THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200318
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The Dare County Board of Commissioners jumped into the middle of a controversy between the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Division of Coastal Management on Monday.
The two state agencies have been battling since the coastal group investigated and threatened to fine transportation officials for allegedly destroying dunes after Hurricane Gordon last month.
Coastal Management spokesmen have said they may fine the DOT because its workers allegedly damaged sand dunes on Ocracoke Island while trying to clear N.C. Route 12 for traffic.
The commission voted 6-0 for a resolution condemning the Division of Coastal Management's action. Commissioner Shirley Hassell abstained, and questioned the strength of the language in the document.
``The DOT has to do its job, and the DCM has to do theirs,'' Hassell said. ``They both did their jobs.''
Commission Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. suggested the resolution, which called the Division of Coastal Management's action ``irresponsible and contemptuous.''
``My concern is that if it happened on Ocracoke Island, it could happen on Hatteras Island,'' said Owens. ``I think they should sit down and look at the regulating and permitting process on how to deal with emergency situations.''
Owens' son, R.V. Owens III, is a member of the North Carolina Transportation Board.
``I'm bitterly perturbed with the DCM,'' Owens said at Monday's commission meeting. ``The people on Hatteras Island have to have a way of ingress and egress off the island. If it happens in Hyde County, it could happen here. We have to make sure that in emergency situations, the DOT has certain carte blanche in providing ingress and egress off the island. It's a case of putting sand ahead of people.''
Commission Vice Chairman Clarence Skinner said the dispute adversely effects average citizens.
``The people are being held hostage in a power grab between environmental interests and the rest of the world,'' Skinner said.
The Dare County resolution follows similar action by the Hyde County Board of Commissioners. by CNB