THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190364
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
A Virginia Beach developer has offered Currituck County officials at least $1 million and 40 acres in exchange for approving his 601-lot subdivision for the Moyock area.
Alan Resh of Alan Resh Group and Columbus Management told the Board of Commissioners Tuesday night that he would pay an ``impact fee'' of $6,000 for each housing unit sold and give the county a 40-acre tract for a new school, and adjacent recreational site if the panel gives a green light to The Plantations.
Should the board reject the new Moyock housing complex, Resh said, he will build an already-approved golf course community on the property instead.
``We are prepared to move forward with it if our proposal is not accepted at this stage,'' Resh told the group in a work session prior to the board's regular, semimonthly meeting.
When Resh bought the parcel of land south of Survey Road, it already had been earmarked for a 429-lot golf course community called Countryside.
Resh said at an earlier meeting that he had been unaware a subdivision already had been approved for the land when he bought it at a public auction.
The Plantations' sketch plan calls for a common open space subdivision, with most of the required open space comprised of an existing wooded area on the property.
If the land donation is accepted, some of that open space would be shifted to the entrance of the subdivision, which would be located near the Ranchland community.
The area would provide 10 acres for a new elementary school and 30 acres for recreation, such as a ball park.
The subdivision also will run its own water and wastewater treatment plants and not use the county system.
Currituck County officials have been told repeatedly in the past several months that schools, particularly in the Moyock area, are overcrowded and cannot handle additional students.
Resh's monetary and land offers would help offset the financial burdens his new subdivision would place on the county's facilities.
But some commissioners said the offer was not enough.
``These projects do not make the county money,'' Eldon Miller Jr. said.
Miller explained that each household with a school-aged child would pay about $600 in property taxes annually and cost the county more than twice that amount for public education. County costs are compounded when families have more than one child in school.
If building materials are brought from another area, the county also will lose sales tax revenue, he added.
``The net results for the whole project, even if we were to accept this, is still a net loss to the county,'' Miller said.
Resh did state he wanted to hire Currituck County residents while homes are under construction. ``We found that there's a pretty good workforce down here,'' he said.
The board also wondered how quickly The Plantations would be developed. Resh said he anticipated selling 40 to 60 lots annually but did not want to be held to that figure.
The entry-level price for a house in The Plantations would be around $100,000, with the average home costing about $140,000, Resh said.
The Plantations and several other mid- to large-scaled developments are expected to be voted on at the next commissioners' meeting on Feb. 6.
KEYWORDS: DEVELOPMENT OUTER BANKS by CNB