THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 22, 1995 TAG: 9505220037
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Officials who oversee development along the state's coast believe it's time to control the number of moorings used to anchor a growing number of boats in eastern North Carolina.
The proliferation of mooring buoys has been so great in some coastal communities that they have become a navigation hazard, according to some coastal officials.
The state Coastal Resources Commission is working to address the growth of moorings and has proposed regulations that would restrict who could set a mooring buoy in the state's sounds and rivers, and where those buoys could be placed.
``They're becoming a concern almost everywhere,'' said commission member Courtney Hackney, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. ``As the recreational boating populace has grown in North Carolina, it's becoming more and more of a problem.
``We're trying to get in front of the problem.''
But some of the state's commercial fishermen said they would be left without anchorage under the rules on free-standing moorings that will be the subject of a public hearing Thursday at a Coastal Resources Commission meeting here.
The rules would keep boat owners from tying their boats to mooring buoys in state waters if they do not also own the adjacent waterfront property, unless they receive sponsorship from a local government.
They would also require boat owners to remove any existing free-standing moorings after twoyears unless they met the new guidelines.
The rules for individual moorings were the subject of a public hearing in New Bern last year. They were then criticized by boat owners from Edenton to Morehead City, who said that the rules were unfair to those who do not own waterfront property and that they feared that the rules would prohibit access to their boats.
After receiving public comment on those proposals, the commission developed additional rules to allow public sponsors to develop mooring fields for their residents who do not own waterfront property to have access to their boats.
Public sponsors, such as cities or counties, would have to provide wastewater pump-out, trash disposal and vehicle parking for public mooring projects.
The rules would create two types of permits for free-standing moorings:
A general permit would be available only to waterfront property owners - for a $50 fee - to install up to four moorings for their use. Commercial moorings would not be allowed under this permit.
General permits are expedited permits that authorize routine development projects and often can be issued the same day they are requested.
A major permit, that would allow installation of mooring fields, would be available for public sponsors to install mooring fields provided that access, sewage pump-out, trash disposal and parking were made available.
Major permits are required for large development projects or for projects requiring other state or federal permits. Applications for major permits are reviewed by several state and federal agencies.
The rules were designed to allow quick approval for private mooring buoys for waterfront property owners and give city and county governments the authority to provide mooring fields for their residents who do not own waterfront property, according to Preston Pate Jr., an assistant director for the Division of Coastal Management.
``The installation of private moorings doesn't necessarily warrant an intensive review from an environmental standpoint, so we have developed an expedited way to approve them,'' he said recently.
``Local governments would have the option of whether or not they want moorings as a service to people who don't own waterfront property,'' he said.
But some commercial fishermen believe the option of public mooring fields would not solve the problem of access to their boats for small commercial fishermen who do not own waterfront property and live in rural areas that would not likely have mooring fields.
One Wrightsville Beach official, however, has praised the proposals.
``The rules are very good and very needed,'' said Tony Caudle, the town manager of Wrightsville Beach, which has prohibited mooring buoys and poles since 1991.
The commission could take action on the proposals as early as September.
If approved, the rules would be effective Dec. 1. ILLUSTRATION: PUBLIC HEARINGS
The state Coastal Resources Commission will hold two public hearings
in northeastern North Carolina on two sets of proposed rules that
would govern free-standing moorings. Public hearings are scheduled
as follows:
4 p.m. Thursday at Beaufort County Community College, Continuing
Education Building, auditorium, U.S. 264 East, Washington, N.C.
4 p.m. Thursday, July 27 at Crystal Coast Civic Center, 3505
Arendell St., Morehead City.
Those interested in commenting on the proposals can attend the
public hearings or send written comments to Kris Horton, Division of
Coastal Management, P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, N.C. 27611-7687.
Written comments will be accepted until Aug. 2. For copies of the
proposed rules, call the division at (919) 733-2293.
by CNB