g>19?3 THE M0NSW1CK BEACON TH_ _ j Volume 23, Number 39 Shall r\'^> v iU JERRY WEST mans the barricade that now the west end of Holden Beach. West was all ptTiy UWIIUI!) tUIU lllt-II gUCdtd UlC IJrtlll' state road turns into a private drive. CAM A lnv< As\ BY TERRY POPE A sign at the west end of Holden Beach states "Private Property; Property Owners Only," but it went virtually unnoticed until last week when motorists seeking access to the west end were stopped in their tracks. Holden's west end came under private barricade last week with only property owners and their guests allowed to pass beyond the orange and white blockade. Also passing through the blockade last Thursday were Coastal Area Management (CAMA) officials who conducted an investigation into reports of filling of wetlands along the west end by Holden Beach Reaity Corp., owners of the west end tract. The closing of what town officials have agreed is a "private road" caused alarm among many motorists who are accustomed to parking along the west end for beach access. It also caused concern among CAMA of.;r 14 ? * 9r> I ^ V-^V-CUI I loic I c BY TERRY POPE snacks from the i A Brunswick County District Court wagon," or a tl judge Monday refused to rule as "un- military-style pick constitutional" an Ocean Isle Beach open up to display town ordinance that has Shallotte Prior to the trial Point resident Donald Ballou charg- ed a motion to disi ed with peddling without a license. ing Judge Hook; Judge D. Jack Hooks Jr. of dinance as uncoi Whiteville instead found Ballou gull- said the N.C. Gei ty of peddling and fined him $50, a 1963 granted tow verdict that Shallotte attorney Mark restrict peddlers Lewis said he will appeal to but did not grant Brunswick County Superior Court. prohibit all peddli Lewis argued in court Monday that "Under the Oc? the town's ordinance is "unconstitu- no one has the ri tionally vague" and restricts said. "There is n< everything from "street venders, to don't see what Mi newspaper stands to Coca-Cola different from wh machines." man or Lance crs Police Chief Jerry Gurganus After returning IpcliflMl in /vuirt Mnn/iav that Ka mlnutac t base maps ' said he had been in regular cor- markings (such respondeoce with FEMA officials that don't com since a public meeting in January, county-made n with less than satisfactory results. that's not comf "1 believe 1 have?if you'll pardon sections of unu the expression?exhausted all ad- which no sped ttuiustrative remedies," he said tons or flood Monday night given, but that "You will hare a kit of support icct to a 100-yea otte, North Carolina, Thursday, Augusl kTE PHOTO BY ECOlE SWEATT limits access to owing only procade, where the sstigates, Mc A/est End Of Hold ficials over the clearing of second-row lots along the west side of the private drive. However, Tuesday afternoon, Fred Oraka of the Wilmington district CAMA office, said the lots under investigation "have been restored to our satisfaction." Ozaka said he met with representatives of the Holden Beach Realty Corp. last Thursday and requested that the clearing of lots be halted until it is determined if wetlands were filled and how they should be restored. Jim iirmin, principal parxner in xne realty company and town commissioner, was unavailable for comment. Attempts to contact Griffin on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday were unsuccessful and Griffin did not attend Monday's meeting of the town council. Tuesday evening, after receiving clearance from CAMA officials, the realty company filed nine applications for CAMA permits with Holden Beach to construct ddling Ordinance rear of a "Roach the power to restrict peddling was hree-quarters ton granted by the state. low is said that ;up with slues that his research of North Carolina law goods for sale. determined that a town's right to proMonday, Lewis fil- hibit all peddling has never been miss the case, ask- challenged in court, i to rule the or- The Ocean Isle ordinance was istitutional. Lewis adopted by the town about five or six neral Assembly in years ago, said Police Chief ms the power to Gurganus. He said that prior to July within town limits, 17, only two people had been charged towns the right to under the ordinance, a produce ng. salesman and someone selling ;an Isle ordinance, T-shirts. eht to sell." I a'wis The ordinance mandates that Ded a permit process. I dling of goods, including but not r. Ballou did is any limited to food and/or ice cream, is at the Merita bread prohibited by the town from any nonicker man does." permanent structure within the town to his chambers for limits. study the North Gurganus said he advised Ballou Ige Hooks returned prior to filing the charges that he was the Ocean Isle or- in violation of the ordinance, and istitutional because gave him an opportunity to leave the Wms For Sho J Insurance C he county who have FEMA's natural hazards branch studies and are will- chief, Richard Mayson, shortly e in such a meeting answered Harvey. He wrote that corense," he added. recti on of the maps would be giver bounty Manager Bil- top priority, using maps provided by sy noted two specific the county. They were to be corn ng to development, pleted in about a mor.th and returnee pections. to the county, straightened out, he Nearly four months later, they'vi field representative not arrived, Harvey said, in April, he is hesi- In the broadly-defined 