THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604130362
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTIN'S POINT LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Everybody loves a parade . . . well, almost everybody.
Some folks in this upscale Outer Banks community between the sound and the sea say that the Outer Banks Parade of Homes is a royal pain in the neck.
And they've virtually closed the doors to the two homes in Martin's Point that were a part of the Outer Banks Home Builders Association's annual showcase of new houses in Corolla, Nags Head, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Ocean Sands and Manteo.
Tickets are $5, and the parade continues through Sunday. Proceeds go to charity. There have been no problems with the other 18 home sites.
About 200 people toured the Martin's Point homes without incident on Thursday. But Friday morning, the Martin's Point Homeowners' Association canceled open access to parade homes in their community, reducing the number of possible buyers to a trickle.
Now, home shoppers can go in, but only if accompanied by the individual homeowners.
``We had to respond to the concerns of our residents,'' said Muriel Burgun, vice president of the Martin's Point Homeowners Association.
Every resident who contacted the association, she said, was opposed to the parade of people through their guard-gated community.
But the association's actions have angered home builders and some Martin's Point residents. The dispute may end up in court.
``I'm going to retain an attorney,'' said builder and Martin's Point homeowner Don Jennings, who moved into his $290,000 home a year ago and has won awards from the local builders' association for his designs. ``There's a minority of people in this community who are trying to run everything.''
But Burgun said allowing unrestricted access to the community is not consistent with its long-standing covenants.
``We have a policy, and that is not to allow people into Martin's Point unless the guards are notified by a homeowner to allow that individual in at a certain time. The Parade of Homes was advertised before anyone received permission to come here. We can't change a policy that has been in effect for so long.''
But the past-president of the Dare County Homebuilders Association was critical of the action.
``We really believe the ivory tower concept has overstepped it's bounds,'' said Skip Saunders. ``This is really sad because all of the proceeds for this were going to our scholarship fund for Dare County students, and to the Habitat for Humanity.''
Saunders said the action violates a verbal agreement reached by the builders and the civic association.
``We didn't have anything in writing, but we had a verbal agreement,'' Saunders said. ``I thought initially that the other builder (Don Jennings) had contacted the civic association early on about including his home in the show. He didn't. I didn't come in with our home until near the deadline. But when the advance publicity about the show came out, the Martin's Point folks were angry.''
Saunders then discussed the matter with homeowners' association President Ralph Zeiss.
``I told Mr. Zeiss we would put together a flier to give to the people as they came through, laying out some guidelines, and asking them to respect the homeowners already in Martin's Point. I faxed it to him, and he faxed back some changes. We made those, and after I faxed it back to him, I didn't get a negative reply.''
Zeiss was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment.
Burgun, however, said that after the homeowners received complaints about noise and traffic from residents, they had to act.
``The guidelines that were agreed to were not followed by the people who came in. It's an unfortunate situation. There are no winners in this.''
Sellers were able to escort potential buyers to their homes Friday. But only about six had made home tours there by mid-afternoon.
``We're not talking about riffraff coming in here,'' Saunders said. ``I don't think the civic association is representing the wishes of a majority of people who live here. We've had people from Martin's Point come and pay $5 to go through the homes.''
At least one Martin's Point homeowner is angry about the community group's actions.
``I feel that what they're doing to these people is wrong,'' said Alison W. Haskett, a Martin's Point resident for the past six years. ``People have been parking in front of my house and I don't see anything wrong with it.'' by CNB