Town releases schematic designs for estuarine shoreline pilot sites; Harvey site fully funded

Deputy Planning Director Joe Costello updated the Nags Head Board of Commissioners on the estuarine shoreline management plan, saying the project has moved from data collection into preliminary design and community outreach.

Joe reported the consultant delivered preliminary schematic designs and a base-of-design report and that July focused on data collection and modeling. He told the board there are three pilot sites — the Nags Head Woods site, a Soundside Roadside site, and the Harvey site — and said, “We have a follow-up community stakeholder meeting tomorrow, which is mostly property owners where we're gonna show those designs and and get input feedback.”

Joe also said the Harvey site has a grant that fully funds construction and credited staff for putting the application together. He described next steps as agency pre-application meetings, seeking easements from property owners where required, and using stakeholder feedback to revise designs.

Commissioners asked about timelines and data-collection windows; Joe said subaqueous vegetation surveys were collected in late May and June and estimated construction at the Harvey site could be as early as next summer, subject to permitting and easement negotiations.

Why it matters: The shoreline-management work is intended to protect sensitive estuarine areas and inform longer-term coastal resilience investments. The full grant award for the Harvey pilot reduces local construction funding needs for that site but other pilot sites remain at intermediate design and will require additional grant applications or funding decisions.

Speakers quoted or relied on in this story are drawn from remarks by Joe Costello and questions from commissioners in the meeting transcript.