THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506080428
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GRANDY LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Currituck County's first golf and boating community on the mainland is a step closer to becoming a reality.
An amended sketch plan and preliminary plat for 301-lot Barnetts Creek won the unanimous approval of the Currituck County Board of Commissioners at a meeting this week.
The development had been altered to combine two proposed subdivisions and create an 18-hole golf course and marina area.
``Golf courses are going to be something that we think Currituck County is going to want to encourage,'' said Starkey Sharp, an attorney who spoke about the development at Monday's meeting.
The property is being developed by Walnut Ranch of Grandy.
Currituck County has two other golf courses on its mainland - nearby Goose Creek and a new course by United Turf in Powells Point - but neither has residential lots associated with it.
A large golf course community on the last large tract of undeveloped land on Currituck's Outer Banks was approved earlier this year.
The average lot size for Barnetts Creek homes would be half an acre (22,000 square-feet), considerably smaller than the three-acre minimum now required for most of that area.
Original approval of the Grandy development also predates the recent adequate facilities ordinance, which allows the county to temporarily turn down developments if unable to provide current services.
Several developments in the northern part of the county have been denied because of the adequate facilities ordinance, particularly the shortage of classroom space in local schools.
The developer of one of those communities, The Plantations in Moyock, has filed a formal request for a judicial review of the rejection.
Commissioner Eldon L. Miller Jr., who represents the Moyock area, questioned allowing large developments in the southern end of the county while rejecting those to the north.
But other commissioners noted that the amended sketch plans, which include less road footage and combine the former Forbes Landing with a larger tract, reduced the number of new homes by almost a third.
``We're actually decreasing what had been approved, so it's actually a plus for the schools,'' said Paul O'Neal, who represents the Poplar Branch township that includes Grandy.
The first phase, which includes 51 lots, can receive county water. But the remaining areas of the golf course community are not slated for service.
In other action, the board approved a change in its contract with Cablevision to provide cable to county residents in low-density areas for an added cost.
The franchise agreement will allow homes with less than 20 residences within a mile to subscribe to cable television. But an unspecified fee - up to thousands of dollars - will be charged and may not be refunded if the minimum number of subscribers does not sign on within five years.
The hookup charge will be determined by a number of factors, including the length, type and location of the cable. It generally costs the cable company about $20,000 per mile to run lines in Currituck County, a cable official said.
``That's awfully expensive,'' Miller said.
``That's our cost. We're not making a penny on it,'' answered Kathy Winn, system manager with Cablevision.
``This is at least a first step to get cable TV into some of these areas that presently do not have cable TV,'' County Manager Bill Richardson said. by CNB