THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408100460
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Outer Banks marina owners and a coastal developer said Tuesday that they were pleased by a Council of State decision to delay the implementation of fees for marinas built in some state waterways.
The issue of whether and how much to charge marinas for the use of public-trust waters was left Monday in the hands of the General Assembly after the council, a group that includes the governor and nine other state officials, approved the first easements for marinas but sidestepped the issue of fees for those waterways.
The council rejected a proposal to charge 10 cents per square foot for marinas built in public waters and agreed instead to let the General Assembly determine a fair price.
``Based upon what we were looking at three weeks ago, I'm delighted,'' said Joe Chambliss, dock master at Pirate's Cove Marina in Manteo. ``Everybody's going to benefit by this.''
The council approved easements, minus the fees, for three marinas, including a Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co. project in Beaufort County, that had been stalled while the state's policy was debated.
``It's been a long time coming,'' said Keith Hundley, head of government relations for Weyerhaeuser in New Bern. ``Like the end of a Cecil B. DeMille movie.''
The council action means the company ``can go ahead and move forward with the construction of the marina,'' Hundley said. ``It's good news for us and good news for Beaufort County.''
The ruling also freed up construction of two marinas in the Wilmington area that have been in limbo for the past few months.
But the pending action by the council also caused a firestorm of debate along the state's coast.
The council delayed its decision on marina fees, in part, in response to requests from members of the General Assembly, including Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, who asked that the legislature be given more time to study the issue.
A legislative panel had recommended the 10 cents-per-square-foot interim fee, but after learning more about the issue, Basnight and other legislators asked the council not to institute the fee.
``We were unsure, until we had the opportunity to listen to the affected people, the impact that it could have on marinas,'' Basnight said in an interview Tuesday. ``It needs to be properly aired before the public.''
Basnight said that he hopes to appoint, along with the governor and speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, a committee in the next two weeks of legislators, environmental groups and members of the marina industry to study the issue and recommend to the General Assembly in early 1995 an appropriate fee, if any, for the use of public-trust waters.
``We have to take some action,'' he said. ``And we can't take it without public input.''
While some environmental groups had lobbied the state to charge a fee for marinas built in waterways used by the public, marina operators and other boating interests opposed to the proposed fees say the levies could drive many independent marina owners out of business.
``I'm pleased with the way the Council of State members were able to understand the dangers and reassess their position,'' said Harry Schiffman, owner of the Salty Dawg Marina in Manteo. ``This was really a proposed tax on boaters because the marinas would have to pass those fees along.''
North Carolina does not charge a fee for marina operators in exchange for the use of state waters, but recent court rulings require the state to issue an easement for ``for-profit'' marinas. The fees would not apply to privately owned piers and boathouses.
Under the agreement approved by the Council of State, Weyerhaeuser and the developers of the two New Hanover County marinas were granted easements for their projects for one year with the opportunity to obtain two one-year renewals. The three marinas will have to pay a minimum fee of $250 or 1 cent per square foot, whichever is greater, as a processing fee for the easement.
Future easements will be granted on a case-by-case basis, according to a spokesman for the Department of Administration's state property office. by CNB