(A)   The Ocean Impact Residential (OIR) Zone is established in an effort to promote health, safety and welfare and to limit the level of peril to the public welfare associated with dwellings and other structures located in that part of the town that borders on the Atlantic Ocean and which is subject to tropical storms, storm surges, hurricanes and shoreline migration.

   (B)   In the OIR Zone, buildings or lands shall be used for one or more of the following specified permitted uses or special uses and none other.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 99-08, passed 5-10-99; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   In the OIR Zone, building and/or land shall be used for the following purposes:

   (A)   Single-family dwellings;

   (B)   Duplex dwellings;

   (C)   Multi-family dwellings of three or more units per dwelling;

   (D)   Hotels and motels;

   (E)   On-site accessory uses or buildings to divisions (A), (B), (C), (D) or (F) of this section;

   (F)   Fishing piers;

   (G)   Swimming pools, tennis courts;

   (H)   Bed and breakfasts (See § 153.312 for requirements);

   (I)   Town-owned and leased facilities, including but not limited to recreational parks, beach access areas and bathhouses and governmentally contracted services;

   (J)   Rooming houses, boarding houses;

   (K)   Home occupations;

   (L)   Cottage court. (see § 153.310 for additional regulations); and

   (M)   Cluster homes (see § 153.311 for additional regulations).

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 05-12, passed 8-8-05; Am. Ord. 14-29, passed 5-13-15; Am. Ord. 16-19, passed 6-27-18; Am. Ord. 16-23, passed 1-14-19; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   (B)   Places of worship.

   (C)   Private lifeguard services.

      (1)   Applications for operation of private lifeguard services as a conditional use within the OIR Zone shall be submitted in accordance with requirements of § 153.353 and additionally shall be reviewed by the Zoning Administrator for purposes of compliance with this chapter and Title XIII of this code, including rentals and advertising; by the Town Fire Chief for purposes of compliance with the established policies and procedures of the town's lifeguard service, including training, emergency incidents, communications and identification; and by the Town Police Chief for purposes of compliance with Title VII of this code, including beach driving. Applications for operation of private lifeguard services as a special use shall be approved by the Board of Commissioners.

      (2)   The following standards shall apply to private lifeguard services in the OIR Zone:

         (a)   Training. Private lifeguard services shall comply with the same qualifications and training standards that the town requires of its public lifeguard service.

         (b)   Communication. Private lifeguard services shall equip their personnel with radios interoperable with the system utilized by the town lifeguard service.

         (c)   Emergency incidents. Dispatch and response procedures, missing persons search procedures and other issues shall conform to policies established by the town in order to minimize confusion and increase efficiency.

         (d)   Identification. Equipment and stands must be clearly marked with a sign stating "Private Lifeguard" and include the name, address and telephone number of the responsible party. Delineated private response areas shall be clearly written out on the sign and the area of coverage shall be marked along the ocean front by an approved two-flag system.

         (e)   Beach driving. Except for initial equipment placement and removal, and in case of severe/threatening weather (hurricane, tropical storm and the like), no beach driving will be allowed except in accordance with the provisions of Title VII of this code.

         (f)   Rentals. Rentals shall be limited to umbrellas and beach chairs. No sale of drinks, food or other refreshments or any other retail sales or rentals shall be permitted. Rental activities conducted by private lifeguard services shall be in compliance with the provisions of Title XIII of this code.

         (g)   Advertising. Private lifeguard stands and uniforms shall not be used for commercial advertising for any other business or product.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 97-05, passed 6-25-97; Am. Ord. 00-05, passed 2-14-00; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   For nonconformities, see §§ 153.050 et seq.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   (A)   No structure shall exceed a living space height of 35 feet as measured from average ground elevation to top plate.

   (B)   No structure shall exceed a total height of 42 feet.

   (C)   Structures complying with all the following shall be exempt from (A) above:

      (1)   Structure meets requirements set forth in § 153.186;

      (2)   Structure has a minimum of 50% of the required parking located within the building footprint; and

      (3)   Structure has a minimum of 75% of the building footprint dedicated to parking and drive aisles.

   (D)   Antennas for personal use, chimneys and elevator towers are exempt from height restrictions.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 02-16, passed 9-25-02; Am. Ord. 04-19, passed 10-27-04; Am. Ord. 06-18, passed 8-14-06; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   (A)   Useable land. All minimum lot size requirements and site requirements shall be based on the amount of useable land. USEABLE LAND is defined as the entire amount of land extending to each property line on the north, south, west and on the east to the rear lot line, which is the first line of stable vegetation west of the high water mark.

   (C)   Lot area.

      (1)   The minimum building site shall be 15,000 square feet.

      (2)   The minimum building site for a duplex shall be 20,000 square feet.

      (1)   Increase the minimum required side yard setbacks by two feet on each side, the FAR shall be up to 0.45; and

      (2)   Provide a dedicated/recorded five-foot public easement along a side property line for public access to the Atlantic Ocean, the FAR shall be up to 0.50.

   (F)   Lot coverage.

      (1)   Maximum allowable lot coverage by principal use, all accessory structures, vehicular circulation areas and parking - 55% west of the vegetation line. (For exceptions see § 153.082.)

