Home Care In Oak Island, NC

OAK ISLAND — Bill Craft is running for reelection to Oak Island Town Council. He was first elected in 2021 and is hoping to retain the seat for another term.

Craft is running against six other candidates for three open positions.

PCD asked candidates to address issues pertinent to their municipalities, covering issues such as balancing growth and infrastructure, traffic and tourism, and climate change impacts.

Craft’s answers are included in full; responses are edited only for grammar, spelling and clarity.

The paywall has been dropped on candidate questionnaires to help voters make informed decisions ahead of Election Day.

To prepare, here are a few dates for readers to keep in mind:

In Brunswick County, voters can cast ballots early at the Brunswick County Cooperative Extension (in lieu of the Board of Elections) at 25 Referendum Drive, Building N, in Bolivia.

Once early voting closes, voters will need to go to the location listed on their registration cards, verified here.

To see a sample ballot for the upcoming election, fill in voter registration info here.

A photo ID is required to cast a ballot in 2023; more information can be found on the state board of elections website.

The candidate’s opinions and statements are not a reflection of Port City Daily.

Port City Daily (PCD): Why run for town council now?

Bill Craft (BC): I am very proud of my accomplishments on the town council, and want to continue the representation I have offered. There is much more work to do.

PCD: Name three issues you think are most affecting the town currently and describe how you would work toward tackling them.

BC: The three biggest issues for the town are: The planning board’s difficulty in tightening the language in the UDO. Instead of kicking the can down the road, I want action and results.

Trust. There seems to be a disconnect between the citizens and the town’s administration, planning board and town council. Through transparency, honesty and doing what is in the best interest of the people of Oak Island, I feel we can restore this trust.

Also, 78% of the town’s streets are satisfactorily paved. This means 22% of our residents are paying taxes and feeling short changed. I have put additional money in the budget for street paving and will do so again at the February budget discussions.

PCD: What is your long-term vision for development in Oak Island? What is lacking and how would you address it?

BC: A long-term plan is lacking. The town does a very good job of addressing immediate problems but needs to implement a 5-year and 10-year plan for infrastructure, police/fire departments and amenities going forward.

PCD: Are there any types of development, residential or otherwise, you think will not fit in OKI?

BC: Oak Island is a quaint town that so happens to have an ocean. The towns people like the small town feel. I am opposed to mega houses, large hotels and businesses that take away from the small town feel.

PCD: As evidence shows, climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of storms and hurricanes, along with sea level rise. What should the city do to protect residents, property and infrastructure?

BC: I have often said the town cannot continue to pay $35,000,000 every five to six years for sand renourishment. I have asked the town engineers to research other options such as groins, jettys, wave breaking material placed in the ocean. We need to be proactive and not reactive on addressing our sand needs.

PCD: What are your views on ending the Dosher Memorial Hospital tax? Do you think just Oak Island should be removed or the entire tax be repealed? Do you have any concerns that removing the tax funding will jeopardize the hospital’s current operations?

BC: The Dosher tax has served Dosher well, and in my opinion has accomplished its objective. At this time, St James, Pine Forest, the new Williamson tract and other parts of Brunswick County are not assessed. I feel if the tax continues, it needs to include all areas and residences. For a 5-year period, Dosher voluntarily lowered the tax. Now that Brunswick County has almost doubled the property valuations, I feel, in the least the Dosher tax needs to be lowered and assessed to all. This decision lies with the County Commissioners, but as a councilman, I hope there are changes.

PCD: Do you agree with the council’s recent decision to create paid parking? What do you think the town should use the revenue for, aside from covering parking expenses?

BC: Paid parking will generate 1.2 million dollars in revenue. That is a nice windfall for the town, which will allow the town to keep the sand tax at its lowered rate, as well as provide revenue for the town. I was against paid parking originally, because I wanted the specifics better understood. I wanted to be sure the people of Oak Island were benefitting and not being hindered by the new arrangement. Going forward I want the town to contribute half the money toward sand renourishment and the other half for the town’s infrastructure, concrete bathrooms on the beach, more Mobi mats for the handicap crossovers.

Tips or comments? Email [email protected].

