KITTY HAWK, N.C. — The Dare County Housing Task Force recently reviewed survey results regarding the community's perspective on workforce housing in the Outer Banks.
The results were presented by East Carolina University professors as a third party, wanting to learn more about where the disconnect is in housing projects for the everyday workforce.
Many responses came from non-resident second homeowners, who don't live here full-time or rent their properties out. They shared that they are not in support of any scale of workforce housing.
Watch related coverage: Congressman Greg Murphy talks FEMA and workforce in the Outer Banks
“Doesn't matter the different size, the types of the housing, doesn't matter about the where the housing is located," said Misun Hur, director of the Community and Regional Planning Program at ECU. "It can be Manteo, it can be south, it could be anywhere in Dare County, but they're the ones who doesn't support any types of those kind of workforce housing,"
ECU conducted a survey in the spring about workforce housing, along with open houses in Dare County. Over a thousand people from various living situations were surveyed, but the findings made the stance of second homeowners clear.
“Number one finding was among all different types of people, those absentee second home buyers, they were the ones who doesn't support any of those workforce housing options," said Hur.
Watch related coverage: How international student workforce helps OBX businesses thrive in the summer
Housing Task Force chair Donna Creef believes more should be done to change this perspective.
“They need to realize that this very vibrant economy that we have, that allows them to have that second home or that vacation rental that generates that income for them, that they need to be cognizant that all of that relies on a local workforce," Creef said.
ECU will be working to finalize the results of the survey. The information will be presented to the task force by the end of summer. Then, the university's professors will be planning to conduct another survey this year — this time, exclusively focusing on responses from the workforce in the Outer Banks.
For the housing task force, their focus right now is establishing a standalone nonprofit that continues to address this issue.
"Housing is more than just local governments," Creef said. "It's going back to the community, and it's there for perpetuity and for generations to come."
