THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020361
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
State legislators said Wednesday they plan to revive a study of marinas and the issue of whether and how much to charge them for using public waterways.
Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, said a Senate panel charged with studying agriculture, environmental and natural resources issues could consider as early as today a bill that would create a 20-member panel to study the state's marinas.
``I want to get this bill moving,'' Albertson said.
The committee would review the state's policy regarding businesses, such as marinas, that use public waterways. The study committee would be appointed by Senate leader Marc Basnight and new House Speaker Harold J. Brubaker, a Randolph County Republican, and would report its findings to the General Assembly by May 1.
The bill also prohibits the state Department of Administration from adopting a permanent fee schedule and lease for such areas before Dec. 1.
Albertson, chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, is the sponsor of the bill. Rep. Jean R. Preston, R-Carteret, has sponsored a similar version in the House.
Albertson said he hopes the study committee can develop recommendations that could be adopted by the General Assembly this year.
In August, the Council of State, a group that includes the governor, lieutenant governor and eight other top state officials, issued the first easements for marinas to be built in public waterways, but delayed 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 in the hands of the General Assembly, in part, in response to requests from coastal legislators who asked for more time to study the issue.
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 for the use of the waterways.
Basnight and then-House Speaker Daniel T. Blue were scheduled to appoint members of a study committee to develop a marina policy, but the Nov. 8 election derailed that study committee before it could be appointed. Several House Republicans questioned whether recommendations by a committee appointed by Democrats would be given any weight by the new Republican-dominated General Assembly.
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. by CNB