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Oak Island could soon have another mixed-use development on the mainland.

Drapac Capital Partners, a real estate firm based in Australia with a U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, plans to develop a 162-acre tract along N.C. 211.

Drapac marketed the site to builders and developers last year, but those plans have now changed.

“The housing market slowed significantly in the second half of 2022 after inflation peaked and interest rates began to rise,” William Miller, senior director of real estate at Drapac, explained in an email. “We ultimately made the decision to pull the campaign and pivot to a strategy that focused on developing the asset rather than selling it in its current, undeveloped state.”

Miller added they are currently working with Coastal Land Design and Engineering, a Wilmington-based firm, to update the plans for the site “to ensure it’s in line with that this market is demanding.”

While they are updating the project plans, this isn’t a new development. According to Brunswick County tax records, Drapac acquired it from First Citizens Bank & Trust Company around 2016. It was previously owned by Archway Homes Inc.

The land is zoned for commercial low-density development, and a conditional use permit for a planned unit development was issued in 2015. Last year, Oak Island planning director Matt Kirkland told the StarNews that the ordinance under which the planned unit development permit was granted did not have an expiration date for conditional use permits.

Miller said Drapac has “no intention of pursuing any rezoning initiatives” and intends to move forward with planning and development submittals under the current zoning.

Earlier plans for the tract were for a mixed-use development with 32,000 square feet of retail space and more than 700 housing units. Miller said while the current zoning permits that density and mix of uses, they have not finalized the scope, product mix or density.

“Our goal is to deliver a project that aligns with the needs and demand of the surrounding market, which will likely include a mix of both attached and detached housing,” Miller said.

The site has several unique attributes, including a 7.5-acre man-made pond, which Miller said they intend to preserve.

“We feel as though this project has the potential to be one of the premier master planned communities in the area,” he said. “The current zoning is very flexible and permits a diverse range of uses and housing product types, which will allow us to tailor the future community to the specific needs of the area’s expanding population and housing market.”

Miller noted the site is in a location along N.C. 211 that is attractive to residential home builders and commercial developers because it is a crucial connection between Southport, Oak Island and U.S. 17.

“This area allows residents to enjoy all the benefits of quiet, coastal living without sacrificing the conveniences of more urban centers,” he said. “Residents can easily access the intercoastal waterway and the beaches at Oak Island, Fort Caswell, and Holden Beach, but still live within a short drive of big box retailers, medical centers, and restaurants.”

He added the N.C. 211 corridor is the “perfect microcosm” for larger Brunswick County, which has “experienced unprecedented growth in recent years due to its proximity to the growing Wilmington market and its emergence as a premier relocation destination for retirees.”

At this time, Miller can’t say exactly when work will begin at the site. He noted the final scope and density would influence the work required to prepare the site for development and construction.

Drapac also owns several other assets in Brunswick County, which were acquired following the 2007 housing market crash. Those assets include Ocean Isle Palms, San Rio, Goose Marsh, and Eagle Creek.

Faced with an eroding beach, Oak Island wants to pump fresh sand onto its oceanfront. But finding a viable sand source might mean going a long way offshore

Not for the first time, the west end of Oak Island needs sand.

Hurricane Isaias, which raked the Brunswick County shoreline nearly four years ago, chewed away a lot of the beach. Storms, king tides and gradual sea-level rise has since then added to the pain.

But there isn't enough available beach-compatible material near shore, or sand that isn't already planned for other projects, to support a large-scale nourishment.

That has Oak Island officials eyeing a 250-acre borrow site as far out as where gigantic energy-producing offshore wind turbines are planned to help stabilize and rebuild much of the town's beach even as they also potentially look toward a more permanent solution for the erosion-prone area near Lockwood Folly Inlet − namely a terminal groin.

On Feb. 2, the Brunswick County beach town submitted a permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Wilmington district office seeking approval for a project this winter to stabilize and rebuild much of the beach's dune line. The offshore borrow site would be the primary source for the proposed 3 million cubic yards of material, with sand from the mouth of the Cape Fear River, dredged by the corps as part of the Wilmington Harbor project, as a potential secondary source.

