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The August 5 Nags Head Board of Commissioners meeting spanned over two hours, with topics of discussions including a public hearing to consider a revised preliminary plat for the Coastal Villas subdivision, a discussion about the Dowdy Park part-time position and a conversation about firm selection for a new town manager.

As for the public hearing, a preliminary plat was brought to the board back in January of this year for a 17-lot subdivision known as Coastal Villas. This subdivision would span roughly 11 acres and be located on the west side of U.S. Hwy. 158, about 300 ft. south of the intersection of W. Soundside Road and the highway.

The revised plat, presented to the commissioners on Wednesday, proposed to create 17 building lots with an associated street and improvements.

When the preliminary plat was first presented, the board wished to see a redesign of the access from U.S. 158 to the subdivision. After heading back to the developer for changes, the plat now provides access from the lots to 158 with the creation of a new street.

Confusion arose with the creation of a section of the proposed Coastal Villas. Planning director Michael Zehner shared that a portion of the land was not properly subdivided and back in 2004 Dare County had anticipated the area as the site for a reverse osmosis well system.

After coordinating with Dare County, the applicant, Nags Head Construction, had received the county’s blessing to proceed with the plans. However, waivers were required to be granted in order to move forward.

In terms of feedback from the board, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Siers was concerned about the access to 158 in a traffic sense. “I have issues with the access not being right in, right out,” he commented.

Being that U.S. 158 is a state-maintained road, the town cannot regulate traffic patterns in from the highway to the subdivision. Once the new street is developed and the town were to oversee its use, regulations could then be made.

Mayor Ben Cahoon asked that the walkway in the right-of-way set to be improved by the developer be “more naturalistic” in treatment as to not require major irrigation.

Commissioner Webb Fuller noted that despite an adjoining property owner’s dismay over the new subdivision possibly “blocking his view,” the board does not have the authority to act on the observation. “There’s nothing in our ordinance about blocking people’s view,” stated Fuller.

After the initial presentation of the plat with a question and comment portion had ended, the commissioners held no conversation in their deliberation period.

Fuller motioned to approve the waivers dealing with the portion of the subdivision that was once intended for another use. These waivers dealt with allowing the lot to exist without access to a public street, precluding direct access to the lot, and waiving frontage requirements and allowing the lot to exist as it comes to a point at the right-of-way.

All board members were in favor of Fuller’s motion. Commissioner Kevin Brinkley followed with a motion of his own to approve the preliminary plat as presented, with the added recommendations from staff. It was a unanimous decision to send the plat forward to its next stage.

Later on in the agenda, the commissioners touched on the reoccurring topic of whether or not to continue to fund a part-time position for planning the Dowdy Park Farmers Market.

Commissioner Renee Cahoon had been skeptical as to whether or not the town was in need of the position, given the time it consumes from a planning department perspective. On Wednesday, she said, “I’m not opposed to it, but I would like to see staff develop a plan.” Her request to staff was to develop a plan moving forward, to include how the markets will be run, how they will be staffed, what assignments must be made, etc.

The mayor motioned to extend the part-time position through the last farmers market in August plus two weeks for close-out, which passed unanimously.

As for the hiring of a firm to select a new town manager, the mayor advised the public that of the firms surveyed by the board, three had risen to the top of the rankings. He asked to hold interviews at their mid-month meeting, to take place on August 19 at 2 p.m. for firm selection. Interviews are set to take place from 2 p.m. through 5 p.m. with the anticipation that a firm will be chosen that day.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS AND EVENTS HERE.

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