County Releases Video of Avon Beach Nourishment Virtual Public Meeting

Dare County has released a video of the Avon beach nourishment virtual public meeting that was live-streamed on the county’s YouTube channel at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. To watch the video of the Avon beach nourishment virtual public meeting, click here.

During the meeting, Dare County Manager Bobby Outten shared a presentation that detailed the specifics of the proposed beach nourishment project for Avon and also offered answers to various questions that county officials had received via email prior to the event. Read the IFP coverage of the meeting here.

If approved, the proposed project will place over 1 million cubic yards of sand along the beaches of Avon from about 3,000 feet north of the Avon Pier at Due East Road to Askins Creek North Drive near the southern boundary of Avon—approximately 2.5 miles of oceanfront.

As proposed, funding for the beach nourishment project will come from Dare County’s Beach Nourishment Fund as well as the owners of commercial and residential properties in Avon. To generate the necessary revenue, Dare County proposes to tax the properties east of Highway 12 from Due East Road to the southern boundary of Avon at a rate of 25 cents per $100 of property value and to tax all remaining properties in Avon at a rate of 5 cents per $100 in value. This marks a reduction from the previously proposed rate due to recent financial models using better than anticipated occupancy tax revenues for 2020, a percentage of which is allocated to the county’s Beach Nourishment Fund.

Following the presentation, Outten hosted a Q&A session that provided Avon property owners with an opportunity to share their thoughts about the project before a final decision to move forward is made by county officials. Nearly 300 people registered to attend the virtual meeting, 45 of which registered to participate in the Q&A session, which was held via a webinar platform to allow the remote participants to ask Outten their questions directly.

Outten and the Dare County Board of Commissioners will review the public’s input on the proposed project and make a decision on how to proceed at an upcoming March board meeting. Before the project moves forward, an official tax rate will be set, a second letter will be mailed to Avon property owners, and a public hearing will be held.

For more information about the Avon beach nourishment project—including an extensive list of frequently asked questions—visit www.DareNC.com/AvonBN.