THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508220286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
Pirate's Cove Marina needed some extra parking spaces.
State transportation officials said they didn't need all of the right-of-way land at the western base of the Washington Baum Bridge.
So the North Carolina Department of Transportation swapped about an acre of state land to Pirate's Cove.
This month, workers constructed 18 new parking spaces on that land, on the north side of U.S. Route 64, next to the marina's existing parking area.
In exchange, Pirate's Cove will give the Transportation Department an acre of land somewhere else on Roanoke Island.
Some local residents have criticized the land swap - saying that private corporations should not be allowed to benefit from public right-of-ways. Highway officials, however, said the situation is a win-win deal.
``It is not an uncommon occurrence to dispose of state right-of-way. It is a little bit more uncommon to trade right-of-way. But we've done that recently in Henderson County and the city of Charlotte,'' Department of Transportation engineer Bill Wilkins said Monday from his Raleigh office.
``In this case, the state of North Carolina is coming out ahead. Not only are we getting another acre to replace the one we're giving up. Our taxpayers will get another parking lot, too.''
Although the new parking area is owned by Pirate's Cove and accessible only to its patrons, marina officials also plan to build a second, 45-space parking area beneath the Baum Bridge. That lot also will be constructed on state right-of-way. It will be owned by the highway department and run by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in conjunction with an adjacent boat ramp.
Pirate's Cove patrons will be able to reach this extra parking area through the marina's other two lots. But the public also will be able to use the 45-space parking area by driving along a gravel road beneath the bridge.
As of Monday afternoon, officials with the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management said they had not yet approved plans for the 45-space parking area.
All permits are in place for the lot that was built this month, Division of Coastal Management spokesman Ed Harrell said from his Elizabeth City office.
``No wetlands were filled for that parking lot. So we modified an existing CAMA permit and issued approval for construction on Aug. 3,'' Harrell said. ``We're looking at that second area now.''
According to Wilkins, the 35-foot wide, 600-foot-long stretch of right-of-way that houses the new Pirate's Cove parking lot was retained by the highway department in case state construction workers needed to create new wetlands after filling some in other areas. No project had designated that site for wetland mitigation yet. So as long as Pirate's Cove could provide a similar site, he said, the highway department did not need that land.
Barney O'Quinn, assistant manager of the Department of Transportation's planning and environmental branch, said Pirate's Cove wants to give the highway department about an acre of land ``on Roanoke Island, adjacent to the Croatan Sound.'' O'Quinn said he could not be more specific about where the alternative site is located.
``In terms of future wetland creation sites,'' he said, ``it's of equal or greater value than that right-of-way was.''
R.V. Owens III, who represents Dare County on the state Board of Transportation, said Pirate's Cove officials have been working on the land-swap deal for more than a year and a half. The right-of-way, he said, was of no use to anyone but the marina - because that is the only adjacent property. As far as he knew it was not part of the state-controlled Roanoke Voyages Corridor, he said.
Roanoke Island Commission Chairman John F. Wilson IV, however, said the right-of-way - and new parking lot - are, indeed, part of the Roanoke Voyages Corridor that state officials created 14 years ago. Appointed members of a Roanoke Voyages Corridor Sub-Committee are supposed to approve all construction within that area - which extends along both sides of the highway on Roanoke Island from bridge to bridge.
Pirate's Cove and transportation department officials never appraised that committee of their plans.
``I didn't know anything about that parking lot until I saw it last week,'' Wilson said. ``I'm always concerned if the Roanoke Voyages Corridor Committee didn't issue a permit for a project. This is a situation I've never heard of before: parking lots being built in public trust lands.''
Manteo Building Inspector Fred Featherstone said he was aware of plans for the new parking lot before it was built. But since the site is about 25 feet outside town limits, Manteo officials don't have any jurisdiction over that area.
``All of Pirate's Cove, including the old marina parking lot, is officially part of Manteo,'' Featherstone said. ``But that new parking area - and a lot of Pirate's Cove's landscape - infringes on DOT right-of-way and is not within the town limits.''
Pirate's Cove Managing Partner Glenn Futrell did not return telephone calls Monday. The cost of the parking lot and specific site of the swapped land are unknown. Wilkins said both areas will be appraised by state transportation officials soon.
``If the area he's giving us for wetland mitigation is worth less than the right-of-way we gave him, he'll pay us the difference,'' said Wilkins. ``If it's worth more, we make out even better.''
Pirate's Cove is a sprawling marina and housing community about two miles across a salt marsh from downtown Manteo.
Completion of the new parking area marks the second time this summer that Pirate's Cove has been in the news. In July, state legislators passed an unannounced law that would have enabled the restaurant at Pirate's Cove Marina to serve mixed drinks - despite a town-wide prohibition of liquor sales at eateries. That law was abruptly overturned after Manteo officials complained about the process and special provisions. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON, Staff
The land for this newly paved parking lot at Pirate's Cove,
accessible only to its patrons, was part of a land-swap deal with
the state.
by CNB