Bogue Banks and Pine Knoll Shores

To the east of Emerald Isle, the Town of Pine Knoll Shores is very serious about its trees. When the town was presented with its first Tree City, USA award in 2000, Alice Hoffman must have been smiling down on Town Hall. This eccentric socialite adopted Bogue Banks as her home, declaring that the “Isle of Pines” would remain generally untouched by development during her lifetime and beyond. Hoffman believed that without the protection of the maritime forest, the dunes would be destroyed and her island “paradise” would be lost. Hoffman’s reluctance to sell off any part of her acreage coupled with her protective behavior regarding the maritime forest surrounding her home made it possible for her land to pass unspoiled to her conservation-minded Roosevelt heirs.

While most developers in the 1960’s were stripping barrier islands for development, members of the Roosevelt family created environmentally sensitive and tree-friendly covenants for Pine Knoll Shores. These covenants stipulated that “property owners agree to leave all vegetation, trees, brooks, …. in as near their natural state as is compatible with good building and land use practices.” Protection of the land and vegetation, especially mature trees, has remained constant and has become deeply ingrained in the community’s DNA. Town restrictions dictate that a permit is required to cut down any tree over 2 inches in diameter. The community also controls density of development to minimize destruction of vegetation. All in all, the town of Pine Knoll Shores stands out as one of the more enlightened communities with respect to establishing sound development practices for living tho an island.

The physical growth of Pine Knoll Shores from the 1960's to the present took place in three stages.  First the east, then the central, and finally the western sections came into being.

The Sixties

During the ‘60's, several homes were built in the eastern part of town and a handful in the central section.  Pine Knoll Shores was beginning to be recognized as a separate community. Under the direction of the Roosevelt interests, 11 miles of paved streets and a street lighting network were developed.  A private water company began to distribute water to most of the town.  To do so, this company constructed the first of two water towers on properties donated by the Roosevelts.

By the end of the decade the character of the population was beginning to change to more permanent, year round residents.  Construction of the country club was begun in 1970.  The price of property was going up.  Choice lots on the sound or ocean could be purchased for close to $35,000, on the canal for $10,000, and in the interior areas for somewhat less.  Lots on the golf course sold for an average of $14,000 with course membership included.

The Seventies

In 1972, a year before the town was incorporated, the Pine Knoll Association sponsored the development of the boat basins and launching facilities.  The bridge that carries Mimosa Boulevard over the canal was completed in 1973, as was the linkup between the two sections of the canal at that point. The need of bulkheading sections of the sound front properties to control erosion became a reality.  The cost of this project was shared between the Roosevelts and the individual property owners.  This was the first of two campaigns to bulkhead waterfront properties.  Five years later another was mounted to bulkhead canal front properties to forestall the silting of the canals.  The Roosevelts paid the cost of bulkheading properties they still owned while individual property owners carried the cost of their own bulkheads.  Approximately 10,000 feet of asbestos-cement sheeting was installed in this joint effort.  One day bulkheading of canal front property would become mandatory.

The Eighties

The year 1982 was the biggest year yet for real estate.  Property valuation reached over $100 million.  Plans for the development of 25 acres which would become the McGinnis Point project, were presented to the town board and approved.  The board, concerned about a possible overbuilding trend, at one point declared a short moratorium on the building of condominiums. Still the town continued to grow.  Annexation of the 65 acres given by the Roosevelts to the Episcopal Church (now Trinity Center) was in the works, along with the annexation of the lands on which the two most westerly condominiums, Ocean Bay and Ocean Glen, are located.  This established the town's western boundary adjoining Indian Beach and gave the town's current physical dimensions at 4.75 miles in length, a variable width averaging one-half mile, and an overall area of approximately 2.3 square miles -- just over 1,400 acres.

In 1984, development moved west to encompass the Beacon's Reach subdivision, some 180 acres of land stretching from the ocean to the sound.  It eventually included single-family houses and condominiums in twelve separate subdivisions, each with its own homeowners association, yet covered by one master association.  Parks and recreation areas were provided. Environmental concern dominated the development of all of the Beacons Reach properties, which, coupled with the 300 acres of the Roosevelt Natural Area given to the state, comprise a major portion of the town's total area.  Included within these acres is the North Carolina Aquarium.

That same year the town board approved the concept of a five-unit village shopping center to be built on a 25-acrea tract that originally was zoned for that purpose.  There was strong opposition to this plan in some quarters until the area was eventually reduced to 15 acres with a single two-story office building and another building to house a full service bank.  Construction began three years later.  This area now boasts the Bogue Banks branch of the county library, among its other features. The building boom continued through 1984 and 1985.  In these two years alone over $22 million was recorded in single family and multi-family building.  The average price of a single-family house built in 1985 stood at $95,000.

For a long time, a third bridge over Bogue Sound had been contemplated.  Indeed, an area for its approach in Pine Knoll Shores had been set aside by the Roosevelts for when the state would complete such a bridge.  Once proposed, it met strong opposition by the town and other options were then considered.  The state abandoned plans for the third party bridge and began construction of a replacement four-lane high-rise bridge from Atlantic Beach to Morehead City.  The town was supportive of this project as it facilitated evacuation routing in case of hurricanes and eliminated the delays caused by the openings of the swing bridge.

Physical growth of the town in the form of single family residential subdivisions neared its completion in the late 1980's and early 1990's with two complexes being built on the east and west sides of Pine Knoll Boulevard.  With only two small subdivisions now underway north of Highway 58 at the eastern end of town and an undeveloped commercial parcel on the oceanfront, future building will be confined to single family homes.

The Nineties and Aughts

In the ‘90's, Pine Knoll Shores had settled down to an even, gradual pace of building and development.  Approximately 70 percent built up; there were 740 single-family homes and 800 condominium units in existence.  About 250 acres were still unimproved and it was expected that they would be restricted to single family residences. Thus, the combination of restrictive covenants originally established by the Roosevelt interests and judicious land planning on the part of the town has resulted in the very special community known as Pine Knoll Shores.

In subsequent blogs in this series, I will introduce the other communities that dot this island. In the meanwhile, to learn more about life in Emerald Isle, NC, my town of residence, go to my website, www.EIHomesforSale.com and request my free Guide to Living Were You Vacation or text your email address to: 919-308-2292. Stay well and stay safe.