THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509240048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
The abandoned Coast Guard Station at Oregon Inlet belongs to us, say the heirs of the man who sold the property to the government nearly a century ago.
The heirs have filed suit in Dare County Superior Court in an attempt to get the facility from the county.
In March, Dare County claimed ownership of the 11,361-square-foot Coast Guard station and its 10-acre oceanfront tract on Pea Island.
But last week, a group of 11 people calling themselves ``Station Associates, Inc.'' sued, saying they were the rightful heirs to the property. Only two members of the group live in North Carolina. Other heirs are from California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Florida and Virginia.
The 13-page suit, which names Dare County Manager Terry Wheeler as the sole defendant, seeks the property and $68,000 in damages.
``By virtue of Dare County's wrongful assertion of title to the property, Station Associates . . . have been prevented from selling the property . . . and have lost the profits that would be derived from such a sale. Damages for these lost profits are in excess of $10,000,'' says the suit, filed by Raleigh attorney David Fox of Moore & Van Allen.
Other damages that the plaintiffs seek include $4,000 in legal fees and $54,000 the heirs spent acquiring shares of the property.
The station is valued at $216,800. County tax books value the land at $840,000. Station Associates asked the court for a jury trial.
But Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said Friday that the county may give up its claim to the property instead.
``I don't think we're gonna fight this,'' Owens said. ``We haven't lost interest in the Coast Guard station or the land. But we just don't have the money to fix it up.
``That's a choice piece of property,'' said Owens, who estimated that between $1 million and $1.5 million would be needed for repairs. ``But it's not worth spending the taxpayers' money to maintain it if we could still lose it in a legal battle in the end. We'll probably take a vote on this matter shortly with the board as a whole. Then, the decision will be made.
``I don't want to see that station wind up in the hands of private developers who would turn it into condominiums or something,'' Owens said. ``It should belong to the public. It would make a great research facility for the state.''
A wooden structure with a gabled roof, the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Oregon Inlet is on the southeast side of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, partially encircled by a rock groin. In 1897, Jessie B. Etheridge deeded 10 acres of desolate Pea Island oceanfront to the federal government for $200 to place a lifesaving station there. The U.S. Coast Guard, which took over the lifesaving service, abandoned the Oregon Inlet station in December 1989.
Three years later, the U.S. government deeded its interest in the Coast Guard quarters to Dare County. But Etheridge's heirs say the federal government didn't have any right to give that property away.
By law, they said, it belongs to the family.
The 1897 deed stipulates that Etheridge or his heirs could reclaim ownership of the land once the government stopped using it as originally intended, say the Station Associates.
So in 1992, the heirs hired a caretaker for the station, changed the locks on the historic building, and posted ``No Trespassing'' signs around the property.
The following year, Dare County did not assess any taxes on the Coast Guard station. In 1994, the county sent a $6,129 tax bill to the caretaker.
This year, the county sent him a $6,446 tax bill.
But as of Friday, neither of those bills had been paid, said Dare County spokesman Charlie Hartig. ``The people who claimed ownership of that station demanded that they be listed on the tax rolls and that we accept their tax payments,'' Hartig said.
``But they didn't pay any taxes in 1994 or 1995.''
In their lawsuit, Station Associations say that since the county billed the heirs for taxes, county officials implied that the county did not actually own the property.
``Anyone who claims ownership of land or property will be taxed for that property,'' Hartig said. ``We're still reviewing the legal documents on this case.''
County employees cleaned up some of the land around the Coast Guard station this spring and changed the locks on the building.
Since then, Hartig said, the heirs have removed those locks and installed their own.
Dare County has 30 days to file a written response to the civil suit.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT by CNB