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“I’m disappointed,” said Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert L. Woodard.

He was commenting on an action taken by the North Carolina General Assembly.

In technical corrections legislation, the following has been inserted:

“REPEAL DARE COUNTY HOUSING REGULATORY EXEMPTION

“SECTION 6.5. Section 24.1(b) and Section 24.1(c) of S.L. 2022-74 and Section 24.8 17 of S.L. 2023-134 are repealed.

The legislation, S508, makes “technical, clarifying and other amendatory modifications to the current operations Appropriation Act of 2023.”

As of Friday afternoon, the legislation sits on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.

Section 24.1(b) in S.L 2022-74 deals with the $35 million with attached strings allocated to Dare County to build affordable housing.

Section 24.2(c) in S.L. 2023-134 is the legislation stripping incorporated municipalities of power to regulate development. This is the legislation that sparked legal action by all of Dare’s municipalities.

Woodard pointed toward the long-term, saying “We’ve got to find solutions.”

Dare County’s Housing Task Force, which is now led by Donna Creef, asked NC Senator Bobby Hanig to withdraw the municipality section. At a meeting, April 22, Hanig said he had already drawn up the legislation to write out the offending municipality section.

Meeting on April 30, 2024, the task force asked the Dare County Board of Commissioners to put on hold sending the $35 million for building housing back to the legislature so the new task force could have the opportunity to provide a plan for using the money. The motion was unanimously adopted.

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