due in large measure to the rapid and 

 unprecedented population growth in coastal 

 areas. The battle can never be completely 

 won, but its risks and casualties can be 

 minimized with education and planning. 



For years, geologists and engineers 

 have warned of the dangers of buying on 

 the coast, with good reason. Severe 

 hurricanes like Fran, though infrequent, can 

 have devastating effects. And even without 

 the high winds and waves associated with 

 hurricanes, research shows that ocean 

 shorelines change constantly, and many 

 experience long-term patterns of erosion. 



New oceanfront property owners need 

 to anticipate these changes and plan for 

 them. Foremost, they should know 

 how to build and where to build or buy. 

 Informed decisions are important because 

 replacing a beach once it's gone is not easy 

 — moving the house is easier. Quick fixes 

 don't exist, and the solutions are expensive. 



Beach renourishment is one approach 

 that some coastal communities have used 

 to fight erosion. Dredges and pipelines 

 pump offshore sand onto the beach, where 

 neighbors hope it will stay. But this 

 alternative must be constantly maintained 

 and may pose problems because the supply 

 of offshore sand is smaller than people 

 think. 



"Sooner or later there will be serious 

 problems with this," says William J. 



Geary, a geologist at the University of 

 North Carolina at Wilmington and a Sea 

 Grant researcher. "Sand is an important 

 commodity and a depleting resource in 

 our area." 



Not only is the availability critical, 

 Cleary says, but "it's going to be so 

 incredibly costly." It now costs from $2 to 

 $5 a cubic yard to pump sand onto a North 

 Carolina beach, making it unaffordable for 

 many communities. "In New Jersey, it 

 costs about $30," Cleary says. "And in 

 Japan, sand costs about $250 a cubic meter 

 and has to be imported from Taiwan." 



The fix isn't permanent because sand 

 travels. Sand is moved offshore during 

 storms, often with no way of returning to 

 the beach, causing constant erosion and 

 shoreline changes. 



Shell Island, at the northern end of 

 Wrightsville Beach, is one high-erosion 

 area that is experiencing costly problems. 

 Shell Island Resort, a high-rise condo- 

 minium at the tip of the island, has 

 received national media attention in recent 

 months because of the severe erosion 

 caused by Mason's Inlet. Property values 

 have plummeted as anxious homeowners 

 look for solutions, including hardened 

 structures (such as bulkheads) that would 

 halt the encroachment of the inlet. If 

 nothing is done, the structure could be 

 destroyed along with a valuable tax base. If 



Sam D. Taylor 



At Left: Atlantic Beach 

 renourished its strand, 

 but not all communities 

 can afford the process. 



the state allows measures to 

 correct the problem — if 

 indeed it can be corrected — 

 the ramifications may be 

 even more far-reaching. A 

 temporary wall of sandbags is 

 now in place at the tip of 

 Shell Island, but there is a 

 limit on how long they may 

 remain. Should the Shell 

 Island homeowners succeed 

 in their pending lawsuit to 

 strike down the state's ban on hardened 

 structures, the decision could seriously 

 undermine North Carolina's entire system 

 of coastal protection. 



Hurricanes and rapid growth create 

 other fears. Joyce Piner, a native of rural 

 Pender County, has lived on Harbor Island 

 near Wrightsville Beach for 33 years. "For 

 many years, we didn't have any major 

 hurricanes," she says. But Piner has a vivid 

 memory of the severe damage that 

 Hurricane Fran caused to her home. 



"After Fran, we did give serious 

 consideration to moving but decided to stay. 

 It's where our children have grown up. And 

 it's the way of life here on the island that is 

 important to us," she continues. "With the 

 hurricanes, it's sort of like living on the 

 edge. As we grow older, it's harder to deal 

 with." 



It's not just the hurricanes that have 

 changed the Piners' thinking. "There are 

 other things that would influence me to 

 leave now — the increased traffic, the rising 

 cost of living and the fact that the slow- 

 paced way of life is changing," she says. 



Because of rising property values, the 

 sale of smaller properties has made way for 

 larger and more expensive homes, changing 

 the makeup of many coastal towns and 

 beaches. And with improved transportation, 

 easy accessibility and more money 

 available to spend on leisure activities, the 



16 EARLY SUMMER 1998 



