THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 13, 1994 TAG: 9407130393
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY AND PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
An amusement park operator has withdrawn his request to build a Go-Kart track in Avon and a sea plane operator has lost a fight to soar off the sound at Duck.
The action came at the Dare County Zoning and Planning Board meeting Monday night.
After 67 Avon residents sent letters to the planning department Monday, urging officials not to approve a proposed Go-Kart track for their Hatteras Island village, Gary Dowdy Jr. withdrew his petition for a conditional use permit.
A total of 161 residents and property owners wrote the planning board opposing the project, county planning department officials said.
``There was a great deal of opposition, so rather than butt heads with people I decided to just let the whole thing ride,'' said Dowdy, a 33-year-old Harbinger resident whose family owns Dowdy's Amusement Park in Nags Head.
Dowdy had hoped to build two tracks and bring 40 motorized karts to the west side of N.C. Route 12 by next summer.
The planning board had been scheduled Monday night to rule on a sketch plan of the proposed 4-acre facility.
Ten villagers, who had traveled almost an hour to attend the meeting, said they were ``ecstatic and relieved'' that they won't have to endure the noise, pollution and lights that a track would bring to their seaside town.
``The voice of the people was heard, not only by the county, but by the applicant,'' said Tom Hranicka, branch manager of Sun Realty's Avon office.
``I'm so pleased that we preserved a piece of the Outer Banks for the time being,'' Hranicka said. ``The storm has passed us - for now.''
Dowdy said he is still looking for a Hatteras Island site for Go-Karts, but he doesn't think there are many other options available. The only amusement facility on the island is in Rodanthe - a 15-minute drive north of Avon.
Also at Monday's meeting, sea plane pilot Jay Mankedick tried to convince the Dare County Zoning Board that his aero-attraction was really a flying boat.
Only residential uses are allowed in the Duck area in which Mankedick has been operating his unique amusement. But a boat tour and restaurant have been allowed to continue near the Barrier Island Inn because they were grandfathered in as existing uses.
``The Zoning Board was unanimous that the sea plane wasn't a flying boat - it was a plane,'' Dare County Planner Donna Creef said Monday night. ``He can no longer run that operation out of the Barrier Island Inn site because it is an expanded use of the residential zone.''
Mankedick can operate his sea plane only from S-1 zoned areas of the county - in which all uses are permitted, Creef said.
Wanchese, the Dare County mainland and parts of Colington and Hatteras Island still have some undeveloped S-1 zones, she said. Town officials also could decide to let Mankedick run the attraction from within their municipal limits.
Mankedick, owner of Outer Banks Airways, had sought to establish a shuttle service via floatplane from Duck to Norfolk.
``I'm not surprised,'' he said. ``It didn't come as a shock. The board listened to what I had to say. I talked about air service to Norfolk and tours. They just kind of lumped it all together and it was a done deal.''
Mankedick said he has no plans for a court fight.
``I'm not mad. I might have been a little angry if there had been people there who spoke against it. I'll just lick my wounds and go on. They're big wounds because I bought a quality aircraft that can do it all, and tried to bring a service to the Outer Banks. At least they listened to me.'' by CNB