THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 6, 1994 TAG: 9408060246
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
A controversial pier extension at Ocracoke Horizons Condominium on Ocracoke Island must be removed within 35 days, a Wake County Superior Court said Friday.
The order is the latest legal victory for opponents of the pier in their nearly four-year fight against the 350-foot extension into Pamlico Sound.
``This case sends the message to developers that public-trust waters off Ocracoke are highly valued and that we will not stand by as they are spoiled by development activities contrary to our coastal-protection laws,'' said Ann Eringhaus, one of six Ocracoke residents who waged a legal fight against the extension. ``We could not be more pleased with the judge's ruling finally ordering its removal.''
The order makes it clear that the property owners must take prompt action to dismantle the pier, said J. David Farren, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, who represents the pier's opponents.
The developers of the condominiums and the adjacent pier, Paley-Midgett of Hatteras, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
The order was entered by Superior Court Judge Henry W. Hight Jr. after a hearing last week.
The addition to a 150-foot pier was built in 1990 by Paley-Midgett Partnership. The six Ocracoke Island residents sued after the state Coastal Resources Commission denied their request for a hearing to contest the Division of Coastal Management permit issued for the pier.
The challengers argued that the pier would extend into public-trust waters, disrupt submerged vegetation and marine life and rob local fishermen of valuable shellfish bottom.
In 1991, Superior Court Judge Jack A. Thompson ruled that the CRC acted improperly when it denied the residents a hearing, and he revoked the permit, saying it was inconsistent with the Coastal Area Management Act. The Coastal Resources Commission unsuccessfully appealed that order to the state Court of Appeals and sought review in the state Supreme Court.
In July 1993, the Division of Coastal Management wrote the developer and asked that the pier extension be removed within a month, but the developer refused. In January 1994, the Ocracoke residents returned to court and obtained an order that required the state to begin enforcement efforts to have the pier dismantled.
In his ruling Friday, Hight rejected arguments by the developer that because it had elected not to join in previous legal proceedings, it could begin a new effort to challenge the revocation of the permit.
``This is another legal victory for protection of public-trust waters and for the dedicated citizens who are working to preserve them for public use,'' Farren said. ``It sends a strong signal that these citizens can and will ensure that our coastal protection laws are enforced.'' by CNB