Coastal

North Carolina’s extensive coastline provides important aesthetic and economic benefits to the state’s citizens. With these benefits, however, come tensions – between environmental protection and development, between public access and private ownership. These tensions bring about an array of legal and regulatory issues affecting the activities of local governments, developers, and individual property owners.

We assist coastal communities with urban renewal and waterfront improvement projects, with a focus on coastal stabilization, beach renourishment, public water access rights, and private developments, dredging, and other navigation enhancements – all of which require multiple regulatory approvals. Many such projects are eligible for government assistance through economic development and navigation improvement programs. Members of our coastal law team, through their work at the federal level, were instrumental in ensuring these programs were created and funded.

We have assisted clients with matters related to permitting and land use, development and funding, and litigation and dispute resolution. Additionally, we have experience with the following:

• Advising local governments in drafting ordinances
• Proposing restrictive covenants for large developments
• Representing parties in beach access disputes
• Drafting wetlands conservation easements
• Helping private and public water and wastewater treatment systems to establish operations
• Obtaining variances from ocean-front setback provisions
• Obtaining variances for sand-bag groining and other shoreline stabilization projects
• Assisting communities with urban renewal and waterfront improvement projects
• Representing and advising coastal communities, with regard to beach nourishment and coastal projects before Congress, its committees and subcommittees, as well as before federal agencies and departments

For more information about how we help protect and preserve North Carolina’s coasts, please contact one of the related professionals on this page.