100-year flood insurance pro- flood or "A" zones, any time a nev I the county building development involves more than ftv acres of land, FEMA regulations sa; e only what is com- the applicant must provide his own enforceable," he ad- flood elevation data. A FEMA core puter expert in Atlanta is available t he specified are two: advise developers on bow to do th with alignments and required study, i as routing of roads > In one test case of a small propose spend with those on subdivision near Holden Bead laps and in a scale Harvey noted, the planning boar latible: and 21 broad found a 10-mile survey run would to incorporated area for required Be flood plain eleva- "We agreed that was excessrv hazard factors are burden to place on the public,"' wroi are identified as sub- Harvey. "FEMA still insists that t tr flood. dene." t CK&BEJ ini ^ t 8, 1985 25c Per Co| ^ ^ENrSTMEl --*1 ROAD ) ^4Aie3sii^5BWE^ >torists Comf en Beach Closec nine, three-bedroom homes on lots located between 1302-1324 Ocean Boulevard West where the lots were cleared. The entire west end tract is zoned residential, or R-l. allowing single and duplex construction. Ozaka said Tuesday that as a result of the investigation, the company agreed to restore the lots by 'pulling back dirt from those areas that had been filled" during the clearing. He gave Holden Beach Building Inspector Dwight Carroll, who is also the town's CAMA official, permission Tuesday afternoon to process the realty company's CAMA applications. Carroll said Thursday that he had Issued no local CAMA permits to the realty company for clearing the lots, but noticed that bulldozers were leveling the dunes last Wednesday. I saw wnai mey were doing so I called LAMA down here," Carroll said. i Survives First R island without a citation. said. Ballou testified Monday that he "The fact t contacted the town of Holdcn Beach granted a permi on July 16, the day before charges a nearly identi were filed against him at Ocean Isle, one back to I and was granted a privilege license question," Lewi to sell goods by the town. Ballou said Hooks said he 1 he was operating the truck on July 17 the constitution! at Ocean Isle for Ginger Walrath, vice-president of Master Marketing r???? Incorp., which owns the vending service. Ballou said he contacted Ms. Alberta Tatum, town clerk at Ocean Isle, m mid-March and was told the company could not obtain a privilege license to sell. He added that Sunset Beach town officials also told him that the company could not obtain a license to sell goods. The Holden Beach and Ocean Isle Beach town ordinances against peddling are identical except Holden Beach adds the phrase "along the beach strand," he wdown )ata i Harvey also noted that, in his opinion, "FEMA has done not only an absolutely sloppy job to have created i such a massive "Zone A" with so r much of the county in effect left up in wH the air in this undefined area, byt 1 also a public disservice." Mayson said me county maps were .... t also being revised to reflect informa- I . < Uon provided by Bald Head Island. L i- While the federal agency cannot I r change the scale of Us insurance rate P t maps, he said, the county could hire a ^ > cartographer to transpose data from n one set of maps to another i- In the meantime, he wrote, FEMA o expects the county to " utilize your e best judgement in the interpretation of the zone requirements. Where the d area is questionable, the more l, restrictive interpretation should be d applied." e The sole basis for appeals of flood elevation determinations, under See??d plac * FEMA regulations, is knowledge or weefcead ar !e information that indicates the pro- ShaDotte. a * posed elevations are scientifically or 235-pswid U, technically incorrect. *** lawn - ? NO PMXWb OH WHO '#?* 7** '. . j , j.?- .'\V' ?v v > '? r ^ j 8?18?||: ! I . I j>ci ' V: ' -K ' 'l'~ - KM & ? slain f To The Public j Local CAMA permits cannot be issued for clearing large tracts of land, but instead need state permits, Carroll said. Ozaka said that after contacting the realty company, they were "willing to stop and cooperate with the investigation" and agreed to "begin correcting what the problems are." The road that provides access to the west end of the beach is "the only private street on the island, that 1 know of," said Town Administrator Bob Buck. He added that the territory bevond the state-maintained road is within the town limits, but that the town has no claim to the road. "It is a private road beginning 100 feet west of the right-of-way of Shell Drive," Buck said. "The town has never accepted the road for maintenance nor does the town draw any Powell Bill funds from it." (Sec WEST END, Page 2-A > i ound Of Court At one point in the trial, while stuhat Holden Beach dying the ordinance and hearing t to Mr. Ballcu under arguments from Assistant District cal ordinance leads Attorney Wanda Bryant, Judge the constitutionality Hooks remarked, "Anybody selling is stated. But Judge anything at Ocean Isle but real estate tad already ruled on is guilty of peddling." ility of the ordinance. (See PEDDLING, Page 2-A) ? l^SaBBaaBwMilBBKMiK'' - wpSfc^^^SBMHgMBSS tTMfraoto * rurr wi Shark Tourney Winners e wtnam In (he Poor Bays Shark Toerumrot (hi* past e, from left Ronnie Cheers aad Usawd Rabtaaea of ad Capt Homer Garrett with (heir SJS-pooad aad per sharks The story aad mare phetas are la seetlaa B W i