HARDENING BAN IS UPHFI n
Local Beach Town
Officials
Disappointed With CRC Decision
BY DOUG R UTTER
Local beach town officials are
disappointed with the N.C. Coastal
Resources Commission (CRC) vote
last week to stand firmly behind the
state's ban on jetties, groins and
seawalls along the coasL
The CRC voted last Friday to
deny a request from the Town of
Topsail Beach to change five-year
old rules that prohibit hardened ero
sion-control structures on the beach.
Topsail Beach had petitioned the
CRC for the rule change because
the town wants to construct a groin
to slow erosion at the south end of
the beach near New Topsail Inlet
The erosion problem at Topsail
Beach, which threatens about 80
homes and a main access road, is a
familiar one for area beach town
leaders who have witnessed erosion
on a smaller scale for years but have
been prevented from doing much to
stop it. Several local officials think
the CRC should relax its rules and
allow hard erosion-control devices
in certain instances.
The CRC outlawed hard beach
front structures in 1985, reasoning
that while seawalls, jetties and
groins reduce erosion where they
are built, they tend to cause more
erosion nearby.
Prior to last week's CRC meeting
in Atlantic Beach, the Ocean Isle
Beach Board of Commissioners
adopted a resolution endorsing Top
sail Beach's plan to seek a change
in the rules.
For years. Ocean Isle officials
have watched the east of the island
near Shallotte Inlet erode. A scries
of wooden groins was erected years
ago before the state ban was enact
ed.
"Personally, I was disappointed
in the outcome of it," Ocean Isle
Beach Commissioner Terry Barbee
said Tuesday.
Barbee said town officials had
not discussed taking any erosion
control measures if the rules had
been changed. However, he added,
"If something of that nature was al
lowed, I think we'd definitely con
sider it."
Holden Beach Mayor John Tandy
said Monday he thinks the outright
ban on hardened erosion-controi
structure should be relaxed. The
state should review each case to de
teimsne Ln.p imnari of a crroin kMtv
?--f? ? - ? O" ? ? ? J ~ ~~ J
or seawall before deciding whether
or not to allow it, he said.
"They're saying no hardened
structures are allowed, and that real
ly isn't helping the general public,"
the mayor added.
Tandy said there are a number of
jetties along the Atlantic Coast ? in
cluding ones at Sandy Hoc*. N.r.
and Miami Bcach, Fla. ? that have
helped build beaches and not result
ed in erosion elsewhu..
At a town board workshop last
Wednesday, Maintenance Supervis
or Henry Thompson said he would
like to see a rock pile jetty near the
east end of the island to protect
homes and a party ng area from fur
ther erosion. "I'm afraid we're go
ing to lose the whole east end," he
said.
Mayor Tandy also said members
of the Coastal Resources Commis
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sion should be elected instead of ap
pointed by the governor.
"You've got this one group of ap
pointed people making up the rules
and interpreting the rules," he said.
"It's really not government by the
people."
Long Beach Town Manager Gary
Britt also said this week he would
like to see more flexibility in the
state's ban on hard beachfront struc
tures.
"Obviously, we were very inter
ested in the outcome (of the CRC
meeting) because that is one possi
bie alternative the town has to con
trol err, s; on here," said Britt. "Right
now, our options are very few as far
as handling erosion on the beach
front."
Like Tandy, he said there are situ
ations where hard structures have
not damaged the beach. For that
reason, he said each case warrants
individual consideration.
Speaking specifically of the Top
sail Beach case, Britt said the Army
Corps of Engineers should be quali
fied to determine how a groin will
affect the beachfront. Topsail Beach
had worked with the Corps to de
velop its erosion-control plan.
Wallace Martin, village manager
at Bald Head Island, said the village
council took no formal position on
the beach hardening issue.
However, he said the CRC ruling
will almost certainly prevent the vil
lage from including low-level
f
STA/F mOTO ?Y DOUG ilTTTf ?
THE N.C. COASTAL RESOURCES COMMISSION last week upheld its five-year-old ban on seawalls, jetties and groins along the
coast. These wooden groins at the east end of Ocean Isle Beach were put in place before the ban was approved in 1985.
groins in its beach renourishmcnt
plans. Bald Head officials had
hoped to use groins to hold sand on
the beach and reduce severe erosion
problems at the southwest end of
Uie island.
Kent Mitchell, whose family is
developing Bald Head Island, was
one of three CRC members who
voted against the majority last Fri
day. He could not be reachcd for
commcnt Monday or Tuesday, but
had reportedly joined two other
CRC members in pushing for a
hearing on the Topsail Beach re
quest.
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