Back to the beach: NC coastal towns are ready to welcome tourists, with Cooper’s OK
A bit like surfers waiting for the perfect wave, North Carolina’s coastal communities are gearing up for the moment Gov. Roy Cooper loosens restrictions enough for tourists to head to the beach, which they hope will happen next week.
“I’ll be excited to see people come back,” said Bob White, chairman of the Currituck County Board of Commissioners and owner of Bob’s Wild Horse Tours in Corolla, on the northern end of the Outer Banks.
Currituck County, like others along the state’s 301-mile-long coastline, banned short-term rentals for the duration of the stay-at-home order Cooper issued March 28 and extended through May 8 to slow the spread of COVID-19. Many coastal counties and municipalities also temporarily barred non-resident property owners from coming in, to avoid spreading illness and straining limited health care resources.
Property owners now generally are allowed to use their vacation beach homes, but short-term rentals still are banned and day-trippers are discouraged by the continued closure of public parking areas in most beach towns.
The town of Atlantic Beach announced Tuesday that it will open some of its public parking beginning Thursday, but public restrooms will remain closed. The local ban on short-term rentals will be lifted May 8, the town said, and previously booked rentals during the week of April 30 to May 8 will be allowed. All public parking in Atlantic Beach will open May 15, the town said, along with public restrooms.
Also Tuesday, Morehead City announced the reopening of Sugarloaf Island, a nature preserve in Bogue Sound parallel to downtown Morehead. Visitors will be required to keep their distance from one another, and the island will be patrolled by Morehead City Police.
The town of Emerald Isle will open some of its public parking on May 9, according to a news release, but some parking will remain closed due to bathhouse construction.
What can you do on the beach?
Allowed uses of the beach and ocean vary. In some places, people are allowed on the beach only to exercise, or to swim or surf in the ocean. In others, people are allowed to sit on the beach if they observe social-distancing rules.
In announcing the extension of the stay-at-home order, Cooper said state officials would be looking for specific milestones in the progress against the disease caused by the new coronavirus. As those are reached, Cooper said, the state will phase in the reopening of businesses and activities over a couple of months.
If the state meets the criteria Cooper laid out, Phase 1 of the reopening could begin on May 9, including letting shoppers back into many non-essential businesses with social-distancing and cleaning rules in place. Parks could be reopened. Gatherings still would be limited to 10 or fewer people.
Two to three weeks later, the governor said, Phase 2 could begin, in which the stay-home order would be lifted, remaining businesses could reopen and restaurants and bars could allow people back inside, all with limitations. People considered especially vulnerable to COVID-19 still would be encouraged to stay home. Allowable crowd sizes would be increased.
After four to six weeks in Phase 2, the state could move to Phase 3, with increased capacity at restaurants and bars and larger gatherings, including at houses of worship and entertainment venues.
Kelly Haight Connor, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in an email Monday, “Recreational travel may be permitted after May 8 but [that] depends on overall metrics and benchmarks consistent with the Governor’s remarks last week.”
White, who takes 15 people at a time in open-air safari-style vehicles to look for the wild ponies that roam the Outer Banks, missed the Spring Break crowds in March because of the pandemic, then lost out on the Easter crowds in April, wiping out about 40% of his income for the year so far, he said in a phone interview with The News & Observer.
Remaining hopeful
If the state meets the markers and Phase 1 of the reopening launches May 9, White said, he might still be able to capture Memorial Day crowds.
“I’m hopeful for a good year,” White said, “but we just don’t know what the American people are going to do. Everybody is ready to get out of their homes but what is that going to look like?
“People have adjusted to social distancing, and in my business people are close together. Maybe I’ll only be able to take 10 people on a tour at a time instead of 15. Are people going to want to sit next to people they don’t know? We’ll just have to see,” White said.
White said commissioners are waiting to hear what Cooper says next week.
Hotels, motels, campgrounds and the managers of rental houses and condos are taking different approaches as they wait for the governor’s decision.
Some are taking no reservations until travel restrictions are lifted. Some are taking reservations with a deposit and offering to change the reservations at no charge if travel restrictions aren’t lifted in time.
Ronnie Watson has temporarily stopped requiring deposits on reservations for the Holiday Trav-L Park Resort in Emerald Isle, allowing visitors to dream of mid-May trips to the coast.
Watson, who has owned the oceanfront campground for more than 40 years, said he has kept his 20 employees working throughout the pandemic, renovating one of the bathhouses, painting and keeping the grass mowed.
“It looks like a golf course down here,” Watson said in a phone interview with The News & Observer. “I really want it to look like a baseball field, with some wear and tear. I want to see people down here enjoying some time with their families.”
‘They’re getting restless’
Owners of other businesses that have been closed or running at reduced capacity also hope to see tourists return.
Liz Kopf, who owns the Backstreet Bar and Turner Street Market, both in Beaufort, shut both down just before Cooper ordered bars to close and restaurants to shutter their dining rooms. All of her employees have applied for unemployment, she said, though not all have received benefits so far.
Kopf said she supports the governor’s approach to reopening.
“It’s really tough because I care very much about the health and well-being of my family and my staff and the larger community,” Kopf said. “But I also care about the effect on this tourist-based economy.
“Balancing that is challenging. We want to get people back in circulation as soon as possible but nobody wants to take any chances with public health, either.”
Working in the hospitality industry is hard, Kopf said, and some of her workers looked forward to the prospect of a week or two off when the pandemic first hit.
Now, she said, they miss the routine of their jobs. They miss each other. They miss their regular customers.
“They’re getting restless,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy, from North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes the Outer Banks and other coastal counties, is one of several state leaders who have advocated for a regional approach to reopening so that even if it’s not yet advisable in some areas, it could happen in others where there are fewer cases of illness.
Not all permanent residents of beach communities are eager to reopen.
The Dare County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon it had received reports of “hateful” fliers being placed on cars bearing out-of-state plates parked at business or homes in the county.
“The flier sends a hateful and negative message and Dare County does not condone this action or message,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “The flier claims to be on behalf of Dare County residents, but that is not the reality. Non-resident property owners and visitors are an integral part of our community.”
Non-resident property owners will be allowed back into Dare County beach communities next week, and visitors as soon after that as it’s deemed responsible.
White, in neighboring Currituck County, can hardly wait.
“I look forward every year to people coming back,” he said. “I miss the human energy of people coming here and being happy. They’re on vacation and they bring that positive energy with them. You can just feel it when they’re here.
“I miss that.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Back to the beach: NC coastal towns are ready to welcome tourists, with Cooper’s OK."