"The proposed project is primarily a berm designed to provide advanced fill for a 6-year renourishment interval," states the town's application.

But what makes this project potentially unique, and expensive, is where Oak Island is eyeing to get the majority of its sand. The island is looking at mining a borrow site roughly 18 miles offshore as the primary source for sand. That will require the sand to be mined and transported close to shore by a hopper dredge before it can be placed onto the beach, a much more expensive method than simply pumping sand via pipes from nearby channels or inlets onto a beach.

To put that in perspective, sand for the federally funded Wrightsville Beach nourishment project that is currently wrapping up came from Masonboro Inlet after a prolonged tug-of-war with federal and environmental officials over using sand from a site in a Coastal Barrier Resources Area (CBRA) zone. If that appeal by the town had failed, it was eyeing a borrow site roughly three miles offshore.

Farther up the coast, Topsail Beach used sand from New Topsail Inlet and nearby channels for its roughly $25 million project this winter.

Because the proposed Oak Island sand source is in federal waters, beyond the three-mile jurisdictional limit of North Carolina's state waters, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is coordinating with the Corps on the application review.

PHOTOS:Hurricane Isaias damage in Brunswick County from the air

Continual nourishment

Oak Island's first beach nourishment project took place in 2001 in response to damage from 1999's Hurricane Floyd.

Since then, the town has been reliant on sand-pumping projects to keep its beach wide enough to entice tourists and protect expensive oceanfront property, especially near the 9-mile-long beachfront's western end.

In 2009, material from a corps' project to dredge the Lockwood Folly Inlet crossing of the Intracoastal Waterway was placed on the island's west end. Then in 2015, a town-funded dredging project around the inlet saw more material placed on the beach.

After Hurricane Matthew washed away many of the island's dunes in 2016, a town-sponsored dune restoration project saw fresh sand pumped along 4.4 miles of beachfront. This was followed by another dune-restoration project in 2022 after 2018's Hurricane Florence washed away much of the earlier material.

Yet two years later, the beach is in dire straits again.

SAND WARS:The potential fight over the coast's most valuable resource

Heavy taxpayer burden

The constant need for sand, which has to be largely funded by town taxpayers with potential help from the state, since Oak Island isn't part of a federal nourishment project like New Hanover County's three beach towns − although town officials would like to see that changed, is grating on town officials.

At the town's annual retreat workshop in January, Oak Island officials lamented the burden on town taxpayers of periodic nourishment projects that seem to be doing little than holding the line on erosion − while offering no long-term solution.

That prompted town leaders to ask members of their engineering firm, Moffat & Nichol, if a terminal groin was a viable, cost-effective option or at least one that should be studied. Ocean Isle Beach and Bald Head Island have built terminal groins, which as hardened structures were illegal along the N.C. coast for decades until 2011, and North Topsail Beach has been mulling one for the severe erosion problems it faces around New River Inlet.

Moffat officials, however, warned that any groin project would take years of studies before construction could begin, and the building and future maintenance of the structure would be expensive.

But Mayor Elizabeth White said simply pumping sand onto the beach to then watch it progressively wash away was frustrating, so maybe studying a terminal groin should be on the table.

"Until we begin that conversation, look forward, we will perpetually be in the sand nourishment business, which is not very satisfying for the taxpayers," she said at the workshop.

This winter's proposed nourishment project is estimated to cost $40 million, with $20 million of that covered by a one-time state grant and the rest funded by Oak Island.

If the town sticks with just pumping sand to keep the encroaching ocean at bay in the future, that cost is likely to balloon dramatically since the most promising sand source for the long-term, 50-year beach nourishment project that the town is looking to implement is Frying Pan Shoals. While a rich reservoir of sand, the wandering shoals − which helped give Cape Fear it's fearsome name thanks to the number of ships the shallow waters claimed − is more than 25 miles offshore.

The shoals also are a rich maritime ecosystem that has never been mined for sand before. That uncertainty around potential environmental impacts prompted BOEM to partner with the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) on a $2 million project to study the idea.

“Our region is at a deficit for sand,” said Dr. Joe Long, director of UNCW's Coastal Engineering program in a release last October announcing the collaborative project. “UNCW is perfectly poised to provide data and models that can be used by BOEM to help determine if Frying Pan Shoals is a viable source for sand mining, and if it can be done safely and effectively without harming the important ecosystem.”

