Without signatures, CRC can't force sandbag removal

Morehead City | This week’s meeting of the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission was expected to be dominated by sandbags.

Officials had geared up for a slew of petitions from worried and angry oceanfront property owners asking for more time to keep their sandbags in place, even setting aside six hours of meeting time for the expected flood of extension requests.

But Wednesday there were only two hearings, and neither dealt with longstanding sandbag structures that coastal regulators had ordered removed.

So what happened?

Call it either petty foot-dragging by the property owners or smart legal advice from their attorneys.

In September, the N.C. Division of Coastal Management sent out violation letters to roughly 20 property owners, almost all on the Outer Banks, whose sandbags have been deemed the worst offenders along the coast due to their size and time on the beach.

But only three of the property owners have accepted the state’s violation letters, which were sent by certified mail.

That means that technically the rest haven’t been notified that their sandbags are in violation of state law, said Michele Walker, spokeswoman with the N.C. Division of Coastal Management.

So coastal officials are now in a holding pattern, mulling whether to get law enforcement personnel to serve the property owners or to work with their attorneys – the very ones advising their clients not to take the state’s letters.

“It’s a bit frustrating,” said Coastal Management Director Jim Gregson, noting the inherent problem of trying to serve out-of-state property owners.

All told, coastal regulators have determined that nearly 150 of the roughly 350 sandbag structures along the North Carolina coast have outlived their permitted lifespan, which was generally five years.

Under state law, sandbags are supposed to be temporary erosion-control structures until a more permanent fix – such a beach nourishment project or relocating threatened structures – can be developed.

But the CRC has historically been reluctant to force people to pull their bags out.

The commission had granted numerous extensions for most of the state’s sandbags as coastal communities have pleaded for more time after hurricane strikes or to develop nourishment projects.

That stance, however, began to change two years ago as sandbag walls in many places grew in size and length and impeded the public’s access and enjoyment of the beach, which is considered public property in North Carolina.

But the push to get the first wave of bags off the beach appears – at least temporarily – to have ground to a halt, sandbagged by the lack of a signature for a piece of mail.

Gareth McGrath: 343-2384

gareth.mcgrath@starnewsonline.com