THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407210506
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By MASON PETERS, Staff Writer
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
As some Albemarle recreational skippers sheepishly admit, ``picking up a mooring buoy'' is an acrobatic challenge for summertime sailors.
Next week the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission could make the challenge even tougher.
A mooring buoy is a float with a ring on top and it usually is anchored in deep water off a marina or other waterfront property. For the Albemarle's shallow-water sailors, tying up to a mooring buoy is often better than dragging mud in the shallows around a dock.
But in rough and windy weather, catching and attaching a mooring line to a bobbing buoy frequently results in full-stretch gymnastics and the dunking of skipppers that brings hoots of appreciation from onlookers on shore.
Next Thursday at a public hearing in New Bern, the Coastal Resources Commission will discuss plans to require permits and strictly regulate new mooring buoys or tie-up pilings. Existing mooring buoys would be covered by other directives.
``The proposed rules represent the commission's first exercise of its authority to regulate private mooring buoys,'' said Alison Davis, of the N.C. Department Environment, Health and Natural Resources.
The state claims ownership ``up to the high water mark'' of all navigable coastal waters.
Davis said the new proposals include:
Limiting the number of mooring buoys off any one property. This could trouble marinas where buoys are provided for sailboats that draw more water than most power boats.
Restricting mooring buoy permits to those who own waterfront property or have an access easement for that property.
Deciding what will happen to mooring buoys now in use.
``I used to have five mooring buoys out in the river for sailboat customers,'' said Ervin Stahel, owner operator of the Pelican Marina at Elizabeth City. ``I took most of them in when I built a new dock, and now it looks like that may have saved me some trouble.''
The hearing in New Bern next Thursday will begin at 4 p.m. and be held in the Sheraton Grand hotel.
Also on the agenda will be a discussion of controversial rules governing use of sandbags for erosion control. No vote will be taken on this issue next week, Davis said.
A citizen forum on other coastal issues, including sandbagging, will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday but pending permits and contested cases may not be discussed, Davis said.
KEYWORDS: NORTH CAROLINA STATE COASTAL RESOURCES COMMISSION
NORTH CAROLINA STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND NATURAL
RESOURCES
by CNB