THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608100313
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLINGTON ISLAND LENGTH: 82 lines
At a workshop with Dare County planners, about 25 citizens of Colington grappled with the implications of uncontrolled development.
The Colington area of unincorporated Dare County is zoned S-1, permitting essentially any type of business, development or building.
Residents of the oldest continuous community on the Outer Banks, where native fishermen and crabbers mingle with retired professionals and newcomers, have growth breathing down their neck.
And that pressure is creating conflicts on this island where there are few or no restrictions on development.
Two-lane Colington Road winds past crab sheds, trailers, modest homes, expensive mansions, the yards and hills dotted with bent old oaks, crape myrtle abloom, longleaf pine, holly and dogwood.
At rush hour, a stream of cars navigates the hairpin twists of the 4.3-mile stretch to Highway 158, the only way in and out of the island, which is home to about 4,500 people.
Last month a Go-Kart track and a storage unit, enlarged and fenced in, were added to the development along the route.
At a workshop with Dare County planners Thursday, about 25 citizens of Colington grappled with the implications of uncontrolled development.
``There's no stopping it down here,'' Baum Bay resident Vance Ross said. ``You can't stop it, you can't even slow it up.''
The Colington area of unincorporated Dare County is zoned S-1, permitting essentially any type of business, development or building. Health department strictures may hinder some enterprises, and the federal government frowns on destruction of wetlands. But, without a zoning map, planners say the island is vulnerable to the whims of the market.
``We don't know what the future holds,'' said Dare County Planning Department Director Ray Sturza. ``The only thing that's certain is a map that controls development in certain ways.''
The zoning issue cropped up recently when Jimmie Summerell built Colington Raceway across from Zanzibar's Restaurant. Neighbors complained to planners, but were told the track was legal.
Thursday's informal meeting, conducted by land use consultant Glenn Harbeck, was designed to gather residents' concerns about present and future Colington, and about the impact of zoning.
Some residents were resistant to any government controls. Some fear with zoning they will lose their crab sheds or their established family businesses.
``I like things the way they are,'' said Vernon Perry, a commercial fisherman who was born in Colington in 1938. ``Why the hell not leave it the way it is?''
``Too late for that,'' a nearby woman whispered to her companion.
Mac Magruder, of Baum Bay, was not born in Colington but he said he sides with natives.
``I like it the way it was,'' he said. ``I don't want to see too many changes - that's why I come down here.''
But in a later telephone interview, Sturza - who did not attend the meeting - said wanting it the same will not keep it the same.
``The situation they find themselves in now is exactly the opposite scenario - everything is going to change because it can.''
Sturza said zoning laws can be tailored to allow the community to maintain its character and livilihood. He added that it's possible that some zoning opponents simply want to market their real estate for the highest values, unhampered by restrictions.
But other Colington residents said they fear that without zoning protections, their neighbors could be honky-tonks or high-rises, their sounds and canals polluted, and their wetlands destroyed.
``I think we should get rid of this S-1 altogether, so something can't be snuck in without our knowledge or input,'' said Susan Eisel.
Uncontrolled development could also increase traffic, decrease property values, and destroy the character of the community, the residents said.
``We have a lot of wetlands,'' said Jan Peterson of Water's Edge. ``They start throwing things in them, there goes the fishing, there goes the crabbing. . . . The whole ecological thing is just going to go ZZZLPPP - Goodbye!''
Harbeck said he will look over all the points people brought up and look for the common objectives between the natives and the newcomers. That information, along with a wetlands map and another detailing buildable and unbuildable land, will be discussed at a follow-up meeting.
Sturza said if everything moved smoothly, the area could have a zoning map in six months. But the county takes its cue from the community and will not implement zoning controls without consensus. by CNB