Authors

Lillian Coward

The Uncertain Future of Tourism on Migrating Barrier Islands: How and Why the Outer Banks of North Carolina Should Adjust to Growing Threats

Abstract

Erosion, storms, and the migration of the barrier islands that comprise the Outer Banks themselves are not new. The rising seas that have resulted from climate change have merely exacerbated what has always occurred. What is new, however, is the economic havoc that natural processes and disasters alike can wreak on the islands. Today, because climate change has accelerated natural island migration, individuals, local governments, and the federal government alike have a lot to lose in the fight against the tides.

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This Note will evaluate a variety of potential solutions to the problems that pose nearly existential threats to development on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with a specific focus on Dare County. Dare County is an important case study in the management of migrating barrier islands on the Outer Banks and elsewhere across the region because it is a site of many competing interests. Dare contains popular and relatively new tourist towns, neighborhoods for permanent residents, unique parklands, and historical landmarks alike. Part I will discuss the history of the islands— both in the long term as migrating barrier islands, and in the nearer term, tracing patterns of development. Part II will discuss current laws and policies, from national programs to county ordinances and their current flaws. Part II will also examine the costs of these policies amid the threats of erosion and climate change. Topics of discussion will include the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as authorized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), North Carolina’s Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA), and a selection of noteworthy Dare County Ordinances. There are six municipalities with their own municipal codes within Dare County. This Note, however, largely will not discuss those municipal regulations because the areas that face the most imminent threats remain unincorporated. Part III will discuss a variety of potential solutions, and how no one solution could adequately address the multi-faceted problems that Dare County faces. Proposed solutions range from the enactment of rolling easements, to changes to local land use and development regulations, and to the institution of a mechanism that would force lenders to bear the brunt of the costs of flood insurance. Part IV will address counterarguments to the notion that sweeping changes are needed in Dare County.

This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.

Repository Citation

Lillian Coward, The Uncertain Future of Tourism on Migrating Barrier Islands: How and Why the Outer Banks of North Carolina Should Adjust to Growing Threats, 65 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 949 (2024), https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol65/iss4/6