THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507220250
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Long : 132 lines
Residents of this Outer Banks town have voted against serving liquor by the drink four times in the past 13 years.
But the General Assembly passed a bill this week that will allow owners of a restaurant at a sprawling Manteo development, Pirate's Cove, to apply for a liquor license.
Bartenders at Pirate's Cove Restaurant may be able to begin pouring booze by October.
``We feel very good about this decision. It's appropriate for us. All of the restaurants on the beach have liquor by the drink. And it's been a real detriment to us in the past not to be able to serve mixed beverages,'' Pirate's Cove Managing Partner Glenn Futrell said Friday.
``Many people have left our restaurant and gone elsewhere when they found we didn't serve liquor. It's a business thing for us. It was the right thing to do.''
The pastor of Manteo Baptist Church, however, said allowing Pirate's Cove to serve liquor is exactly the wrong thing to do.
``Pirate's Cove asked to be annexed to Manteo. If they want to be part of this town, they should have to abide by the same rules as the rest of the town,'' the Rev. Bruce Warrington said.
``I'm hurt and disappointed with the integrity of our governmental system,'' said Warrington, whose congregation led a successful campaign against a liquor-by-the-drink referendum last year. ``The thing that really saddens me is that the politicians are going around the will of the people. The people have made their views known about this issue again and again. This was a violation of democratic principles - and a violation of the rights of all the citizens of Manteo.
``It was not above-board politics that got this legislation passed. It was not the will of the people,'' Warrington said. ``It was the will of the wealthy and the influential.''
About six months ago, Futrell asked state Rep. William T. Culpepper III, D-Edenton, about creating an exemption that would allow Pirate's Cove to serve liquor.
An upscale marina and housing community on a pile of dredge spoil in the Roanoke Sound, Pirate's Cove includes hundreds of homes and townhouses, 100 deep-draft boat slips that are each 40 feet long, a store, tennis courts, swimming pool and a 125-seat restaurant with 15 additional bar seats that opened in 1990. A fleet of charter boats and two head boats are moored at the wide, wooden docks. Transients keep their boats at the harbor for weeks.
Although the development is about two miles across a salt marsh from Manteo, Pirate's Cove is officially considered part of Manteo. Its owners asked to be annexed into the Roanoke Island town because they needed municipal water and sewage to keep building.
While the rest of Manteo's eateries are allowed to serve only wine and beer, the Pirate's Cove restaurant will be allowed to apply for an ABC liquor permit Oct. 1.
``Dare County has never approved selling mixed beverages. But Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head have,'' Culpepper said Friday from his Raleigh office. ``There are already numerous provisions for counties that permit mixed beverages under special circumstances. Sports club exceptions, special ABC areas and private clubs already can receive liquor licenses in counties that prohibit mixed beverages.
``Pirate's Cove is extraordinarily important to Dare County and the entire Northeastern North Carolina region,'' Culpepper said. ``I thought it was a fair request that they be considered for a special exemption.
``I drew the legislation extremely tight so that it would only apply to one restaurant in the entire state. We thought it was a reasonable request. The people of Pirate's Cove deserve it.''
Culpepper didn't introduce a separate bill to deal with the Pirate's Cove provision. Instead, he added an amendment to Senate Bill 57 three weeks ago. That bill con contains special liquor provisions for three counties other than Dare.
Last week, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill - including the Pirate's Cove provision - without fanfare. The state Senate approved it on Thursday.
The bill now goes to Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. If Hunt signs it, it will become law.
``I concurred with Culpepper on his feelings about this issue. After reviewing his provision, I found it was limited to the Pirate's Cove area. It won't affect Manteo,'' Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, said Friday.
``Pirate's Cove is really much more a part of Nags Head than Manteo anyway,'' Basnight said. ``It's about as fine a marina as you'll find on the East Coast. And there are already so many special provisions for liquor by the drink in North Carolina, in other resort areas.
``I feel the decision about liquor by the drink in Manteo should be made by Manteo residents,'' Basnight said. ``But this will not in any way impact the town of Manteo - except that they'll share some of the new revenue.''
Culpepper said, ``Neither Basnight nor I would have allowed this provision to apply to the town of Manteo. I know Manteo has defeated liquor-by-the-drink several times already. There is no move afoot to put anything like this in the town of Manteo.''
Manteo residents have made their feelings known at the polls four times, Warrington said. If they had known this special provision for Pirate's Cove was pending, the minister said, some citizens would have protested it loudly. But Warrington and his congregation didn't find out about the pending legislation until last week.
Many General Assembly aides and legislative assistants were still unaware of the bill on Friday. Because it was not a separate bill, it was not well publicized. Warrington said elected officials had a responsibility to let their constituents know this issue was resurfacing - even if only for Pirate's Cove.
``When I finally heard about it last week, I polled the deacons and we wrote letters to Basnight and Culpepper opposing the plan,'' Warrington said. ``If they didn't know the will of the people on this issue, it might be different. But they do know. And they still won't play ball according to fair, decent government.''
The wording of the bill is very specific - intended only to include Pirate's Cove in the liquor-by-the-drink exemption. Culpepper said he wrote it expressly that way so other coastal properties would not be affected. Future development, however, could fall under the provisions.
``The ABC Commission may issue the permits . . . without approval at an election, to a restaurant operated as a part of a deep saltwater marina,'' the bill says. ``A deep saltwater marina is a marina that . . . is located in a county that borders the Atlantic Ocean and that has a beautification district MEMO: NARROW SCOPE OF THE LAW
The wording of the new law is very specific - intended only to
include Pirate's Cove in the liquor by the drink exemption. Culpepper
said he wrote it expressly that way so other coastal properties would
not be affected. Future development, however, could fall under the
provisions.
``The ABC Commission may issue the permits ... without approval at an
election, to a restaurant operated as a part of a deep saltwater
marina,'' says the new law. ``A deep saltwater marina is a marina that
... is located in a county that borders the Atlantic Ocean and that has
a beautification district; ... and has at least 100 boat slips that are
at least 40 feet in length.'' by CNB