Oak Island Moratorium Leads to Vacation Rental Ordinance Proposal

In February, the Town of Oak Island hastily called for a special meeting and public hearing to “establish a moratorium on development of homes with more than six bedrooms so as to provide sufficient time for the development of regulations.”

In spite of concerns raised by BASE, the Town moved forward with ordinance establishing a development moratorium through April 21, 2014 on homes with more than six bedrooms. The text of this resolution can be found here .

As passed by the Town, the moratorium is “for the purpose of developing and adopting new or amended plans or ordinances as to residential uses.”

The concern in this case is that the proposed moratorium is clearly inconsistent with a bill (H332-Clarify Development Moratoria Authority ) which was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law in 2011. This law prohibits moratoria “to provide sufficient time for the development of regulations”…exactly the situation we have here.

The conflict in this situation is clear. Prior to their meeting to take action, BASE was in contact with the Town, including the Mayor and legal counsel, regarding this issue. BASE values our working relationships with local governments throughout our areas of coverage and strives to work collaboratively with local elected officials and staff.

Nonetheless, the Town moved forward with the moratorium and has subsequently proposed “ordinance revisions for Vacation Rentals” .

The Town Planning Board will be considering these revisions at their regular meeting on April 1.