FRYING PAN TOWER REBORN:Battle underway to restore famous offshore light station

'Doing nothing equals disaster'

With several studies and beach projects underway or planned, the cost of maintaining Oak Island's beach and the pressure that will add to the town's finances is likely to only increase in the coming years. Yet the Brunswick County beach town, like many of North Carolina's beach communities, is finding itself stuck between a proverbial rock and a financial hard place.

The beach draws people to the town, keeps property values high, and drives the local economy.

But as seas continue to rise as the planet warms and climate change brings more unpredictable weather patterns and powerful storm systems to coastal areas, the cost of protecting the beach and oceanfront homes is expected to increase dramatically. Some communities along the Outer Banks are already struggling with this reality after Dare County said it simply doesn't have the money to fund beach nourishment projects along all of its barrier islands and the federal government has shown little appetite to step into the funding breach.

Even Bald Head Island, a wealthy enclave on the other side of the Cape Fear River from Oak Island which has roughly 300 full-time residents, has had a healthy debate over the rising costs of maintaining its 14 miles of shoreline. Along with receiving sand from the dredging of the Cape Fear River shipping channel every few years, the village performed its own shoreline projects in 2010, 2016 and 2018. It also built an $18 million terminal groin last decade, and voters this month approved funding another beach nourishment project, estimated to cost around $18 million, in 2025.

COST OF NOT RETREATING:Study says buyout of threatened Outer Banks homes would be cheaper than beach nourishment

Then there's the issue of finding beach-compatible sand, which is becoming its own thorny problem as nearly all North Carolina beach towns explore nourishment projects amid a limited supply of easily accessible material close to shore.

White said changing state law, which largely limits the erosion-fighting tools in the toolbox for beach towns to periodic nourishments, could help provide more options. Educating the public that beach-building projects aren't just to protect rich oceanfront property owners also could help make future costs a little more palatable.

“The damage to infrastructure, homeowners, the loss of property extends far beyond the front row,” White said, noting the widespread damage Isaias caused.

At the workshop, Councilman John Bach stated the situation facing the town more succinctly, noting that sitting by and hoping for the best isn't a strategy.

"Doing nothing equals disaster," he said. "There is no doubt that this community as we live in it today will not exist if the beach is devastated."

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at [email protected] or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.

Molly Wilhelm

An eagerly anticipated fourth season has been announced for a popular HGTV series, with Oak Island selected as the set for the property renovation series.

HGTV announced that Battle on the Beach will bring Ty Pennington, Alison Victoria and Taniya Nayak to Oak Island for filming of the show in a reel published to Facebook on Friday.

Here's what we know.

Filming has started

Mike Emory, spokesperson for the town of Oak Island, received a notification about upcoming filming for the show. According to Emory's notification, filming was expected to begin in February or March and last approximately two to three weeks.

By Sunday, a crew was in Oak Island to begin filming. Sarah Baeumler, one of the show's judges alongside husband, Bryan, posted on Facebook while en route to the area on Friday.

The renovation experts are also known for another HGTV series in Renovation Island.

What's 'Battle on the Beach?'

In Battle on the Beach, skilled renovation teams will revamp three identical beachfront properties, competing to earn a $50,000 cash prize, according to the HGTV webpage.

Each week, teams will face challenges culminating in judgments of the best renovated space, evaluated based on overall design, craftsmanship, and potential resale value, according to HGTV.

The show's previous seasons were filmed in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Surfside Beach, Texas, and Fort Morgan Beach, Alabama.

When will it air?

The air date for Season 4 of Battle on the Beach has yet to be announced. Season 3 premiered in June of last year and aired its final episode a month later.

Several other HGTV shows have featured the area, including episodes in Season 17 of Property Virgins, which takes place in Wilmington.

OAK ISLAND — After more than a year of deliberations, a Brunswick beach town is introducing new measures to protect its trees.

