Written in sand (taxpayers to rebuild access to vacation homes lost in hurricane)

Richmond Times Dispatch ^ | Sep 29, 2003 | BILL GEROUX

[xzins]

Because if you look at the picture you'll see it isn't just one guy's cottage. It's a lot of people.

Rich people deserve equal treatment under the law as much as anyone else.

In fact, I'd like to be a rich person some day. At that time, I'd like to be treated fairly.

[FateAmenableToChange]

bump for later read

[putupon]

There are hundreds of people who live there permanantly, in a community that goes back to 1858.

Six hundred people live there at their own choice in a place that is known to wash out with hurricane after hurricane. The tax dollars that are taking care of them are not removed from others who live and work in a more stable environment at their own choice voluntarily.

[JoeGar]

The problem is the explosion in gigantic, palatial permanent homes that get rebuilt by heavily-subsidized government insurance.

True. One solution is to do away with taxpayer-subsidized, relatively cheap National Flood Insurance. If a homeowner had to pay the cost of "real" insurance, most could not afford it and most would not build an uninsured home at a place where it is likely to be destroyed.

[Constitution Day]

FYI

[TomB]

Six hundred people live there at their own choice in a place that is known to wash out with hurricane after hurricane. The tax dollars that are taking care of them are not removed from others who live and work in a more stable environment at their own choice voluntarily.

How about people who live by their own choice near a river? Or in tornado alley? Or in an area that consistenly gets FEET of lake effect snow (helloooooo Buffalo). Or in an earrhquake zone?

Are you making yourself the arbiter where we can and can't live? If there is a STATE ROAD that is washed out, the people who pay taxes can expect that road to be fixed.

And NOTHING of what you said makes your misleading title any more truthful.

Geez, take a valium.

[Redbob]

This is just another "welfare" program for wealthy beachfront landowners - except that Hatteras Island isn't even a real island.
It's a barrier island, no more than an exposed sandbar, subject to shifting and rearrangement by nature, and we have no business subsidizing the handful of people who choose to live there.

If the residents want to pay for the filling, or for a bridge like they did in '33, fine, let them.

[Redbob]

"I would hate to see access to the Hatteras Lighthouse and Ocracoke cut off completely."

Boats work there, don't they?

[putupon]

Geez, take a valium.

Don't need to. I'm moving to the beach and relax, knowing you're going pick others pockets to pay for it.

[Redbob]

"One solution is to do away with taxpayer-subsidized, relatively cheap National Flood Insurance."

I'm with you on that.
There was little construction of any sort on South Padre Island here in Texas, no hotels, no "permanent" dwellings until the early '80's (I think it was) when they extended federal insurance to that barrier island.

Now it looks like Panama City, and all Americans will foot the bill when the next hurricane comes through there.

[TomB]

knowing you're going pick others pockets to pay for it.

Actually, when you look at the immense amount of money the Outer Banks pumps into the coffers of the state of North Carolina and the Counties of Dare and Currituck, the government is coming out ahead.

[putupon]

How about people who live by their own choice near a river?

They buy insurance if they have any sense, and the roads are still there because there is still there after the flood recedes. Tornado people with any sense have storm cellars, and again, there is still there after the tornado goes away.

You make the choice of where you live. No one in the United States outside of the prison system is forced to live at a given location at gunpoint.

Comparisons between inland floodplains and tornado regions to a pile of sand in the ocean is apples and oranges.

[Corin Stormhands]

Heck, I drop a couple grand in Dare County every summer. That outta be good fer a couple of truck loads of sand.

[putupon]

the Outer Banks pumps into the coffers of the state of North Carolina

My brother-in-law's place in Kitty Hawk is still there, Nags Head is still there, Ocracoke is still there. Corolla is still there, Kill Devil Hills are still there, as are the huge National Park, Rodanthe, etc.. The Ferrys haven't sunk.

Fighting a battle w/ nature that you know you can't win to try and save one dinky sandbar doesn't make alot of sense to me.

[TomB]

My brother-in-law's place in Kitty Hawk is still there, Nags Head is still there, Ocracoke is still there. Corolla is still there, Kill Devil Hills are still there, as are the huge National Park, Rodanthe, etc.. The Ferrys haven't sunk.

Yes, all pumping MILLIONS of dollars into the economy and government coffers. Thank you for making my point.

Fighting a battle w/ nature that you know you can't win to try and save one dinky sandbar doesn't make alot of sense to me.

Considering the area has been inhabited for over 150 years, with very little inconvenience, I'd say your assertion that they are "Fighting a battle w/ nature that you know you can't win" is erroneous.

[xzins]

This might be a surprise, but almost everybody lives someplace....otherwise, they're no place at all!

So, if there's a state road to a certain location, there shouldn't be some arbitrary decision to stop maintaining it just because RICH people (shock..gasp...aghast) live there. Rich people are citizens, too, deserving of all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities apertaining thereunto.

I can't believe freepers are hitting on the rich and acting so damn jealous.

"Why that's just a TAX BREAK for the rich!" (Tom Daschle, all his life....but never about his own wife.)

The top 5% of taxpayers pay over 50% of the taxes in this country. Those rich folks in the Hatteras area probably account for big bucks dropped, businesses built, developers encouraged, etc., etc.

Run them out AND you're running out prosperity.

Democrat: Discriminate against the rich.
Republican: Encourage productivity and wealth.

[TomB]

They buy insurance if they have any sense

Uh, flood insurance is subsidized by the Federal Government.

and the roads are still there because there is still there after the flood recedes.

Oh really? Not in my experience. Raging flood waters easily undermine roads. Not to mention all the other damamge to infrastructure floods cause. How about bridges?

Tornado people with any sense have storm cellars, and again, there is still there after the tornado goes away.

What does "there is still there" mean? If you mean the people are still there, yes, but the house is gone, along with powerlines, telephone service, etc. All to be rebuilt with the help of the government dime.

You make the choice of where you live. No one in the United States outside of the prison system is forced to live at a given location at gunpoint.

Yep. And as long as people choose to live in flood plains, tornado-prone areas, heavy snow belts, fault zones, etc, your complaint that a STATE road is being rebuilt is specious.

Comparisons between inland floodplains and tornado regions to a pile of sand in the ocean is apples and oranges.

Why?

[TomB]

So, if there's a state road to a certain location, there shouldn't be some arbitrary decision to stop maintaining it just because RICH people (shock..gasp...aghast) live there. Rich people are citizens, too, deserving of all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities apertaining thereunto.

I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the permanant residents of the Hatteras area in the past, and I wouldn't classify many of them as "rich". That is why the additional title is so misleading. This isn't just a private road to beachfront villas, it is a state road to a hard working village that is 150 years old.

[Corin Stormhands]

This isn't just a private road to beachfront villas, it is a state road to a hard working village that is 150 years old.

Exactly. The majority of the high dollar homes are up north in Corolla.

There's a lot of history on the OBX. And there's a lot of value (tourist dollar and otherwise) to people being able to drive to Hatteras.

[Hatteras]

"I would hate to see access to the Hatteras Lighthouse and Ocracoke cut off completely."

Ocracoke is an island already. Access hasn't been cut off completely. If they didn't rebuild the road (at taxpayer's expense) they would add another ferry route (and the days of free ferry rides are numbered).