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Following their June 2023 decision to repeal the Currituck Station Planned Development in Moyock, commissioners approved changes to planning documents at the November 4 meeting for consistency throughout the county.

The now-defunct Currituck Station was planned a decade ago for 3,400 acres of retail, residential, commercial and industrial use on the west side of Hwy 168 just south of the Virginia border. This would have included up to 3,000 homes and 250 apartments.

“This board kind of inherited Currituck Station,” said Chairman Bob White, referring to when he came on the board eight years ago. “We adopted Currituck Station because it was a working project that previous boards of commissioners had worked on, but throughout that time we realized that it’s not what we’re about anymore.”

White said the board heard the community’s request for less density. “What you’re seeing up on the screen,” he said to the public seated at the meeting, “is a reflection of that work and the comments that we received from people here in the audience tonight.”

The entire area was and still is zoned Agriculture. Within this zoning, there are “transects” or sections with different standards. In Currituck County, there are five possible transects, ranging from most restrictive/lowest density or use to least restrictive/highest density or use: O-1 Preserved Lands; O-2 Reserved Lands; G-1 Low Density Growth; G-2 Controlled Growth; G-3 Mixed Use Centers; and G-4 Village Centers.

Prior to the amendment, the entire Currituck Station area – from the Virginia Border to South Mills Road and west to Northwest Backwoods Road – was designated G-3. This transect allowed for up to 12 dwelling units per acre.

Under the new regulations, the 3,400 acres has been thoughtfully redesignated in the Imagine Currituck Vision Plan and the Future Land Use Map. Not only that, but changes were approved adjusting maximum density allowed in each transect.

G-3 now allows a maximum of three dwelling units per acre, down significantly from 12. And of the 3,400 acres in the Currituck Station area, only 1,229 acres remain G-3. Almost 600 acres are now designated G-2, which allows for two dwelling units per acre; about 800 acres are now G-1, which allows for just one unit per acre; and the remaining thousand-plus acres broken into two sections, were redesignated as O-2.

O-2 originally allowed one dwelling unit for every three acres, or 0.3. However, to be consistent with other policy documents, they increased the density to 0.4 units per acre. While this is a minor density increase, White explained that while a home is allowed on a smaller lot, this opens up open space for other things. “In some neighborhoods they may end up with 40 or 50 acres set aside as open space that could now become Ag instead of fallow fields,” he said.

White said the board also “took out some tools” that the developers used to give them more density. Wetlands, for example, are no longer allowed to count toward density.

These conversations are motivated, in part, by rising taxes in Currituck County. Because there are no tax-collecting municipalities within the county (as there are in Dare County), the county carries the burden to provide all services such as police, fire and public works. Increased population and school enrollment numbers have left county residents footing the bill.

In the recent election, voters struck down 70-30 a proposed a county-wide sales and use tax increase, which could have helped to alleviate the financial burden on residents because it would have been paid, in part, by tourists.

Many residents simply like the quieter pace of a smaller population – less traffic, less noise, and more open spaces. Residents are speaking up, and the board is listening. There are, however, housing developments that have already been approved and will continue in their various phases.

One of these is Flora Farm. The board considered a request in October for a conditional rezoning application for 22 acres from General Business to Mixed Residential. The developer, Jason Olds, said that there wasn’t enough density to attract businesses.

Residents of Flora Farm had been looking forward to a grocery store coming to the commercial space. The developer said grocery stores would not consider the location so far off the highway; he is negotiating for another tract of land for a grocery store across the street near Survey Road.

He plans to build 252 garden-style apartments on the parcel, which will be part of the Flora Farm Mixed Residential district and will therefore pull density from the overall development. This will increase the density of Flora Farm from 1.37 to 2.49 dwelling units per acre. This is still under the maximum allowed density of three units per acre.

The multi-family homes are expected to generate approximately 70 elementary students, 15 middle school students, and 30 high school students. After Tulls Creek Elementary School is completed in October 2025, the county will have sufficient capacity. The homes will be built in phases over six years.

Commissioners deferred a decision on the request to the November 18 meeting.

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