THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070355
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The Board of Commissioners for this Roanoke Island community has endorsed a parcel of land on U.S. Route 64 as the site for a proposed Dare County government complex.
The Manteo board was unanimous Wednesday night in backing the 11-acre Louis Midgett tract near the Manteo Baptist Church as the best location, over two other sites. The others under consideration are near the Dare campus of the College of the Albemarle, and the current Budleigh Street location of the county administrative offices.
A citizen panel studying the proposed complex will meet Thursday night. A site may be recommended for the facility at that meeting.
But a local businessman said Wednesday night he opposes the idea of a government center, and plans to organize opposition to the center.
Christian Zdanski has drafted two petitions, one opposing the Midgett site and another opposing the government center.
``Everyone I talk to is concerned about this,'' Zdanski said. ``We're fighting this battle on three fronts, but first and foremost, our concern is over the Louis Midgett site. We feel that it will destroy the character of the surrounding neighborhood. There are families who have lived in that area for four generations.''
Zdanski said he is also considering legal avenues - such as a class action suit - to block construction of the facility, if it is approved. Dare County Commissioner Clarence Skinner, who heads the county's capital improvements committee, has said the complex will not be built without public support.
``Everyone I talk to says a $25 million facility is just excessive,'' he said. ``I think the memory of the jail, that was supposed to cost $6 million and ended up costing $11 million, is still fresh in everyone's mind.''
Another resident, Bonnie Beacham, said the 290 people in the complex on the Midgett tract would intensify a bad traffic situation. She said the increased flow will endanger students at Manteo Elementary and Manteo Middle schools.
``These children are as important to the future of our town as anything else,'' she said. ``If the building was put at the Midway site, you wouldn't have these problems.''
However, former Manteo Police Chief Hatton Midgett, whose home is located near the Midgett tract, said he favors the location. It would not add to traffic problems, he said.
``Every morning between 8 and 9, it's impossible to get out on the highway. All of the people who would be coming to the new building are already coming to town anyway.''
Manteo Commissioner Lee Tugwell, the town's representative on the capital improvements panel, had asked his colleagues to list their choice from the three sites.
The Midgett site will cost an estimated $900,000. In site evaluation by the Washington, D.C., firm of Spillis, Candela and partners, the Midgett tract ranked ahead of the downtown and Midway parcels. by CNB