Dare County commissioners decline purchase or condemnation of Brad Alexander’s Huanchi’s site after public debate

Dare County commissioners said Feb. 3 they will not pay the $6 million price the developer requested for a 10‑acre site in Huanchi’s and will not pursue eminent domain to acquire the land, after months of public comment and a special meeting on the issue.

The decision followed a lengthy public comment period in which residents and local groups urged opposing outcomes. Several residents called for the county to leave the privately approved housing project intact; others, and some commissioners, said they were sympathetic to the neighborhood’s concerns but unwilling to use condemnation or large public purchases to stop the development.

The debate began earlier in the meeting when Chairman Irvin Woodard said he and Vice Chair Robin House had met developer Brad Alexander on Jan. 20 “with respects to once again potentially purchasing his property in Huanchi’s.” Woodard told the board that Alexander later said he would not accept the county’s earlier $6 million offer and was not willing to sell the property.

Ida Howell, a Huanchi’s resident who addressed the board during public comment, recapped the dispute’s recent history and urged the county to “take no further action on this matter,” saying she believed the developer had done nothing unlawful and had reduced the project from 60 to 48 units. Mitchell Bateman, another Huanchi’s resident, told commissioners he had met with Alexander on the property and relayed what Alexander reportedly told him about site constraints and the revised 48‑unit plan. Bateman said, “Taking somebody’s property by eminent domain because you don’t like what he’s doing is wrong.”

Duke Garrity, government affairs director for the Outer Banks Home Builders Association, urged the board not to set a precedent by using eminent domain for the project. Garrity described the development as “available rental housing for our workforce” and said the owner had reduced the plan from 60 to 48 units during permitting and engineering work.

Commission discussion focused on two competing concerns: the strength of neighborhood preservation arguments in Huanchi’s and the county’s broader housing needs. Commissioner Burrows said the board had “exhausted every avenue” and that “it’s time to move forward.” Commissioner Ballance said it was a “tough” matter, but said she was “glad it’s not for condo buildings” and that she…