Aquatics facilities are the top request in Dare County Parks and Recreation assessment
Aquatics programs and facilities, more playgrounds, accessible spaces and athletic fields were among the main requests in a needs assessment survey of parks and recreation offerings in Dare County.
Nearly 10% of the county’s population participated in an online survey, over 300 people attended community engagement meetings, and the assessment also included eight focus groups and tours of all county recreation facilities.
Mike Norris and Nate Halubka of McGill Associates, which conducted the assessment, highlighted community desires and potential areas for improvement in the county’s recreational offerings over the next ten years that was presented to the Dare County Board of Commissioners on Monday.
“We need to understand that the data or the requests or the input from the people is not the priority list of what we need to do,” said County Manager Bobby Outten told the board prior to the presentation. “Our priorities are going to be based on that information.”
“It’s going to be on the availability of resources, of land, of facilities, of money, and all those things,” Outten said. “I don’t want anybody to look at this and say, you know, this, many percent of the people wanted this thing, and you’re not doing it.”

“We’ve got to come back later and prioritize what we’re going to do, again based on this report, but also based on land, based on dollars, based on other factors that would determine your long-term priorities of how you spend your money,” Outten told the board.
The 237-page report on the assessment that started in August focused just on county-operated facilities and programs, and not those offered by individual towns and other groups or agencies.
Some of the key findings of the assessment included that Dare County has less park acreage compared to national benchmarks, but is above state averages.
However, that did not include federal and state lands that cover a vast amount of Dare County’s total land mass.
According to the report, Dare County’s per capita investment in parks and recreation is slightly below the median compared to similar beach communities such as Hilton Head, South Carolina, it remains well above county-to-county comparisons across the region and state.
The unique quality of life and international draw of the Outer Banks were cited as the main factors that set Dare County apart from its neighbors.
The assessment found that current facilities are well-used but strained due to continued population growth.
Individual community needs also varied by geographic area on some activities, while matching on others.
“Aquatics came across as a high level of need across the entire area,” Halubka said, ranking as the top need in all three divisions.
Pickleball continued to be one of the most requested offerings, coming in nearly three times higher than the national benchmark for the sport countywide.
But there was a significant difference in opinions on its importance depending on geographic location in Dare County.

Residents in the Northern Division, which covers the towns from Duck to Nags Head, expressed a higher need for indoor recreation offerings, while those in the Hatteras Division emphasized the need for more multi-purpose fields.
Those in the Roanoke Island/Mainland division typically expressed a need for need for more outdoor recreation facilities, and opportunities that require more athletics and multi-purpose fields.
“(There) you have more younger families, more working class families, that are really looking for programs that are suited towards younger families,” Halubka said.
During their presentation, Norris and Halubka also stressed the importance of viewing parks and recreation as an investment rather than just an expense, noting its positive impact on home values, economic development, and visitor spending.
The presentation sparked discussions on balancing community desires with available resources and the potential for future grant applications with the state and federal government.
Norris (on left in bottom-right inset) explains potential options for the future following the initial assessment. [Dare County Government/Youtube]
The next phase of the assessment is expected to take four to six months, with hopes to align with federal and state grant timelines for Fiscal Year 2026, with completion of the assessment part of the comprehensive master plan for parks and recreation which allows the county to be more competitive for those grants.
A cost proposal to proceed to the next phase in the assessment is expected to be presented to the board at their March meeting.
Board Chairman Bob Woodard said getting the Capital Improvement Plan Committee involved, and the full board to conduct a work session, to begin examining plans for future expansion of parks and recreation facilities.