Coastal Conversation

8 Comments »

8 Responses

1. on May 20, 2009 at 2:25 pm | Reply Jessica

   -Cut down on and put major restrictions on development
   -Model development after Ocracoke
   -More ferries–less roads
   -No driving on the beach (in progress)
   -Make more parts of the beach as nature reserves or state/national owned beach

   
   
   • on May 20, 2009 at 3:59 pm | Reply ncsierraclub

     All of the barrier islands could do well to take a few lessons from Ocracoke.

     
     
2. on May 20, 2009 at 3:50 pm | Reply Kelly

   I want to see a much stricter *law* on how close we build to the beach. We shouldn’t even have to worry about hardened structures. Our beaches move and fluctuate, and it’s time our coastal policies reflected that.

   
   
3. on May 21, 2009 at 5:30 pm | Reply Gary

   Build an overwater bridge down the sound side of Pea Island to both protect Highway 12 and leave the National Wildlife Refuge intact for generations to come.

   
   
4. on May 21, 2009 at 6:04 pm | Reply Pat

   At a time of huge short-falls in highway funds, we have to be careful about building our own “bridges to nowhere”

   
   
5. on May 21, 2009 at 9:00 pm | Reply Anne Fogleman

   At the south end of Topsail Island is a pristine tract of land, probably more than 100 acres, with frontage on the ocean, the inlet, and Topsail Sound. The preservation or conservation of this land could ensure public access for generations to come, as opposed to more development, more hard structures. We need to make this happen.

   
   
6. on May 30, 2009 at 3:04 pm | Reply JT

   Setting wind insurance rates to accurately incorporate the risks of correlated events, such as hurricanes, would go a long way towards a healthy level of coastal building. Less irresponsible building would reduce the number of people/developments advocated for hardened structures.

   Currently, property owners from the entire state of NC pay higher insurance premiums in order to subsidize insurance premiums for coastal policies. Moreover, the wind insurance payout fund that these premiums pay into is far too small to cover property damage from a single category 3 hurricane or a series of weaker storms. As a result, NC requires all insurance companies operating in the State to cover wind damage costs above what the premiums can handle. Astonishingly, even insurance companies that do not offer wind insurance are burdened by this policy. As a result, they must hike up their premiums to provide for such an event.

   This policy recently caused Farmer’s Insurance to leave the NC–a move that leaves fewer insurance companies to divide the costs above what premiums can handle. Other insurance companies are threatening to leave the state, yet still the NC Insurance Commission refuses to set coastal rates at appropriate levels.

   A more sensible policy is to set wind insurance rates at levels adequate to fill a fund with enough money to handle a Cat 3 hurricane. Those who responsibly chose not to live on the coast (or build second homes there) should not pay to subsidize coastal homes. Higher premiums will lead to fewer living on the coast and less demand for hardened structures to protect irresponsible building.

   
   
7. on June 4, 2009 at 12:49 am | Reply Judith Akins

   I would like the same watchdog efforts to be done on our rivers. I would like to see the ban of plastic bags period. They are everywhere on our water ways. What can we do?