THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410070625
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SOUTHERN SHORES LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
The first battle on the site of a proposed playground wasn't between teenagers or tots.
As three children and a half-dozen adults watched in amazement Wednesday, two silver-headed senior citizens stood in the center of a quiet residential street screaming at each other.
One of the elderly men - dressed in a lemon golf sweater - even challenged his opponent to a fistfight.
But no blows were thrown during the verbal scrap as two factions in this upper-class Outer Banks community continue a four-year squabble that has divided the once close-knit neighborhood.
Some people want to build a playground on a vacant, sandy lot. Others are adamantly opposed to the project.
Morris Housel dared 66-year-old Al Smith, who helped plan the playground, to hit him. A retired Sony corporation executive who declined to give his age, Housel was passing by the proposed site on an afternoon walk with his wife Wednesday. Smith and some playground proponents were looking at the lot.
``I've been here 20 years. . . '' Housel told Smith, thrusting a finger at him. ``We understood this was going to be green space. A playground definitely is not needed.''
A planned community with a large retiree population, many from northern states, Southern Shores includes one shopping center at the east end of the Wright Memorial Bridge, a Town Hall complex and a few other small businesses. When the town was incorporated in 1979, the developer turned over about 80 acres of green space to the Southern Shores Civic Association. The organization is open to all property owners for $35 per family annual dues.
In May 1990, a long-range planning committee of the Civic Association recommended that a 2.7-acre tract of publicly owned land be turned into a recreational area. The site selected is at the intersection of Sea Oats, Hickory and Hillcrest roads. Suggestions included a picnic area, playground, tennis courts, outdoor basketball court and community center - among other options.
This May, the League of Women Voters helped the Civic Association conduct a mail survey of all 1,450 members to determine whether to spend $10,000 planning a recreational area for the site. About 56 percent of the members returned the ballots. Fifty-two percent were for the playground project. Forty-eight percent voted against it. Civic Association leaders decided to proceed with plans.
``Part of the problem began in February, when a conceptual plan for the park was outlined in the Civic Association newsletter,'' said Hal Denny, who was elected vice president of the Civic Association in July. ``The conceptual plan included tennis courts and lots of parking. Many people in the community saw that as the final project. It was really only initial ideas. But everything began escalating from there.''
Smith and a seven-member ad hoc committee spent all summer developing a design for the park. Last month, they presented plans to the Civic Association's Board of Directors. Recommendations included a swing set and playground, outdoor basketball court and sand volleyball court, and six paved parking places.
Civic Association funds - an estimated $6,000 in addition to the planning money - will be used for construction.
``There are 250 kids in Southern Shores and no place for them to play,'' Smith said. ``A lot of people can't afford to join the Duck Woods Country Club or take advantage of those expensive facilities. We just want to see something done for these kids.''
Housel and others disagree. Southern Shores Civic Association already supports a soundside playground and small swimming beach, project opponents contend. And if kids need more recreation, they say, Kitty Hawk Elementary School is just a few miles up the highway.
``They've got basketball courts, baseball diamonds, anything else a child could want at that school already,'' Joan Bierwerth said Thursday. ``Volleyball should go down by the ocean, in the sand. We absolutely don't want a playground in our neighborhood. We don't want all of those unsupervised kids running loose around here. Most of these residents are retired.''
Bierwerth lives one lot away from the proposed playground. She and her husband - who formerly served on the Town Council - are leading a campaign to block the project. Already, she said, they have gathered more than 550 signatures from town residents who oppose a recreational area.
If Civic Association leaders must develop that vacant lot, Bierwerth said, they should select an alternative plan. Playground opponents suggest laying a serpentine path through the area, constructing parkbenches along it, and putting up bird houses.
``When we bought our lot, we understood that land nearby would never be developed,'' Bierwerth said. ``A playground would disrupt the peace of this quiet block. All the noise, lights and associated problems. It would be a crime to put all that stuff up here. The place would be trashed. Property values would go down.''
Terry Mullens said such predictions are ridiculous. A mother of two, she served on Smith's planning committee. Lights were never part of the package, Mullens said, and common recreational areas are needed to keep children off the streets.
``A lot of scare tactics are going on around here, and no one seems to know what we really want to do,'' Mullens said. ``We don't want to cut down any trees or disturb the area. We don't want to put up any lights or build any buildings. All we really want is a place for the children and teenagers to play. I can't believe anyone could be against that.''
``This entire issue, unfortunately, has divided the community,'' said 40-year-old Andy Ward, a Southern Shores resident with two children who also helped plan the playground. ``It seems so simple and straightforward. But it's escalated incredibly. I wish we could all just get together to work for the common good.''
Southern Shores Mayor Kern Pitts agreed. The town's elected leader refused to take sides in the dispute. But he said he was sorry it had become so heated.
``Whatever the Civic Association recommends will have to be approved by the town planning board,'' Pitts said Thursday. ``The town will not get involved in this issue until then.''
So far, Denny said, Civic Association leaders have informally agreed to build a park on the proposed recreational site. Offerings will include a playground with swings, slides, teeter-totters, jungle gyms and other equipment; a sand volleyball court; and a grassy area large enough to play soccer or catch. An outdoor basketball court is still being discussed.
``We hope to vote on this at our next meeting and bring our proposal before the planning board later this month,'' Denny said Thursday.
``When they bring those plans to the town,'' Bierwerth said, ``that's when we'll present our petition.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Southern Shores residents Morris Housel, Andy Ward and Al Smith,
left to right, argue over whether to build a playground in the
community. Ward and Smith say children in the area need a place to
play, but Housel feels the playgound will bring noise and disrupt
the quiet neighborhood.
by CNB