THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190600
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Currituck County, which has hardly been a haven for apartment dwellers, is considering further limitations on where such housing can exist.
The county's planning board and Board of Commissioners have been discussing an ordinance that would restrict multifamily housing to residential-agricultural zones.
Apartments and townhouses currently are allowed in general business zones throughout the county.
If general-business zoning is deleted as an option, developers would have about 3 percent or 4 percent less land in the county to consider for housing of three units or more - and none of it would be south of the Coinjock area.
``This ordinance does not affect duplexes on individual lots,'' said Jack Simoneau, the Currituck County planning and inspections director.
The ordinance, however, was apparently inspired by the recent approval of a 44-unit apartment complex in Powells Point.
``I have received more comments about that particular decision than any decision this board's had an opportunity to make,'' said Owen Etheridge, the county commissioner at-large.
Most of the calls have been from people upset over the type of housing being erected, Etheridge said.
The developers of Wild Geese Landing presented their project as a way to accommodate young professionals, such as school teachers, who have had a difficult time finding affordable housing in the county.
But the apartments will be part of a government-credit program with entry income ceilings of $16,750 for one person and about $27,000 for a family of six. Most professionals, including teachers, are paid more than $16,750 annually.
Commissioner Paul O'Neal, who represents the Powells Point area, has received a lot of phone calls from residents, too.
``They don't want their community to become a haven for low-income housing,'' O'Neal said. ``They're concerned with typical low-income housing that could put a larger strain on social services, sheriff's department, fire and rescue and so forth.
``And they just don't want that in their neighborhood.''
Officials with Sea Haven Construction of Kitty Hawk, which is building the $2.8 million complex, said people have the wrong idea.
``I just wish they would allow us to do the project and see how nice this is going to be,'' said Gary Dunstan, the company's general manager.
``This place will be supervised and have on-site management,'' Dunstan said. ``There won't be any junk cars. There won't be any toys or debris or what have you. This will be a maintained structure. And it will have landscaping.''
The apartments also would provide an alternative to mobile homes and trailer parks still prevalent on the mainland, said Dunstan.
The proposed amendment to Currituck County's Unified Development Ordinance would affect Sea Haven's plans to possibly build a senior citizen complex.
``This new amendment, for all intent and purposes, will prohibit and eliminate any possibility of doing any multifamily housing - senior citizens' complexes, apartments, . . . anything that involves multiple uses south of the Intercoastal Waterway,'' said Dunstan, who resides in Lower Currituck.
The county has only one lot zoned residential-agricultural south of the Coinjock canal. Most available residential-agricultural land would be located along a strip of N.C. Route 168 in the northern end of the county and on tracts in Maple, Barco and Coinjock.
Almost all of Knotts Island also would be affected by the proposed amendment.
``I, very frankly, feel a public hearing in that area would be in order to determine the feelings of those people,'' said Ernie Bowden, the commissioner who represents Knotts Island.
A public hearing scheduled this week was tabled by the commissioners at their regular meeting Tuesday night.
``There is a need for apartment buildings,'' said John Mulvey, the county's economic development director. ``But I do agree that you need to put them in appropriate spots.''
Mulvey said prospective businesses and industries consider an area's housing market when deciding on a relocation or expansion.
``As an economic developer, I do need rental housing,'' he said. But the quality and location of rental units is equally important, he added, particularly in a county trying to retain its rural flavor. by CNB