Buxton residents press Dare County for clearer debris plan as Highway 12 keeps failing

Buxton residents told the Dare County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 3 that the repeated collapses and wash‑outs along Highway 12 amount to a local disaster and need a different, more proactive response than standard hurricane cleanup.

At the podium, Buxton homeowner Betsy Gwen described multiple houses falling into the surf and an inconsistent cleanup effort that left debris under houses and between lots. “It is a circus without a ringleader,” Gwen said, urging the county to assign a boots‑on‑the‑ground coordinator who knows contractors and the neighborhoods.

Brett Marley, another Buxton resident, told commissioners 15 houses have been lost in about six weeks and said the scale of water flow and erosion makes the situation distinct from past hurricane responses. “This is a disaster zone,” Marley said, arguing the county and state must plan for repeated failures rather than repeat temporary sand pushes.

County Manager Bobby Haney responded with a stepwise explanation of the county’s debris policy: when a single house falls the owner is responsible for cleanup; when multiple houses fall the county may place dumpsters or require owners to move debris to the right of way for contractor removal. Haney said the county issued press releases and will begin contractor pickups after an owner‑placement deadline of Nov. 17. “When we have multiple dwellings that commingled debris…we’ll either bring in dumpsters depending on the volume of debris, or we’ll have it put on the right of way,” Haney said.

Commissioners and staff acknowledged the emotional and practical strain on residents, and several members noted ongoing contacts with the state and federal agencies about longer‑term work. Commissioners said they are pressing DOT and the governor’s office for funding and permitting to support larger nourishment and structural options. County staff said they have a $45 million project planned for Buxton that must wait for spring conditions, and additional projects could total tens of millions more.

What happens next: the county asked property owners to place debris at the right of way by Nov. 17 for contractor removal; staff continue to press state agencies for funding and are coordinating scheduled beach nourishment work that county officials say aims to reduce the recurrence of the emergencies.

Why it matters: repeated breaches of Highway 12 disrupt emergency access, utilities and resident safety on Hatteras Island. Residents sought both immediate operational improvements — centralized oversight for cleanup and staging of dumpsters — and faster movement on long‑term stabilization projects.