THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 18, 1994 TAG: 9407180057
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
Persuading local governments to improve planning and follow-ups on land and water use is a key to protecting North Carolina's coast, says a committee considering the future management of the state's shoreline.
Requiring coordinated control of growth is another of the major draft recommendations made by the Coastal Futures Committee in a 47-page report that will be discussed at public hearings in Beaufort this week.
The committee's report includes nearly 200 specific recommendations in areas of land-use planning, water conservation and environmental education.
Various proposals call for better access to public waterways, stronger regional cooperation, state funds for the purchase of maritime forests and other natural areas, the creation of a new research reserve in the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary, tighter rules protecting water resources and closer cooperation among state environmental regulatory agencies.
``I think they're achievable,'' said Roger Schecter, director of the Division of Coastal Management. ``This, to me, is a do-able vision if we can get the support of the administration and the General Assembly.''
No cost estimates for implementing the proposals have been prepared and many recommendations by the panel require additional action by the state legislature, the Coastal Resources Commission or other regulatory panels.
The 15-member panel was created last year by Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. to study the successes and failures of the Coastal Area Management Act, adopted by the General Assembly 20 years ago. CAMA's rules govern development and planning in the state's 20 coastal counties.
Once the committee's recommendations are approved they will be presented to Hunt. State agencies may begin to include some of the recommendations in budget proposals submitted to the state legislature in the fall, 1995.
One key to putting more teeth into CAMA is to increase the importance of mandatory land-use plans, said Gene Tomlinson, chairman of the Coastal Resources Commission and a member of the Coastal Futures Committee.
North Carolina's coastal environment is a major asset for the state and ``must be protected,'' Tomlinson said.
``Land use planning process is at the base of proper wastewater management in coastal North Carolina,'' he said. Local governments should be required to prepare land use plans that will adequately address wastewater treatment needs. Failure to do so, he said, should result in serious penalties and withholding of grants.
Under current CAMA regulations, each county is required to create a detailed growth plan - updated every five years and approved by the Coastal Resources Commission - that analyzes local economic and environmental issues. Besides the 20 coastal counties, more than 60 municipalities have voluntarily developed land-use plans.
But under current law, local governments are not required to follow the plans they develop.
The committee's proposals also include requirements that local land-use plans include detailed sewage treatment plans and projections for future sewage treatment needs and that local land-use plans be coordinated with drinking water plans to create a comprehensive strategy for dealing with local growth.
And the committee proposes tying eligibility for some state and federal grants to a local government's development of an implementation program for their land-use plans.
Local government officials and representatives of fisheries groups, environmental groups, farming organizations and others questioned about the proposal said they had not read the entire document and were hesitant to comment.
``What we've emphasized is that we want North Carolina to do more about water quality,'' said Susan West of Hatteras, president of the Hatteras-Ocracoke Auxiliary of the N.C. Fisheries Association. ``We would like to see stricter controls and more monitoring.''
``And if there is going to be a future for commercial fishing, we need to really examine if there's going to be enough room for us to work in,'' she said. MEMO: WHAT'S NEXT
The Coastal Futures Committee will hold public hearings on the draft
recommendations this week in Beaufort. The public may comment on the
proposals at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:30 a.m. Thursday during the
Coastal Futures Committee meeting at Duke University Marine Lab
Auditorium on Pivers Island in Beaufort. For a copy of the
recommendations, contact the committee at 1-800-232-6210. To submit
written comments, contact the committee c/o the Office of the Secretary,
Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 27687,
Raleigh, N.C. 27611.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Here's a look at some of the nearly 200 recommendations included in
the Coastal Futures Committee's 47-page report:
Require local land use plans to consider the cumulative and secondary
effects of growth. Requires Coastal Resources Commission action.
Require land use plans to contain an implementation package that
includes a zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance and a capital
improvement plan and budget. Requires General Assembly action.
Require local land use plans to include comprehensive wastewater
management plans that project future needs for sewage treatment.
Requires Coastal Resources Commission action.
Give special help to those local governments affected by the
development of the Global Transpark and to the expansion of military
bases to plan for increased service generated by the developments.
Establish four sub-regions within the coastal area and coordinate
land use plans within each region. Requires Coastal Resources Commission
action.
Increase the maximum applications fees for CAMA major development
permits from $400 to $2,000 and levy permit fees on a sliding scale
based on the size and complexity of the project. Requires General
Assembly and Coastal Resources Commission action.
Require a disclosure of known coastal hazards and regulatory
requirements to all buyers of oceanfront property. Requires General
Assembly action.
Adopt additional development standards for hazardous areas near
inlets. Requires Coastal Resources Commission action.
Improve the state's beach and coastal waters access plan and develop
a funding plan to improve public access. Requires Coastal Resources
Commission action and funding by the General Assembly.
Identify and establish an additional coastal reserve site in the
Albemarle-Pamlico region in cooperation with the Partnership for the
Sounds program and national wildlife refuges in the area. Requires
funding and action by the General Assembly and federal agencies.
Increase the staff for the state's coastal reserve program. Requires
funding and action by the General Assembly.
Provide additional incentives for land donations to the public by
owners of coastal wetlands and other natural areas. Requires action by
the General Assembly.
Develop a comprehensive marina policy that would include design,
siting and operation and maintenance procedures.
Increase water quality monitoring by the Division of Environmental
Management in targeted watersheds to evaluate the effectiveness of
agricultural best management practices.
Improve Department of Transportation management of stormwater runoff
from road construction sites.
Expand funding for protection and acquisition of natural areas.
Requires funding by the General Assembly.
Develop a policy and regulations discouraging the use of hard
stabilization structures on estuarine shorelines. Requires Coastal
Resources Commission action.
Establish special designations similar to those used for primary and
secondary nursery areas for submerged aquatic vegetation, shellfish
beds, fish spawning grounds and habitat for aquatic endangered and
threatened species. Requires action by the Marine Fisheries Commission
and the Wildlife Resources Commission.
Accelerate current efforts to acquire remaining tracts of maritime
forest.
Develop a long-range transportation plan for the Outer Banks and
other barrier islands.
Require for all shoreline and waterfront real estate closings the
distribution of a pamphlet disclosing the hazards of owning coastal
property and the regulatory controls to which that property is subject.
Source: Coastal Futures Committee
by CNB