Figure 8 Island

The letter said that the writers don’t advocate the building of “jetties” and that opponents had circulated “misleading and erroneous claims.” The letter then refers to the main Fort Macon jetty at Beaufort Inlet as an example of a “terminal groin.” (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers documents going back 150 years refer to the “Fort Macon jetties.”)

Will the millionaires on Figure 8 Island get their way, even it their way puts other oceanfront communities at risk?

We cannot let a small, but vocal minority stop the CRC from considering and possibly authorizing the use of a legitimate scientifically-proven and engineered tool to protect our coastal economies and beaches. We need to become the vocal majority in favor of Terminal Structures and other scientific, fact based methods of controlling inlet erosion.

The arrogance of the privileged class in North Carolina is astounding. How sad to see Dean Smith's name among those lobbying against responsible stewardship of our coastline. The only thing "scientifically-proven" [sic] about terminal groins is that they have a high likelihood of creating problems for those who aren't rich enough to armor their own beaches.

These people should be ashamed:

This story slipped by me over the weekend, so special thanks to Chris Fitzsimon for covering things over at NC Policy Watch. For those of you who have been keeping up with the Realtor Ticks and their undue influence on public policy in North Carolina, go ahead and get out your bug spray. They're back.

The Realtors and homebuilders are clearly wealthy special interests that exert significant influence on elections and the state policymaking process. This weekend, the Charlotte Observer reminded us that state coastal management policy is also influenced by wealthy special interests, in this case by the well-heeled residents of Figure Eight Island, an exclusive, private, gated beach community just north of Wrightsville Beach.