THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060284
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
In a rare show of strength by the general public, citizens dominated the City Council meeting on Monday night.
Undeterred by snow and ice, some 40 residents crammed into and spilled out of the council chambers to address two issues that angered them.
About 10 people were on hand to express concern about a 25-year plan that state Department of Transportation officials presented for Elizabeth City's streets last month.
The thoroughfare plan recommends several improvements to over-traveled streets through 2020, but the item that has raised the most red flags is a proposal to widen Water Street to four lanes.
The street runs north and south along the Pasquotank riverfront and serves as the eastern border for downtown. Residents and planners have been working to incorporate the road into downtown revitalization.
They say taking out parking spaces and creating a major thruway will damage those efforts and hurt Water Street businesses.
James R. Hurdle pointed out that Elizabeth City has been recognized as one of the top 100 small cities in America.
``Small cities don't need four-lane roads right downtown,'' said Hurdle, whose parents own a hardwarestore on Water Street.
The thoroughfare plan is a long way from approval. The City Council will probably address the plan within the next couple of months, thoroughfare planning engineer Jerry Dudeck said from Raleigh on Monday.
After a public hearing, the council ``can approve whatever they want to approve,'' Dudeck said. ``They can delete or add things to the plan. . . . They make the decision.''
After the council weighs in, DOT engineers will again examine the plan to see if it meets safety and traffic requirements. If they do, the plan goes to the state Board of Transportation for approval, Dudeck said. If the city and DOT engineers don't agree, it's back to the drawing board.
Dudeck said there weren't many alternatives to adding more lanes to Water Street.
``We don't know of any other way to serve the traffic that wants to use that road,'' Dudeck said, adding that 14,000 cars use Water Street daily. ``We're trying to look after the interests of the driving public.''
Dudeck did say that engineers could live with eliminating parking on the road and creating four lanes without widening the road. And he said officials were studying a proposal to eliminate some congestion by creating a right-turn only lane heading onto the bridge to Camden County.
DOT's recommendation for Water Street breaks sharply with a plan that three landscape architects drafted for Elizabeth City Downtown during a creative planning session last March. The architects suggested breaking Water Street into a boulevard lined with trees, flowers and decorated utility poles.
Elizabeth City Downtown Executive Director Peggy Langley declined to comment on the thoroughfare plan Monday, saying her board of directors had not met to discuss it yet.
The other agenda item that drew a crowd was a proposal to rezone about 66 acres off Oak Stump Road to allow for smaller lot sizes in a housing development.
About 30 neighbors of the property have protested the rezoning. They said Oak Stump, home to Northeastern High School, is already congested during school hours and would become dangerous if higher-density housing was allowed.
Zoning on the land in question allows for 15,000- and 10,000-square-foot lots. Property owner Charles W. Haskett Jr. wishes to change zoning to allow 8,000-square-foot lots.
The city's Planning Commission on Jan. 9 unanimously denied the rezoning, but Planning Director Victor Sharpe recommended that it be approved.
He said DOT studies show Oak Stump Road is well below its travel capacity and that the city's thoroughfare plan would eventually provide another road to ease congestion in the area.
The council delayed action on the request until members could get a better understanding of the issue. One unanswered question was whether surrounding property zoned for 15,000-square-foot lots actually had lots that large.
KEYWORDS: ELIZABETH CITY COUNCIL by CNB