Photo by Gene Furr 



mean that the hotel is going to last longer," Watson says. 

 "But it doesn't mean it's going to be better." 



Watson says he believes the new setback will mean that 

 fewer hotels will be built, that some beachfront property 

 will be devalued, and that, as a consequence, Dare County 

 will find its tax base too restricted to handle its tourist 

 trade. He says that there are already too few rooms to rent 

 in Dare County. 



"It's my feeling right now that when you're running at 

 one-hundred-percent occupancy, you need some more 

 rooms. And with these new regulations, we're not going to 

 get them. Our community is changing, and we are at- 

 tracting more affluent visitors. People with more means de- 

 mand services — nice hotels, nice facilities. 



"With the limited amount of land left, I think you're go- 

 ing to see more big projects, fewer smaller ones," Watson 

 says. 



But the opposition from leaders in coastal communities is 

 not unanimous even in Dare County. Don Bryan, who last 

 fall was re-elected mayor of Nags Head, is a member of the 

 commission and an advocate of the setback regulations. 



"My view is that the Coastal Area Management Act has 

 furnished a tool with which we can make people aware of 

 the problem. It helps us form rules that will benefit ocean- 

 front property owners from the standpoint of protecting the 

 public from loss in the long run, and from the standpoint of 

 protecting the public's interest in the beach." 



Bryan says he thinks the results of the mayoral election 

 "indicate that the citizens of Nags Head are satisfied with 

 my stand." 



Before last fall, some 500 beachfront lots were un- 

 developable in North Carolina at least partly because of the 



setback regulations. Many of these lots simply did not have 

 the buildable depth to accommodate the setback. Officials 

 say the new regulations will make a smaller number of lots 

 eligible for condominiums and other large structures, the 

 more profitable variety of development in many areas. 



But Owens says that many of these lots affected by set- 

 backs could not be used anyway, often because of problems 

 with sewage treatment or drainage. 



"When you look at many of the developed beach com- 

 munities and you see a stretch of undeveloped property, 

 there's frequently a very good reason for that," Owens says. 

 "The marketplace has recognized that these lots are un- 

 suitable for development." 



"Development pressure is continuing, but the supply of 

 good land is constricted, so, over time, there's more and 

 more pressure on these marginal lands," Owens says. 



Owens points out that many developers have actually 

 supported the setbacks. He says that, within the increased 

 setback zone, "You can still place traditional beach cot- 

 tages, duplexes, quadraplexes, swimming pools, and parking 

 lots. You can design around it." 



"I think it (the opposition to setbacks) primarily goes 

 back to a philosophical objection people have with govern- 

 ment telling them what they can and can't do with their 

 property — setting some constraints," Owens says. "Because 

 the economic impacts of this increase I don't think are all 

 that significant." 



By what authority does the state restrict the use of 

 private property? Walter Clark, Sea Grant's coastal law 

 specialist, says the state's authority lies partly in what has 

 been termed its "police power," the power, he says, "to 



Continued on next page 



