
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994                    TAG: 9406230462 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B4    EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA  
SOURCE: BY MARGARET TALEV, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940623                                 LENGTH: MANTEO

OPPOSITION TO AIRPORT EXPANSION WINS PRAISE AT LAND-USE HEARING

{LEAD} About 45 people turned out Wednesday for a public hearing called by the county commissioners to discuss the final draft of the 1994 Dare County Land Use Plan.

The draft, which updates the plan for the first time since 1987, attempts to revise guidelines to manage growth and development in the unincorporated portions of Dare County.

{REST} In its draft form, this year's version clarifies wetland regulations and policies on annexations, marina development, estuarine bulkheads, beach nourishment, tourism and petrochemical energy.

Clarification of the county's policy on altering freshwater wetlands may make it possible for many who were denied permits to alter isolated wetland pockets to do so. The 1994 draft explains that the policy is intended to stop the loss of broad expanses of wetlands, but not isolated pockets. When a 1993 rule change required the N.C. Division of Coastal Management to review permit applications, the division denied many permits to alter wetland pockets because the language of the 1987 plan was unclear.

Several of the citizens who spoke at Wednesday's hearing voiced their support for the county's stand against on-site airport expansion discussed in the draft. It reads, ``Dare County does not support the expansion of the Dare County Regional Airport at its current location.''

Robin S. Morgan, co-president of the county chapter of The League of Women Voters, said her group opposed a plan set forth in the draft which would annex the wetlands between Manteo and Pirate's Cove into the town of Manteo by 1999.

Morgan also criticized as ``incomplete'' the county's plan to manage groundwater and assure safe drinking water.

Commissioners who attended the hearing were Vice Chairman Clarence P. Skinner, Douglas W. Langford, Geneva H. Perry and Robert G. Williams. They said they would wait until July 5, when they will meet with the other commissioners, before deciding whether to approve the draft.

The plan also must be certified by the Coastal Resource Commission before it can be a binding document, said Raymond P. Sturza, the county planning director.

A non-circulating copy of the draft is available to the public at the Dare County Library in Manteo. by CNB