THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 17, 1995 TAG: 9505170055
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
County commissioners have added minor touches to recent growth controls that should make living in Currituck more affordable for some - while keeping the rural feel of the place.
The Board of Commissioners Monday evening unanimously voted for a number of changes and additions to the county's Unified Ordinance Development that builds on previously approved measures.
``This is more of a touching up of the ordinances,'' Jack Simoneau, director of planning and inspections, said Tuesday.
Under the changes, landowners in agriculturally zoned areas - which comprise most of the county - will be allowed to create up to five 40,000-square-foot lots.
In February, a three-acre minimum was established for new residential lots in agricultural areas. All other properties must now be at least 40,000 square feet in order to build a private home.
The measures were intended to discourage densely populated developments and help the county keep its country feel by spacing out residential units on the mainland.
During a public hearing, however, some county residents complained that the three-acre minimum would price new homeowners - particularly young natives - out of the market.
Shortly after the ordinance was changed, commissioners made an exemption for family members who wanted to give less than three acres to relatives.
The newest provision ``will cover the farmers who might want to sell off one or two lots without selling three acres of land,'' Simoneau said.
Water and sewer districts will be mandatory for future private water and wastewater treatment plants.
Funded through a special tax levied on landowners within the development, the measure should prevent the entire county from paying for the project should a system's owner go bankrupt, officials said. That happened recently in Wake and Orange counties.
Homeowners associations will have more requirements under the new rules, and ``open space'' is now better defined.
At least half of all designated open space within a residential subdivision must be developable. Wetlands and swamps will not count toward the county-mandated open property. But farmland and tree farms will.
``There is a value to farmland. And it adds to the rural character of the area, obviously,'' Simoneau said. ``Down the road, that may become an important feature.'' by CNB