Nor'easter leaves lawsuits in its wake in South Nags Head

Nags Head, N.C.

The vacation cottage leans slightly to its side - like it's whispering a secret to its next-door neighbor - as ocean water laps gently at its base. Seven others fall in line down the beach, waiting their turn to get the message.

Each cottage is a shell of its former self. Surrounded by broken concrete, exposed septic tanks and jagged wooden beams, the homes have all but given up the fight against nature. Mountains of sandbags piled at their bases are no match for the waves that are slowly sucking South Nags Head out to sea.

A year has passed since a powerful nor'easter pounded the Outer Banks for nearly five days, leaving the area around milepost 20 with a severely eroded beach and 26 oceanfront cottages in dire shape.

Today, more than half of those condemned structures remain standing - though precariously - on wet sand.

Meanwhile, Nags Head officials are preparing to launch a long-anticipated beach nourishment project aimed at preserving the town's coastal health and protecting the valuable oceanfront real estate that draws thousands each year to the Outer Banks.

Of the 15 remaining structures damaged in the November storm, a dozen are the subject of lawsuits between the town of Nags Head and the property owners. An additional three wait in various states of demolition or relocation limbo.

Legal arguments aside, one thing is clear even to the most untrained eye: South Nags Head can't stay this way.

Yet, Nags Head Manager Cliff Ogburn said he's not really surprised that, a year after the storm, only 11 of the 26 homes have been demolished or relocated.

"I didn't expect anybody to walk away from their home," Ogburn said.

After the November storm, town officials were quick to evaluate the destruction and condemn the properties to human inhabitancy. They issued notices to homeowners and offered to cover the cost of demolition. The owners of two properties accepted the town's offer, Ogburn said.

Roc Sansotta, who owns six of the remaining houses, said he's felt backed into a corner by the town, which he has sued in federal court for the assessed value of the properties.

Before last year's storm, Sansotta said, he tried to protect his properties near Seagull Drive by depositing thousands of dollars worth of sand in front of them. But he was stopped by police, he said.

Unprotected, the homes - which had been viable rental properties just days before - were severely damaged and, ultimately, condemned. Today, they are a public eyesore and the targets of criminal mischief.

"It makes me sick to my stomach to see my houses like that," Sansotta said, adding that he would like to repair the cottages but has been denied town permits to do so.

Sansotta, the owner of Cove Realty in Nags Head, argues that the town bears responsibility for denying him the ability to protect his homes - or follow through with years of promises that beach nourishment would someday restore Nags Head's gradually eroding beaches.

For proponents of beach nourishment, the situation in South Nags Head is the perfect case study to demonstrate the need for a coastal face-lift.

Had the project nourished South Nags Head beaches before last year's nor'easter, "I think those homes would still be viable," town manager Ogburn said.

Tangible defenses could come to the town's rescue as early as spring if Nags Head moves forward with a $36 million project to deposit about 4.6 million cubic yards of sand on beaches south of Blackman Street.

The project would advance the shoreline between 50 and 130 feet, depending on the location, and last for 10 years, according to estimates.

It is set to be funded with $28 million from county taxes and $10 million from a five-year tax levied to property owners in the assessment area.

But Nags Head officials cannot move forward on that tax - which amounts to 98 cents per $100 of assessed value - without the consent of a majority of property owners representing at least 66 percent of the area's total property value.

The goal is to begin construction in the spring, but officials have not yet met the consent threshold.

While a majority of property owners have signed on, officials are more than $164 million short of reaching the assessed-value ceiling.

That may be because beach nourishment remains a controversial topic on the Outer Banks. Critics are skeptical about the project's chance of surviving the forces of nature. Others just don't want to pay for it.

Ogburn said he is sympathetic to the plight of the South Nags Head homeowners whose properties took the brunt of last year's storm.

"I've purposely, I think, tried to work with folks as best I can," Ogburn said. "But, ultimately, my responsibility is to get these homes out of the public right of way."

Property rights are another matter of contention between the town and at least one of the homeowners, Sansotta. The town contends that the properties are now impeding public beach access.

"People have a right to walk along the beach. And because of those houses, they can't," Ogburn said, adding that there is also concern for public safety.

Although no one has been seriously injured, Ogburn said he believes the situation in South Nags Head is dangerous enough that public safety should trump property rights.

"Unfortunately, that's not how the court sees it," Ogburn said.

Erin James, (252) 441-1711, erin.james@pilotonline.com