      (2)   In no case shall there be more than two main buildings and permitted accessory structures on a lot.

      (3)   Soils classified as wetlands shall be factored into lot coverage calculation based on the following schedule:

         (a)   If the lot is composed of less than 25% of its total area in wetland soils, then 75% of that area classified as wetlands may be used in calculating lot coverage;

         (b)   If the lot has between 25% to 50% of its total area in wetland soils, then 50% of that area classified as wetlands may be used in calculating lot coverage;

         (c)   If the lot has between 50% to 75% of its total area in soils classified as wetlands, then 25% of that area classified as wetlands may be used in calculating lot coverage;

         (d)   If the lot has 75% or more of its total area classified as wetlands, none of that area classified as wetlands may be used in calculating lot coverage.

         (a)   The use of permeable paving systems, including porous concrete, porous asphalt, concrete grid pavers, permeable interlocking concrete pavers, and plastic reinforcing grids for parking spaces, drive aisles and vehicular circulation areas, shall allow for a reduction in the calculated lot coverage. Plastic reinforcing grids shall be limited to low-density applications with low traffic speeds. Examples include, but are not limited to, parking stalls in commercial parking lots, overflow parking areas, utility access, emergency vehicle and fire access lanes, and loading areas. Material to fill the open cells of the pavement system types shall consist of open graded fine aggregate, open graded washed aggregate, sod turf grasses native to the southeast coastal environment and exhibit medium to high permeability rates. All permeable paving systems shall comply with the criteria of the North Carolina Division of Water Quality Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual (current edition). The following calculated reductions are allowed:

            1.   Porous concrete without washed stone base - 40% reduction.

            2.   Porous concrete with at least six inches of washed stone base - 60% reduction.

            3.   Porous asphalt, concrete grid pavers, permeable interlocking concrete pavers, and plastic reinforcing grids with at least four inches of washed stone base - 40% reduction.

            4.   Porous asphalt concrete grid pavers, permeable interlocking concrete pavers, and plastic reinforcing grids with at least seven inches of washed stone base - 60% reduction.

            5.   The pavement section shall consist of the surface course or layer for infiltration, a bedding course (as required), an aggregate storage layer, and a woven geotextile fabric layer to prevent clogging.

            6.   Edge restraints shall be provided on all concrete grid pavers, permeable interlocking concrete pavers, and plastic reinforcing grids to confine the pavement installation. The pavement surface course structural properties shall be designed to withstand the applied vehicular loading pursuant to the specified application.

      (b)   In no case shall the total area that is occupied and obstructed by any structure above the ground, including but not limited to parking and drive aisles:

            1.   Exceed 65% of the area of the lot for lots of 15,000 square feet or greater.

            2.   Exceed 60% of the area of the lot for lots less than 15,000 square feet.

   (G)   Drainage/stormwater runoff. All development is required to follow the provisions in § 153.070.

   (H)   Land disturbance. See § 153.071.

(Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 05-12, passed 8-8-05; Am. Ord. 06-05, passed 4-10-06; Am. Ord. 12-17, passed 8-13-12; Am. Ord. 14-24, passed 2-9-15; Am. Ord. 14-28, passed 3-9-15; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21; Am. Ord. 19-6, passed 1-10-22)

   (A)   Side yard.

      (1)   The minimum side yard setback requirements on a lot less than 75 feet in width shall be 10 feet from each side.

      (2)   For all lots 75 feet to 99 feet in width, the minimum side yard widths shall be 12 feet.

      (3)   For all lots or aggregate of lots combined for single development 100 feet or greater in width, the minimum side yard setback shall be 12 feet.

      (4)   All multi-family dwellings in excess of a duplex, hotels and motels shall install and maintain a vegetative buffer of evergreen, salt-tolerant species along the side yards of useable property in conjunction with development in this zone and such may be located within the area of the required setback lines.

   (B)   Front yard. All oceanfront lots shall front on NC Highway 12 (Virginia Dare Trail) and all structures erected on these lots shall be set back from the front property line a minimum of 30 feet.

   (C)   Rear yard.

      (1)   Lots that border the Atlantic Ocean shall be designated as having a rear yard on the Atlantic Ocean.

      (2)   The minimum rear yard setback requirements on any lot shall be 20% of the total depth of the lot but shall not exceed 30 feet from the rear property line.

      (3)   For each lot developed that has a rear yard on the Atlantic Ocean, the rear yard shall be determined by the setback multiplier established for ocean hazard areas of environmental concern (AEC) as administered by the local permit officer representing the North Carolina Office of Coastal Management as per the North Carolina Coastal Area Management Act of 1974.

   (D)   Double frontage. Not applicable.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 03-02, passed 2-10-03; Am. Ord. 03-10, passed 6-25-03; Am. Ord. 07-03, passed 3-28-07; Am. Ord. 17-19, passed 5-27-20; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   See § 153.077.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   See § 153.076.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)

   See § 153.073.

(Ord. 91-08, passed 11-18-91; Am. Ord. 01-02, passed 2-28-01; Am. Ord. 18-4, passed 6-14-21)