Oak Island Amends Ordinances to Cap Home Size

After extending its moratorium in April, Oak Island Town Council took action in May to move forward with ordinance changes.

On May 13, Oak Island Town Council passed a motion to cap single-family residences at 5,000 square feet and seven bedrooms with one parking space required per bedroom. Council also directed staff to work with the Planning Board to come up with a recommendation on a special use permit process for homes larger than that and consider including conditions such as increased setbacks, more of a commercial parking situation, impervious surface requirements, height requirements, wastewater capacities and if the use would be in harmony with the surrounding area (noise, traffic, congestion, debris).

BASE will remain engaged as the Planning Board works through this process.

Also on May 13, the Town had an update regarding the sewer system and its design and capacity. It was especially informative for the Town’s permanent residents to hear that the system was designed and bonds were sold to finance ultimate buildout on every lot on the island. Using the census and town plans, estimates were made regarding system sizing based on 2.15 persons/lot for permanent residents and 6 persons per lot for seasonal residents. Essentially, this means that unless Oak Island enables future growth, existing Town residents will be stuck with an even more significant share of the costs of the project. At the meeting the Mayor noted that water and sewer rates were poised to be raised 11% next year.

While the cap is preferable to the illegal moratorium, BASE would suggest that a Town and citizens on the hook for a $140 million sewer system designed and bonded based on future growth may want to encourage new customers to add on to the system to offset increases on existing residents.