DATE: Thursday, July 10, 1997               TAG: 9707100516

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CURRITUCK                         LENGTH:   61 lines

DEVELOPERS SAY THEY CAN'T SELL PRIME BEACH REAL ESTATE

On the beautiful Currituck Outer Banks where developers have made millions selling tracts of the golden sand, there are about 250 acres not worth the trouble.

Realtors are complaining that tracts on the northern Currituck beaches can't be sold for a profit under current subdivision laws that require paved roads and lot sizes of nearly 3 acres.

They're threatening to sell to the Fish and Wildlife Service which would cost the county thousands of dollars in tax revenue. The Fish and Wildlife Service already owns a 1,635-acre refuge in the area.

``The attitude of most of us is to liquidate,'' Developer Larry Riggs told the Currituck County Commissioners Monday night.

Riggs teamed with Commissioner Ernie Bowden in an attempt to convince the rest of the commissioners to relax the subdivision laws.

Chairman Paul O'Neal assigned county planner Jack Simoneau to look into what it would take to accommodate the developers. Bowden believes there is nothing to do but drop the paved road requirement and decrease the required lot sizes.

``Certainly the developers are looking to sell those properties to relieve themselves of the tax burden,'' Bowden said. ``You may as well say it's a total loss if one of these (federal) agencies purchases that property.''

The 40 to 50 scattered parcels total about 800 acres but only about 250 acres can be developed, Bowden said Wednesday from his home in Carova. The rest is wetlands. All of it sits beyond the end of the paved road north of Corolla.

To divide and sell the land, developers would have to build paved roads from the public beach area to the property. The main public road would still be sand and property owners would still have to use four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Most of the properties are at the back of Carova and Swan Beach subdivisions which, on average, have lot sizes of about one-third of an acre.

``Why would you insist on a far larger lot size than what was originally planned and require paved roads that will all lead to sand paths?'' Bowden said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service would love to buy the property and would probably pay less than the market value of $30,000 an acre, Bowden said.

Instead of taxes, the government pays a minimal fee for its property.

``By no means does that equate to what we would collect in taxes,'' said Dan Scanlon, finance director for Currituck County.

At the tax rate of .64 cents per $100, annual taxes on the 250 acres valued at $30,000 an acre would be $48,000. The federal government pays the county just under $4 an acre each year, about $35,000 for 9,368 acres, according to county tax records.

Also pushing for the land to remain private are duck hunters. County Attorney Bill Romm, who also sits on the Currituck County Game Board, said the Fish and Wildlife Service buys licenses for duck blinds on the shore but does not use them.

Since law requires duck blinds be at least 500 yards apart, duck hunters who use float blinds can't hunt near the shore of the Currituck Outer Banks. Hunters like to position the mobile float blinds on the west side of the Outer Banks near the shore when winds blow from the northeast. The blind permits issued to the Fish and Wildlife Service prevent that.

``You can see they control a staggering amount of coastline,'' Romm said. ``It's a real issue for the game people.''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu