THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280378
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA
STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Debates on residential development in Currituck County usually focus on the timing and number of future houses that affect citizens' lifestyles and county services.
But beginning this evening, county officials may spend more time deliberating the quality of new neighborhoods.
Randall Arendt, a national expert on rural development, will speak at 8 p.m. on ways to build communities without compromising an area's heritage or ecology.
The public is invited to hear Arendt discuss possible rural designs with commissioners, planners, developers and engineers at the Currituck County Senior Citizens Center.
``This is just a different way to think of development in the county,'' said Jack Simoneau, Currituck's planning and inspections director. ``That's what this whole exercise is about - to see what the potentials are.''
Arendt, a vice president with the Natural Lands Trust at Hildacy Farm in Pennsylvania, has outlined two ways to develop a 47-acre, soundfront tract off Tulls Creek Road near Moyock.
Grants from the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study and North Carolina Historic Preservation Association are paying for Arendt's work in Currituck and two other counties, Orange and Craven.
In each case, two hypothetical sketch plans have been drawn up to show the potential in historic and environmentally sensitive areas.
With the Tulls Creek tract, a ``conventional'' layout would show houses on 40,000-square-foot lots lining the waterfront. Open spaces - parcels required to remain undeveloped or for recreational use - would be relegated to less marketable plots.
The other plan is a bit more radical for Currituck County.
Homes would be built on a fourth of that space and clustered along interior lots. Open space would be located along pricier property - the waterfront.
This layout provides everyone buying into the community - not just select homeowners - with an unobstructed view of the Currituck Sound, Simoneau said.
``The design has a tremendous amount of appeal for people who don't want a large tract of land to take care of but want all the amenities, such as the waterfront and wooded areas, that Currituck has,'' Simoneau said.
The second plan for Tulls Creek also preserves a Native American archaeological site that dates as far back as 100 B.C.
A downside, though, may be a little less breathing space between neighbors - something county commissioners have discouraged this year by raising the minimum acreage for many new single-family homes.
Simoneau believes the new approach would still be in line with the county's pastoral past.
``It has the same sense of a large area, so the houses may be closer together, but there's this huge tree-lined area in front of them,'' he said.
``You're keeping the trees. You're staying out of the wetland areas. You're minimizing any impact along the waterfront. So, from an environmental standpoint, it's much more sensitive to the environment,'' Simoneau said.
``This is a way to accommodate development, but at the same time be respectful of the character of the area and historical aspects of the community.'' by CNB