THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050284
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 60 lines
Baum Bay Harbor homeowners said Monday they want some answers about the Pirates Moor project, a 44-unit townhouse complex proposed near their Colington Island subdivision.
John Luke, who lives on Baum Bay Drive near the planned project, told the Dare County Board of Commissioners that the homeowners aren't necessarily opposed to development. He said, however, that they fear low-income housing will attract undesirable elements to their neighborhood.
Pirates Moor Town Homes was recently granted conditional site approval by the Dare County Planning Department. Plans call for 12 townhouses with a total of 44 two-bedroom and three-bedroom units. Rentals would range from $450 to $600 a month.
An unsigned letter circulated recently by ``Property Owners of Baum Bay'' said that if the project is built, local residents will no longer feel safe with their doors unlocked or their yard possessions unchained.
``This project is going to impact you, your family, your property, and it will not be a positive impact,'' the letter said. ``We must act now and we must act in numbers to stop the detriment of our community.''
But Ray Sturza, planning department director, said the development was not pitched as ``low income'' or ``affordable,'' although the developer is competing for federal tax credits that are used to finance affordable housing.
Sturza said the deal may collapse before it's even off the ground because the contract will likely expire before the tax credits clear.
``The key to this thing is the tax credit,'' Sturza said. ``If that doesn't happen, I think the project's dead.''
Developer Gene Meyers of Laurel Run Development Corp. of Morehead, Ky., had made an almost identical proposal last spring for Roanoke Island. The proposal never passed the initial planning stage.
Meyers' representative, Susie Harris of Sea Haven Realty in Kitty Hawk, said Laurel Run's $300,000 contract with Tar Heel Land Co. may fall through because of several glitches, including the tax credit delay.
Harris said Wild Geese Landing, a project similar to Pirates Moor, is about to break ground at a site in Powells Point in Currituck County.
The tax credit program has replaced the Farmers' Home Loan mortgage program and U.S. Housing and Urban Development programs as the financing method for affordable housing.
Renters in the qualifying town home projects must make no more than 60 percent of the median income in the county - about $24,000 for a family of four in Dare County. Another requirement is that renters can pay no more than 30 percent of their adjusted gross income for rent and utilities.
``It's for young, moderate-income families, or someone like a professional who transfers to this area,'' Harris said. ``We'd hope that it would go through. This is a first-class project.''
R.V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr, board chairman, assured Luke that Baum Bay residents would be kept apprised of the project.
``We have no intention of shoving anything down you people's throats,'' he told Luke.
Owens later expressed frustration about county residents complaining about the lack of affordable housing, then objecting when such is proposed.
``How are we going to do anything about it if people keep fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting?'' Owens asked. ``I'm just about at a loss.'' by CNB