Dare County approves zoning text amendment to allow marinas as special uses in VC-2 on Collington Island

Dare County commissioners voted unanimously to amend the VC-2 Village Commercial zoning district to permit marinas as a special use along the Collington Island corridor, following a public hearing in which no members of the public spoke.

Planning Director Noah told the board the VC-2 district currently contains commercial services and accessory uses but lacks any public boat-launch or docking opportunities for residents who do not live in private neighborhoods on Collington Island. The proposed amendment would allow a business meeting the county’s marina definition — frontage on navigable waters providing for-hire mooring slips or docking and accessory services such as sales, repairs, storage, bait and marine fuel — to apply for a special-use permit in VC-2.

Noah said the amendment was reviewed against two policies in the Dare County land use plan: land-use compatibility (commercial development sized to meet village needs, not regional commercial centers) and water-quality/marinas (policy that identifies marinas as appropriate when developed to applicable state and federal guidelines). The Planning Board reviewed the amendment in November and found it consistent with those land-use policies and recommended favorable action.

Commissioners asked clarification questions about whether the change would create public launch access where none exists now and whether associated accessory uses such as restaurants would be allowed; planning staff replied the amendment is not site specific and that accessory uses listed in the marina definition would be available if a marina were established, but any marina would still require a future special-use permit and site-specific review.

After closing the public hearing, a commissioner moved to adopt the text amendment and a statement of consistency with the Dare County land-use plan; the motion passed unanimously. The board did not identify a specific project or operator in the amendment; any marina proposal would need to follow the county’s special-use permitting process and obtain state and federal approvals for water-quality and navigable-waters activities.

Speakers recorded in the hearing included Planning Director Noah, members of the board and the applicant’s representative (William Meyer, who had submitted the request). The record shows the amendment was adopted by unanimous vote and that the Planning Board and staff found the change consistent with applicable land-use policies.