OUTER BANKS, N.C. — It's no secret that the Outer Banks is a vacation destination. But with that comes challenges in availability of housing for seasonal and permanent residents.
“80% of our land is in public ownership, and so there's very keen competition for that remaining 20%," said Donna Creef, Chair of the Dare Community Housing Task Force.
In January, the Dare County Board of Commissioners established a task force to look at the current housing situation in the Outer Banks. A clear, but known challenge, is that many properties are being used as vacation rentals or second residences.
Watch previous coverage: Dare County teachers' housing model could help solve workforce housing shortage on Outer Banks
“It's not a lack of, actually housing units, it’s the use of those units where we have that competition of how the units are being used," said Creef.
That competition also contributes to rising costs, raising the question of affordability.
“I think it's making housing affordable, not necessarily making affordable housing. The insurance cost and the cost of keeping your house up to date is also part of the puzzle there. It's in addition to providing housing for our workforce," said Creef.
Watch previous coverage: Dare County Housing Task Force regroups after commissioners voted to return funding
The challenge of providing housing for the workforce is a major focus. Robert Barker the general manager at Dirty Dick’s Crab House in Nags Head shares the impact lack of housing has had on his staff.
“I've interviewed people that their housing fell through. There are numerous employees I've had over the last three years, they were renting on a six month contract, in month four, they were kicked out of their house with a weeks notice because it was sold," said Barker.
“We're aware that the Restaurant Association and all of the other business owners struggle to find employee housing. The private sector is certainly one component of whatever the solution will end up being as we move forward," said Creef.
One recent potential solution is Nags Head’s Board of Commissioners approving multi-family housing regulations focused on more long term rentals and workforce specific housing.
Watch related coverage: New Nags Head ordinance aims to provide more housing options for local workforce
“I think the report (end of the year Dare Community Housing Report), we'll actually use those as an example that some of the other local towns may want to look for in terms of the workforces and how they can make those regulations maybe adapt to their situation," said Creef.
“I think that they're trying to do something, and that's fantastic, but the decisions are coming slow, and they are not nearly up to speed with how big this situation is," said Barker.
For the housing task force, it's also about working with the community to understand the potential development process.
Watch related coverage: With or without a solution, Mother Nature poised to claim more Rodanthe houses
"We're not an urban environment, and so we've got to recognize that moving forward and try to make that work around that community expectation that it's going to be small scale and more in vibe with what the Outer Banks is," said Creef.
Though progress is being made, time will continue to tell if what’s being done will be enough to address the issue moving forward.
"When you look at what other communities do, they often, go out of their jurisdictions through ETJ's (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) or develop outside of their jurisdictions and that's not easily done here in Dare County, where we're surrounded by water," said Creef.
