DATE: Tuesday, June 17, 1997                TAG: 9706170298

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:  109 lines

COLINGTON ISLAND GETS ZONING - AND OK OF TOWNHOMES

Colington Island now has a zoning map, put into effect Monday with the 4-3 approval by the Dare County Board of Commissioners for the crabbing community founded three centuries ago.

Despite widespread objection by Baum Bay Harbor residents, the final map will permit construction of 44-unit townhouses in the Pirates Moor section of the residential neighborhood.

Commissioner Cheryl Byrd urged the board to consider the impact that the so-called affordable housing could have on the area, backing concerns neighbors voiced at the May 19 public hearing about safety and aesthetics.

``I think the unknown there is what scares the people,'' she said during a brief presentation.

Approval for the Pirates Moor townhouses was first granted in the 1980s, when a developer built two units on a 40-acre parcel near Baum Bay Harbor. For unexplained reasons, the developer abandoned the project. Last year, Kentucky developer Gene Meyers planned to revive the project, but tax credits he applied for under a federal affordable housing program fell through.

The new owner of the property, Ed Moore, has submitted plans to planners to construct 44 more units at the site. Moore has also applied for tax credits in exchange for providing moderate-income housing.

In his statement to the board, Planning Department Director Ray Sturza attributed Baum Bay Harbor residents' opposition as a ``NIMBY'' (not in my back yard) issue centered on the perception of the people who buy affordable housing.

``Once it was revealed that this program was being pursued, any hope for an unemotional approach to the issue was lost,'' he said. ``Images of `undesirables,' fear of the unknown neighbor, all of the emotional buttons took over.''

After numerous workshops held with the community since last August, planners devised a plan that included four new zoning districts for Colington, giving the map enough flexibility to include crab shedders and other existing businesses. All of Colington except Colington Harbour had been zoned S-1, which permitted virtually all uses.

After motions by Byrd and Commissioner Richard Johnson to adopt alternative maps died, the majority voted to approve the draft map as recommended by the Planning Board. Commissioner Shirley Hassell sided with Byrd and Johnson. The majority said they feared that county could be sued if zoners prevented Moore from improving his property.

In other business Monday, Wanchese resident Jeff Nycz told the board that hunters are strongly opposed to the U.S. Air Force plan to close Perimeter Road around the Dare County Navy Bombing Range.

In its June 16 written statement to the commission, the Air Force said that it and the U.S. Navy are reviewing public access to the range. The Air Force recently recommended that the road around the bombing impact area should be closed to the public because of ``hazards associated with the area,'' including injury from lasers.

But in his presentation to the board Monday, Nycz said that Dare County was promised 30 years ago by the military that the land would remain open to hunters and outdoors people. He also said there has never been an incident stemming from the public using the land.

``Generation after generation after generation of hunters have gone out there,'' he said. ``I go to that bombing range quite a few times a day. The hunters will tell you one thing. The Air Force will tell you one thing. The Navy will tell you one thing. I think there's a lack of communication.''

Nycz said more than 500 people signed a petition to ask that the land remain open. Hunters contend that closing the 4-mile stretch of road would limit access to the gameland area, where owls, wolves, deer and bear live. He also said the area is favorite bird-watching spot.

Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said the federal government has repeatedly assured county citizens that they'd be able to keep using the land.

``I'm hoping the Department of Defense will work with your group,'' Owens told Nycz. ``We have never, never argued against the bombing range. In fact, we welcomed it. But in turn, they've given very little in return.

``I feel like we owe it to these folks . . . and we should fight very hard and fast'' to keep the range open, he said.

Commissioner Douglas Langford said the military is not sticking to the original deal. ``I guess we get the feeling like the Indians had - they keep on changing the treaty.''

After the board adopted a resolution opposing closure of Perimeter Road, Owens told the group of hunters with Nycz to write to their federal representatives.

``That'll stir them up,'' he said.

Also Monday:

County employees honored Owens with a plaque thanking him for his 25 years of service to Dare County. Although he is still awaiting approval from the state House of Representatives, Owens is set to leave local politics for a seat on the state Utilities Commission.

The presentation attracted a standing-room-only audience of county workers.

``If it does not happen, if it does not come about,'' Owens said, ``I will not shed a tear because I hate to leave Dare County.''

Recreational boater Terry Gannon asked the board to take advantage of tourism funds to boost recreational and transient boating in Dare County.

Asked County Manager Terry Wheeler and Attorney H. Al Cole to look into a possible reciprocal agreement with the state-regulated utility, Carolina Water Service.

Under the agreement, in an emergency, Dare County would provide water for overwash-prone areas on the Currituck beaches. In return, Dare County would receive water from the utility if a major storm hit. This pact would be in effect only in an emergency, Owens said.

Approved an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to provide up to $10,000 worth of work on state-maintained highways annually. Requests for road repairs would come from Wheeler, following consultation with commissioners. The agreement, officials say, will speed up the process for getting state-maintained roads fixed.

Got an update on the proposed Dare County dialysis unit. Owens told the board it hopes to have a proposal from Pitt Memorial Hospital next month.

The board is also considering building the dialysis center on recently purchased property in Manteo. An originally considered location at Sea Holly Square is not economically feasible, Owens said.

``The cost to renovate that building would be about $460,000,'' Owens said. ``Then we still would have to pay rent on the building.''

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