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Southern Shores Town Council held a public hearing August 6 to amend town code, but council members opted to nix some of the suggested changes.

The purpose of the hearing was to clarify some language and add consistency to town code in several sections, and to include a section to forbid noisy cryptocurrency mining facilities.

The current ordinance requires a permit for the removal of trees greater than six inches in diameter on the setbacks of empty lots in the general commercial district. Deputy town manager Wes Haskett, representing the planning board’s decisions, recommended that this requirement apply townwide, which would include residential areas. The council disagreed and voted to keep the requirement in the general commercial district only.

While council members were generally in agreement that trees should be preserved if possible, they were hesitant to add an extra permitting requirement to property owners.

Mayor Elizabeth Morey said she thought the suggested correction was “overregulation.”

“I think when people buy a lot they buy the rights to the lot,” she said.

Morey estimated that there are less than 300 empty residential lots remaining in Southern Shores out of 2800.

“Why should 200 lots have the trees preserved but not the other 2800?” Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal asked. “This, as written, doesn’t achieve anything.”

Council member Mark Batenic admitted that people love the trees in Southern Shores and even move there for the trees.

The council was in agreement to strike the suggestion to make permits required townwide for removing trees in empty lots, and instead kept the ordinance as-is. They did adopt several other changes to town code, including a provision to forbid crypto currency mining facilities. These facilities are noisy and are a nuisance, said town staff.

Other changes to town code include consistency changes related to planned unit developments as related to the special use permit process.

Council members approved the amendments with some minor changes.

They also discussed the possibilities of allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in town. The General Assembly is considering allowing ADUs state-wide, and Southern Shores Council discussed what it would look like to “get ahead” of the regulations and begin the conversation about additional living spaces on personal property.

“[ADUs are] one of the tools in the toolbox that these legislators are doing, and one way to provide leadership would be say we’re not going to necessarily wait for the legislature to shove this down our throat and take away our setbacks,” Neal said.

“We’re going to craft a way to try to provide more housing affordability and access to housing within our community, because some of that single family obsession is what led to the housing crisis that we’re dealing with – the idea that this is the only type of housing that is available to people in this region. Now I don’t disagree. What attracted our family coming here is that very single family thing. So it’s definitely a tight rope and I’m not afraid to embark upon it,” he continued.

Mayor Morey suggested the council gather additional data to see if it’s something the town wants to pursue.

The council agreed to revisit the discussion at a later meeting.

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