READ MORE: OKI won’t join parking-rate increase bandwagon, makes some changes in second year

“The destruction on the island has been through wanton development,” Oak Island Mayor Pro Tem John Bach said at the Jan. 17 council meeting. “And this at least brings that to a screeching halt.”

The Oak Island Town Council unanimously approved a motion to amend Chapter 32 of the town’s ordinances, changing the definition of heritage trees — which refers to a tree considered particularly valuable for its rarity, age or size. It has shifted from encompassing 30-inch diameter trees to 15-inch diameter trees, meaning a significantly higher number of trees will require a permit for removal.

Other changes include mandating the preservation of trees by one inch diameter at breast height — a measuring standard used by foresters — per 300 square feet of lot area. It also designates the town forester to determine potentially hazardous trees, which have structural defects making them likely to fall.

Other possible changes could come to future meetings, council agreed, including regulation on other forms of vegetation across the island.

A motion was raised to make the rules retroactive to permits issued before the new rules; Bach noted it would likely lead to litigation. Council instead agreed to work on an incentive-based strategy to encourage developers and homeowners to plant and preserve trees.

Council member Bill Craft described the heritage tree change as the most significant aspect of the discussion and a “major win” impacting future development. The rules go into effect March 15.

The decision comes four months after a contentious September planning board discussion on the issue. The board decided to wait until completion of a tree canopy study conducted by urban forestry consulting firm PlanIT Geo before making changes. The study — financed through $4,907 in matching funds to a grant from the North Carolina Forest Service — was presented at the Nov. 14 council meeting.

From 2014 to 2022, the study analyzed tree canopy data — defined as the percentage of tree canopy coverage for the town’s total land. It found the town’s 12,000 acres had 7,093 acres of tree canopy cover, or 59%, and 2,736 acres of possible planting area, another 23% of the town’s land. The remaining 18% was deemed unsuitable for further vegetation without land modification.

Canopy cover increased from 50% in 2014 to 59% in 2022 due to regenerative growth of pre-existing forest patches.

However, the study differentiated between the town’s mainland, predominantly forested with 84% cover, and the more densely developed island, with only 31% coverage. It noted the town’s high percentage of total canopy cover is largely attributable to the undeveloped mainland.

The study also marked a clear tree canopy difference in low density and medium density residential districts. Low-density districts experienced a 20% increase over the eight-year period, versus higher density areas, which underwent an 11% decrease.

The State Port Pilot reported Bach took issue with some aspects of the canopy study at the November meeting; he argued it failed to determine the cause of deforestation on the island, potentially the result of development or natural causes like hurricanes.

While the study recommended prioritizing tree preservation in future residential areas, Bach noted it did not include projections of future deforestation in large areas in the town set for development. Bach raised similar concerns at the January meeting and called to ensure staff had sufficient resources to enforce new rules.

“Someone mentioned the canopy report, that was like a five-alarm fire,” he said. “I mean, you read that report and you think about it for a moment and trees are being destroyed on the island — and the only reason our score is good is because of the mainland, which is undeveloped but shortly to be clear-cut.”

Arguments over the balance of development and environmental preservation also surfaced at the September planning board meeting. Council member Terri Cartner — chair of the planning board at the time, before being elected to council in November — clashed with town forester Rick Patterson after he proposed new changes to the ordinance.

Cartner explained a stakeholder working group, including developers, members of the planning board, and an environmental advisory committee, had already worked for months to craft proposed amendments on the ordinance.

She described it as a “dangerous precedent” and “disrespectful at best” to bring forward additional changes to the proposal.

Alternatively, Patterson argued the working group’s document was “unworkable” and “riddled with mistakes.”

The forester stated he had originally requested changes to the town’s vegetation policy in 2022 because the current ordinance caused the premature death of numerous trees and allowed excessive growth in some areas; he asserted the working group’s proposal failed to address those concerns by providing insufficient heritage tree protection and instruction to developers.

According to the EPA, trees help to reduce erosion and absorb stormwater runoff. Research has also shown urban forests provide physical and mental health benefits to citizens.

“We can’t undo the damage that’s been done,” council member Bob Ciullo said at the meeting. “We would love to, we wish we could turn back the clock but unfortunately that doesn’t work. But we sure can stop.”

Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at [email protected].

Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.