municipalities’ ability to regulate affordable housing projects in their communities that were funded with $35 million the state has awarded the county for that purpose.All six Dare County towns have officially protested that measure as an encroachment on their local zoning and development jurisdiction. The county has denied any knowledge of, or role in the insertion of that provision into the budget. And thus far, no one has come forward to acknowledge any involvement in creating it—sparking a great deal of speculation about who is responsible. The $35 million in state money is earmarked for projects built by Coastal Affordable Housing LLC, one of the county’s two development partners. The other one, Woda Cooper, is working with a pot of $12 million in county money.During public comment on Oct. 2, a total of 11 speakers took the podium, almost all of voicing anger about the special budget provision and the process that created it.Amy Phillips, of Manteo, declared that “it is disingenuous to think that no one knew that this [budget provision] is happening with the state until recently.” Another resident of Manteo, Sybil Ross, told the board that the lack of progress on housing is “not about NIMBYs [Not in My Backyard]. It’s the way you are going about it. You have not gone to the people in this community.”Shelly Blackstone, of Nags Head, directed the board of commissioners to “correct the erroneous language in the state budget that dishonors the towns’ planning and zoning rights…I thought we lived in a democracy.”Several speakers reported doing their own research to find out the author or authors of the special budget provision. Asserting that there was no “transparency in the process,” Amy Stone suggested it was “leftover language” from former State Senator Bill Cook’s original effort to bring the $35 million for housing to Dare County—noting that Cook’s legislative aide was Jordan Hennessy, a principal in the Coastal Affordable Housing LLC.Another speaker, Debbie Carrera of Nags Head, said she spoke to multiple state legislators and concluded that “the directive came most definitely and directly from within Dare County.” Chris Carey from Wanchese said, “all I’ve heard is denials” of responsibility, and indicated he did some sleuthing of his own into Coastal Affordable Housing. At one point he asked: “Is Jordan Hennessy here?”The one speaker to strike a more conciliatory tone was Malcolm Fearing, who noted that “emotions are high. This is a difficult issue.” He stated that the housing problem in Dare County did not “start with this board of commissioners,” while also making a call for “unity.”With emotions indeed running high, Commissioner Chairman Woodard responded with a defense of the county right after public comment. He asserted that county officials had been responsive to community sentiment in working on both the doomed Bowsertown project in Manteo and the controversial cluster home project in Wanchese.“To continue to come up here and criticize us, and to say that we’re not transparent is just inappropriate and wrong,” he said, to some audible protests from the audience.Following Woodard, Outten offered his presentation, stating that “I can say unequivocally that we did not request that [special budget provision]. Our lobbyist…he didn’t lobby for it. We didn’t have anything to do with having that.”The county manager also ran through the history of the housing issue in Dare County, explaining that “affordable housing has been on the table for a while…probably close to thirty years now…For over thirty years, the market really hasn’t been able to address affordable housing. That is not unique to Dare County.”He then discussed some of the recently failed efforts to build such housing. Addressing the situation in Nags Head, where Woda Cooper wanted to a construct 54-unit project, Outten noted that the site was selected because it “was zoned for multi-family housing. The plan was going to meet their ordinances. They changed their ordinances and said, ‘you can’t do this.’”Outten also said that in conversations with town managers after the insertion of the budget housing provision, “I told them that the county, in my view, had no intention of going into any town and bulldozing them and building a fifty-story high rise in a town…We’re not trying to steamroll anybody.”In making his recommendation to create a housing task force that includes several representatives from each town, Outten added pointedly that, “The first step is everybody’s gotta recognize there’s a problem.”During brief comments by the county commissioners, a sense of frustration seemed to mingle with some hope that task force efforts could bear fruit.“Everybody agrees on the ‘what,’” asserted Danny Couch. “It’s the ‘how’” that’s causing the problem.“We’ve got a heck of a [housing] problem here…frankly, we are simply stymied,” Rob Ross said. He added “that everything needs to be considered,” and voiced his support for the idea of forming the task force.So did Wally Overman, who stated that, “I think the establishment of the task force is the only way forward.”For his part, Ervin Bateman wondered if there could be an effort made to turn some of the 10,000 short-term rentals into the county into long-term rentals.SEE ALSO: Dare housing provision in state budget triggers search for its authorGo to commentsComments« Older CommentsJoin the discussionClick here to cancel reply.GET NEWS AS IT BREAKS!SIGN UP FOR VOICE E-MAIL ALERTSWe'll never share your e-mail address with anyone.Also in the VoiceDare County Tourism Board Recap | September 2023Outer Banks Community Foundation Awards $134,873 to Nine NonprofitsManteo Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees HonoredUsing farm animals to help humans feel betterNPS awards $3.6M contract for Ocracoke Light Station©2023 The Outer Banks VoiceThe Outer Banks Voice is not responsible for the content of external sites.&nbsp;©2023 The Outer Banks Voice

Podcasthttps://www.outerbanksvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/20231005-222414.mp3Oct. 6: Oct. 12 web conference on managing threatened oceanfront homes/County seeks motorcyclists to escort “The Wall that Heels”/Substance Use and Mental Health Summit on Oct. 26.You can hear Voice newscasts daily at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. on Dixie 105.7, 102.5 The Shark, 96.7 The Coast, 98.1 The Score.PopularPopular posts:Local LinksToday's top stories‘Never imagine it’d be us:...High Rip Current Risk from Duck to Buxto...OBX environmental film fest to debut nex...Questions linger about Kinnakeet Church...

County to create affordable housing task force

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