THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505210053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: POWELLS POINT LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
First thing each morning, Jackie Dowdy walks to her bedroom window, hoping the previous night's prayers will have changed the view.
Where once there was nothing but rows of vegetables-in-the-making, a dilapidated trailer has sprouted.
``It's an eyesore,'' Dowdy, 53, said of the green-trimmed, broken-windowed mobile home parked at the entrance to this small waterfront development in Powells Point.
``Everybody's upset. They don't know what he's going to do with it,'' she said.
``He'' is H.D. Newbern III, who owns the adjoining farmland and hopes to turn at least 40 acres of it into a recreational park.
Newbern and his brother, Finley, want to install fish ponds, horseback riding paths and a competition Go Kart track on their Powells Point property.
In order to run the Go Kart racetrack, however, land must be rezoned from general business to heavy manufacturing. Twice now, including last week, the Newberns failed to get the new designation.
When residents of the 12 homes within the North River neighborhood got wind of the rezoning request in early April, they started a petition.
Eight people signed a request that the Board of Commissioners deny a permit to operate a Go Kart track.
One of them was 81-year-old Alton W. ``Buck'' Rawlings, who moved to Currituck County 20 years ago after retiring from an Allied Chemical plant near Richmond, Va.
Rawlings said Newbern asked him to withdraw his name and promised to remove the trailer that was set April 28 in front of Rawlings' redwood, A-framed house.
Rawlings and his wife, Lorine, did sign a new petition to have their names removed. But the trailer remains.
``I have never had anything to deal with like this in my whole life,'' he said. ``This is a beautiful neighborhood we're in. The people are real wonderful and friendly and helpful. The place is quiet, nice and easy.''
But now, he added, there's that rundown trailer.
``My wife stands and washes the dishes and takes a laugh sometimes.''
Newbern said early Thursday that he had no comment. He reportedly has said he intends to use the trailer to house farm workers, not to devalue surrounding residential property as nearby homeowners contend.
The Powells Point developer submitted his own petition, with hundreds of people endorsing the rezoning request. The Board of Commissioners instead has asked the planning board to consider allowing competition Go Kart tracks within tracts zoned for general business.
Very little property in rural Currituck County is zoned heavy manufacturing. Exceptions include the Maple airport, an asphalt plant in Harbinger and an undeveloped area south of Moyock's Ranchland subdivision.
Most of Currituck County is agricultural, with strips along N.C. 168 and U.S. 158 - the main highways - designated for general business.
Industry such as petroleum plants and food-processing plants are allowed in areas zoned for heavy manufacturing, said Jack Simoneau, director of planning and inspections.
``We weren't against him having the Go Kart place,'' said Dowdy, who did not sign the original petition. ``We were against the type of manufacturing that he could put in if it was approved.''
``It's an eyesore when you come in,'' she added. ``We want to put our house up for sale. We have worked on it for the past month to get ready to move to Grandy. A buyer coming in and passing that wants to know what it is.''
Roy Etheridge, who was raised not far from the brick-and-vinyl house he now calls home, also didn't sign the original petition.
``I didn't see anything wrong with what he was doing, but now I do,'' Etheridge said.
The North River group is not sure what it will do if the trailer isn't removed soon. Dowdy suggested a meeting with commissioners and, as a last resort, legal action.
``We're planning on getting it moved out, some way or other,'' Rawlings said.
``I'd just like to see him move the trailer and see everything move on,'' neighbor Etheridge said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
These Powells Point residents are among those angered by a local
farmer's tactics to have the land rezoned from general business to
heavy manufacturing. They are, from left, Howard and Rita Bonnell,
Lorine and ``Buck'' Rawlings, Jackie and Jim Dowdy, and Hill
Hollomon.
by CNB