THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 19, 1994 TAG: 9411190434
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
The state Coastal Resources Commission on Friday rejected a proposal to designate Bird Island - one of North Carolina's last undeveloped barrier islands - as a special environmental preserve.
The rejection leaves the principal owner, Janie Pace Price of Greensboro, free to pursue plans to build 30 or more houses on the 148-acre island.
Todd Miller, executive director of the N.C. Coastal Federation, which had joined in petitioning to have the island designated as an Area of Environmental Concern, said, ``This commission has missed its best opportunity to save Bird Island.''
But commission chairman Eugene Tomlinson said, after the commission's vote Friday morning, that the island would have adequate environmental protection.
``The general feeling was that the existing restrictions over the area adequately protect the natural resources, and the owners of the property have said they would cooperate with the Division of Coastal Management to meet any restrictions,'' Tomlinson said.
Hundreds of residents from Brunswick County and across the country had pressed since April to have the state intervene to halt development plans for the island, at the border of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Environmental regulators say the island is home to 13 endangered or threatened species. by CNB