Currituck land-use plan could put marinas in a pickle

Two marinas, central to a pair of major developments proposed for Currituck County, could fail to get state permits despite having local approval.

The outcome depends on whether the county's land-use plan, a document required of all coastal counties, is treated as law or just a guide.

"It's a guide," said county Manager Dan Scanlon. "It's not an ordinance. It's not law."

Currituck officials spent more than two years polling residents and debating before completing the document in 2006. Required to be updated every five years, land-use plans (and an accompanying map) outline areas that are designated for heavy growth and those that should remain more rural or undeveloped.

Case-by-case interpretation is essential, especially along the edges where development meets open areas, said Ben Woody, director of the Currituck County planning department.

Officials with the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, however, interpret the land-use plan more strictly.

"Permits must be consistent with the land-use plan," said Michele Walker, spokeswoman for the state agency. "We have to go by the rules."

In two large developments proposed in southern Currituck County, plans include marinas, which require major state permits. In early meetings about the projects, the state has indicated it would not issue the permits based on Currituck's latest land-use plan, Woody said.

If that strict interpretation continues, it could affect other developments already going through permitting, Woody said.

In Currituck's land-use plan, wetlands cannot be part of the formula used to calculate housing density, Woody said. Yet in Currituck's development ordinance, wetlands are off-limits to construction but can be part of the open space used in a formula to calculate housing density.

"Our zoning ordinance is not consistent with our land-use plan," he said.

That wouldn't be a problem if the land-use plan were just a guide, he said. Currituck officials do not want to make big changes to the land-use plan, which would take months.

Currituck officials also are questioning why a local housing density formula should have any effect on a marina, Woody said. Allowing fewer large homes with expansive concrete driveways would be worse, he said.

Meanwhile, Currituck has begun the approval process for the two large developments.

Last year, county commissioners rezoned to residential a 226-acre tract of farmland and wetlands owned by Shirley Webber to make way for more than 300 homes and condominiums and a public marina in Jarvisburg. Wetlands allowed for more homes.

In August, county commissioners approved an amendment to the land-use plan that allows residential and commercial use on 40 upland acres in a development called Currituck Marina in Harbinger. Wetlands in the 120-acre site remain undeveloped. Plans are to build a marina with 240 housing units in the upland area.

The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission approved that amendment in September.

That decision did not contradict the rules, Walker said. The amendment did not require a detailed site plan, and the state has not received a request for a major permit yet.

"The amendment and the permit are two separate things," she said.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com