OBX Talk

The point is, OBX is being overdeveloped with vacation homes for Virginians while at the same time the native Bankers are being taken advantage of. Case in point: Hatteras Island. Hatteras Island consists of national seashore and local fisheries. The island has refrained from zoning laws because the people who actually live and make a living there don't want them. They want to be able to park a boat in the front yard and hang nets out to dry where they want to. Because of this lack of zoning law, some big wig developers have come on to the island and began buying up property to build multi-million dollar homes and condos. To make room, they are cutting down hundreds-of-years-old live oaks and filling in swamp area. Hatteras Island has a maritime forest (which is rare in itself) that houses species of plants and animals that have only been found on the banks! This forest is being cut into to make way for these huge houses. Say what you want, but those forests are what keep the banks in place. They are obviously part of an ecosystem that was been thriving for eons. We don't know what the environmental repercussions may be.

The locals don't want this, but they have no recourse because of their reluctance for zoning laws.

Strother, do you still have a copy of this article from a couple of years ago? It can explain it all much better than I can.