DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710020549

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NAGS HEAD                         LENGTH:   54 lines

HEARING SLATED ON MORATORIUM FOR GROWTH OF WATERCRAFT SITES

A six-month municipal ban on site plans for new water scooter rental operations and on expansion of existing businesses could be approved as early as next month.

THe Nags Head Board of Commissioners Wednesday set a public hearing for Nov. 5 on the proposed moratorium. The temporary ban would give the town time to establish regulations on the craft on waters within town limits before the 1998 tourist season.

The moratorium has the support of town planners, as well as Police Chief Charles Cameron and Fire Chief Tim Morrison.

Mayor Renee Cahoon said new ordinances governing the popular watercraft will be drafted with the help of local industry professionals.

``We're going to talk to people within the industry to try to get some idea as to what they think the limit should be,'' Cahoon said. ``The magic number may be 12 or it may be 25. That's why I think that people from the industry need to get involved on the front end.''

Bill Meredith, a former Nags Head commissioner and owner of a Jet Ski rental operation, said his concern is the number of the craft in the area.

``We have more personal watercraft rentals in 1 1/2 square miles than any other place on the East

Coast,'' Meredith said. ``The thing that bothers me is wholesale rentals - advertising in Corolla and Duck and Cape Hatteras to get people to rent. That means big numbers at a cheap price. It's not a discount business.''

Last summer, a customer at Meredith's business lost a leg after being struck by a water scooter at another establishment. He favors establishing zones for each business to keep such incidents from happening in the future.

``I think if the town would set up zones and limit it to say, eight watercraft per zone, that would work,'' Meredith said.

In an advisory letter, North Carolina Assistant Attorney General Robin Smith wrote that the establishments of zones for use by individual rental operations may not pass state constitutional muster.

``The Constitution prohibits the state (and by extension local governments) from extending exclusive privileges to a person except in return for public services.''

For example, governments can grant exclusivity to public utilities, because it is for the public welfare, not individual recipients.

But Town Attorney Tom White Jr. said it may be possible to craft an ordinance creating zones that could survive a court test.

``If the vendors would agree to it and the town would commit to it, and that it could be enforced, it's a concept that could be made to work,'' he said.

Meredith said six months is ample time to draft a water scooter ordinance.

``They've been talking about it for years,'' Meredith said. ``It can be done in one meeting. I know it could be done a lot quicker.'' KEYWORDS: WATER SCOOTER PERSONAL WATERCRAFT JET SKI

REGULATION

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