THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100495
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Until recently, Patty Stark and her neighbors on Trout Street continually found themselves in a rut.
The private, dirt access road leading into their small waterfront subdivision, Tulls Bay Colony, was rife with holes.
``It was like driving through pothole city,'' Stark, a Moyock Elementary School teacher, said Wednesday. ``It was pretty bad.''
It also was pretty messy. ``I'd wash my van and the next day it would look like mud,'' Stark said.
The situation for Trout Street residents improved when the state picked up responsibility for the road. Now, the North Carolina Department of Transportation works to keep things running more smoothly on the graveled surface.
However, other private access subdivisions in Currituck County, particularly older ones that have had property turnovers, still have a bumpy road ahead of them.
To improve the conditions along these dirt drives, Currituck County planners and commissioners are considering an ordinance change that would require state standards for most private roads.
Under the proposal, private roads for subdivisions of two or more lots would be have to be developed with a 6- to 8-inch gravel base. Such an upgrade could cost homeowners thousands of dollars.
A homeowners' association ``or similar legal entity'' also would be responsible for maintaining a road alongside lots that do not border a state street or highway.
``Most of the problems we have are with older subdivisions,'' Currituck Planning and Inspections Director Jack Simoneau said at Monday's public hearing on the issue.
Initial property owners usually keep up the 25- to 45-foot-wide roadways. But subsequent owners sometimes let things lapse.
``There's not that loyalty to maintain that right-of-way,'' County Manager Bill Richardson said.
The Unified Development Ordinance amendment, which could be up for approval at the Aug. 21 Board of Commissioners meeting, might impact families who subdivide land so other members can live on their property. Because two houses that share a road are considered a subdivision, the road would be liable under the ordinance.
The amendment also could affect those who intentionally make their homes inaccessible.
``If I wanted to be a hermit and dig ditches that only I could pass, by this I wouldn't be able to do it?'' Owen Etheridge, the at-large commissioner, asked during Monday's hearing.
``That would be correct,'' Simoneau answered. by CNB