Holden Beach Property Owners Association

On Saturday we mailed a newsletter to all Holden Beach property owners.  Included in the newsletter are instructions for taking a survey on issues confronting our island.  Watch your US postal mail for this newsletter and please take the survey.  If you don’t receive the newsletter within a few days send us an email.  The mailing addresses were taken from the Town’s tax records.

While we use email as much as possible when contacting our members, we wanted to reach every property owner with the survey information.  If you have any questions about the newsletter, the survey or HBPOA please email us at HBPOA@hotmail.com.

NCSU has applied to rezone the lot at 516 OBW from Conservation to R-1 zoning.  Though the sign says August 25 for the rezoning hearing, this date has been pushed back.

In January, the Town building code was changed to eliminate the long-standing 35’ height limit.  The old code measured 35’ from ground level, with a very complicated formula for determining ground level.  The new code measures 31’ from the flood zone elevation plus two feet of “freeboard”.  For example, a house in a VE18 flood zone with a lot elevation of five feet above sea level can now be 46 feet tall (18+2+31-5).   You can read the old version and the new version of the code here.  You can find a property’s flood zone elevation by going here, just zoom to the property level and click it.

The change was made to reflect the realities of flood insurance ratings.  One of the results of the old rules was that new construction design was being driven to flatter roofs.  The new limits were supposed to allow the rooflines to be more aesthetically pleasing.  In practice, what has happened is that it is now possible to build three floors of living space.

This diagram below compares the two approaches. 

The best actual comparison can be seen at 287 and 289 Ocean Blvd West.  The house at 287 was one of the last ones built under the old code, and the house being built at 289 is one of the first ones under the new code.  The home at 289 is higher off the ground and also includes a third story of living space.

Are you interested in what is going on at Holden Beach and want to get involved?  Do you know someone who would be a great addition to our Board of Directors?  It is that time of the year where we solicit our membership for new Directors to serve on our Board.

The Board meets prior to each membership meeting, the Saturdays of Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving* weekends, and occasionally holds other meetings as needed.  There is no requirement to be a full time resident, in fact almost 90% of our membership lives somewhere else!

If you are curious about what is involved or might be interested in serving please contact a member of our nominating committee:  John Fletcher or Rick Smith.  

As always, feel free to email us at hbpoa@hotmail.com with questions and we will get back to you.   

Get ready to shell out more for taxes!

The Board of Commissioners has approved the Town’s budget for FY ’15-’16, with Commissioners Kyser, Miller, and Martin voting for and Young and Harrington voting against.  You can view the approved budget here and the budget message from the Town Manager here.

• $0.01 for road repairs
• $0.007 for employee salary increases (this is in addition to the 5% merit raises)
• $0.006 to bring the tax rate to revenue neutral due to a decreased overall valuation

When Tropical Storm Ana visited Holden Beach on May 10 she left damaged dunes and a lower beach strand in her wake.  This past week Town Manager David Hewett did a survey of the strand and took these photos to share at the Commissioners’ Meeting.  The photos move from east to west beginning in the 200 block of OBW.

Feel free to share your photos or comments on how your part of the beach is recovering.  You can comment on the article or email us at HBPOA@hotmail.com.

This image from the 200 block of OBW shows a sand bar appending to the beach. Note the hump of sand to the left of the truck. Town Manager Hewett estimates this at 40′ wide and 3′ tall.

This is the same area of the beach as the previous photo. The photo was taken from the top of the sand bar.

This photo is from approximately the 400 block of OBW and shows the beach strand widening.  The dune escarpment, while still prominent, is softening.

This photo was taken in the 400 block of OBW and shows a shell hash on the strand. The shell hash is indicative of a growing beach.

This visitor was digging between 550-600 OBW. If you look closely you can see the layers he is digging through. The layers tell the history of this section of beach.

The stratified layers in the hole show the top 12 inches are beach sand, under that is a layer of shell hash and the bottom layer is the orange sand that was hauled in previously to renourish this area of the beach strand. This indicates that TS Ana did not wash away all the sand from the renourishment in this area.

This is another shot showing the layers and history of this section of the strand.

This photo was taken around the mid-600 block of OBW. You can see that the beach strand is widening and the dune escarpment is softening.

This photo from the west end of the island shows hillocks beginning to form new dunes.

This photo is a close up of a hillock. The dead grass traps the sand and starts the dune building process.