DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190527

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CAMDEN                            LENGTH:   67 lines

CAMDEN HOPES NEW LAWS EASE GROWTH

County Commissioners hope a new, strict set of development laws will help them avoid the same growing pains Currituck County went through in the 1980s.

Camden still doesn't have a fast food outlet or a chain supermarket, but its convenience to Hampton Roads, rural setting and relatively low cost of land has begun to draw developers' attention.

``Currituck is on one side of us and Pasquotank County is on the other side,'' said H.B. Briggs, chairman of Camden's citizen planning board. ``It's inevitable we're going to catch it.''

A 2-inch thick document, called the Unified Development Ordinance, allows commissioners to refuse developments that might strain police and fire services, lower property values, threaten public safety, or import more students than local schools can handle. Planning experts say residential developments never pay their own way, anyway.

Until now, a landowner could develop almost as he pleased, said Mike Frangos, Camden County's first and only planner, hired last year. Commissioners were bound to accept the plans. The new ordinance allows commissioners to scrutinize plans very early in the approval process.

``We're going to be able to jump on it a little bit earlier at the sketch plan phase,'' Frangos said.

The Camden planning board patterned the development ordinance after Currituck's development laws. Briggs is one of the primary authors of development restrictions for both Camden and Currituck. He volunteers as Camden's planning board chairman and works as a planner for Currituck County. Briggs, Frangos and the planning board have worked on the plan for over a year.

In writing a strict guide now, Camden officials are abiding by the principle that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Ten years ago, Whitehall Shores was the only subdivision in Camden County. Since then, developers have built seven other subdivisions, and none of them have filled.

Camden's population has increased from 5,904 in 1990 to the latest count of 6,232.

But Camden building inspectors have issued 73 permits for new houses already this year, compared to just 33 permits in 1987.

``The subdivisions are there. The lots are ready,'' Frangos said. ``The construction and major development haven't quite happened yet.''

At two public hearings this month, residents approved wholeheartedly of the subdivision restrictions.

The laws come too late for residents on Muddy Road in South Mills who fought to stop development of Country Meadows subdivision. Travel on Muddy Road, a narrow, unpaved right-of-way, is unsafe for more than just a few residents, they said. Many of the commissioners agreed, but lacking any zoning laws, they were unable to stop it.

The development ordinance has received opposition for some of its parts.

Owners of Ambrose Signs, an outdoor advertising company, opposed the plan's restrictions on signs. The new sign codes mimic those of Currituck County and create far more limitations than the state code.

Frangos said Tuesday he would replace the new sign codes with the old ones and let the commissioners decide.

Commissioners will likely change a few small restrictions of the proposal and approve it at the next board meeting on Dec. 1, Frangos said.

``I think it goes a little too far,'' said Commissioner Larry Lamb, who runs one of a handful of convenience stores in the county.

But he said he would not oppose passing it. ``I like Camden County like it is,'' he said. ``But I know it's not going to stay that way.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map

NORTH CAROLINA

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