Can the Dare Task Force change minds about housing?
The nearly hour-long presentation of the Dare Housing Task Force’s recent 2024 report at the Feb. 3 Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting did more than lay out the daunting obstacles to home ownership in Dare County. It also triggered an extensive discussion on how to get community buy-in for that elusive goal of generating significant new housing projects.
The presentation was delivered by Donna Creef and Malcolm Fearing, Chair and Vice-chair of the Housing Task Force, which met for about a year before producing its report. And the data was sobering.
For example, the report found that the median home sale price in Dare County leapfrogged from $325,000 in 2003 to $622,000 in 2024. While the median household income in the county is just under $80,000 ($79,742), the required household income for buying a house in Colington ($517,000) is more than twice that at $171,000, according to the report’s findings.
Commissioner Rob Ross noted how the math added up to a “crushing” economic burden on potential homeowners.
The Feb. 3 presentation took place against the backdrop of repeated frustrations and failures with county housing developments in towns such as Manteo, Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills being proposed by Woda Cooper Company and Coastal Affordable Housing LLC and thwarted by strong local opposition.
Alluding to that dynamic, Fearing told the Dare Commissioners that “Today, we are discussing a community issues that will only be solved by community support.” Creef added that a key to future success is “the community recognizing the need [for housing] as a whole.”
That prompted a question from Commissioner Ross, who asked: “Do we have communities denying the need as a whole?” which prompted Creef to say that there are certainly “individuals in the community” denying the need.
In his remarks, Dare Commissioner Chair Bob Woodard said, “We’re not there yet in convincing the community. I’m optimistic that we’re going to get somewhere, but I’m still troubled with the fact that the community is not on board, and we’ve got to sell this to the people of the community.”
Woodard went on to say that some residents “are not opposed to [new housing] as long as it’s not next to them…The Task Force has got to make that the number one priority—to try and change attitudes.”
“Just because you failed before doesn’t mean that you don’t keep trying,” responded Creef, who was asked about what kind of ideas that haven’t been tried could bring positive results.
“I think you have to find the right place, you have to find the right type of construction…And what we hear with the large-scale project—there’s not an appetite for it,” she added, pointing to the success of the teacher housing developments in the county.
For their part, Creef and Fearing are making presentations at council and commissioner meetings in the Dare County municipalities and noted that some local officials already sit on the Housing Task Force.
Whether and how long those efforts will take to bear fruit is certainly not clear. But the need for something to win more hearts and minds seems quite clear to those at the meeting.
“We’re at a crisis point now where something has to be done,” said County Manager Bobby Outten at the meeting.
Those sentiments were echoed by Commissioner Carson Creef, who declared: “this is the main issue in the county. Number one.”
To view the Dare Community Housing Task Force’s 2024 report, please click here. For more information about the task force—including a list of current members, upcoming meeting dates and minutes from past meetings—visit DareNC.gov/Housing.
