THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040559
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
A local developer, who had hoped sentiments had shifted in the past year, has found out Currituck County leaders still want to control growth on the mainland.
The Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 Monday night against rezoning 136.26 acres from agriculture to residential to accommodate a 111-lot subdivision that would be known as Dozier Acres.
Moyock Township Commissioner Eldon L. Miller Jr., whose previous motion to approve the rezoning failed, cast the dissenting vote.
The second vote, on a proposal to deny the rezoning, came slowly. Ernie Bowden, the board chairman, asked more than once for commissioners to make another motion. When none did, Bowden moved to reject the request.
``The county has to take control of this growth until the proper facilities are in place,'' he said.
Commissioner At-Large Owen Etheridge of Shawboro said that ``if we rezone this property, then we open the door and destroy everything that I feel I was elected for.''
Etheridge and two other commissioners - Paul O'Neal of Coinjock and Miller - were voted into office last fall with a mandate to restrict growth.
Last winter, the five-member board turned down new residential developments that would have overburdened county facilities and services, such as schools, police and fire protection.
One of those denials, for the 601-lot Moyock community called The Plantations, is being legally challenged. A Currituck Superior Court judge is expected to hear the case later this month.
Commissioners last February also approved measures that further controlled growth in the county, including increasing the minimum lot size in agriculturally zoned areas to three acres.
A small percentage of Dozier Acres already was zoned residential, which allows lots of at least 40,000 square feet, along Dozier and Tulls Creek roads.
But the rest of the land was designated for agriculture and needed to be rezoned to allow developer E. Fletcher Humphries to keep Dozier Acres' original 111 lots.
Humphries said Monday that because his development had been tabled before the new growth controls took effect, it should fall under the older rules.
``I'm bringing you a project that will help pay these taxes and help promote growth for Currituck County,'' Humphries argued.
The developer also questioned why his project was poorly received while a 44-unit, low-income apartment complex near Powells Point was approved in late August.
Commissioner Gene Gregory, who represents the Crawford Township where Dozier Acres would be built, responded: ``Subdivisions are losers. I don't care what kind they are.''
The property taxes collected from homeowners generally fall short of the expenses the county pays for public education, Gregory explained.
About a half-dozen residents at a public hearing spoke against Dozier Acres, some because of road conditions and others to note the poor drainage and possible contamination from a wastewater treatment plant.
``I don't see how you're going to build on that land without bringing in tons and tons of dirt,'' said Jason Joseph, who has lived on Dozier Road for the past 16 years.
Others echoed fears expressed at previous public hearings on new developments.
``You've got problems already,'' Stacey Joseph said, referring to the severe overcrowding at Moyock Elementary School. ``You should be focusing on the children already here and the water problems you have today.''
Children from Dozier Acres would be served by Central Elementary or Knapp Elementary, which now is a junior high school but will change once a new high school in Barco is completed next fall. by CNB