Calabash Planning Board Once Again
Rejects Proposed Review Commission
BY DORI COSGROVK GURGANUS
Asked a second lime to recommend to the
town council whether to establish a landscaping
review commission. Calabash Planning and
Zoning Board rejected the idea again this week.
Meeting Monday n?*ht memhers voted unan
imously to recommend against establishment of a
commission to make recommendations about
landscaping, aichitecture and hcautiftcaiion. That
decision puts the future of the proposed panel
back in the commissioners' court.
A proposed ordinance referred to the txurd in
November would have set up an Architectural
and Landscaping Control Commission, more ca
sually known as the landscaping review commit
tee or appearance commission.
The planning board voted before Christmas
and again Monday against the proposal, question
ing the need for a separate panel for that purpose.
"1 don't think any of us is against working
with anv croup." said Pati Lewcllyn, chair of the
planning board. "I think any oi us would wel
come any degree of expertise that we could possi
bly get."
"But our question is," she added, '"do we
need a separate committee established by ordi
nance to carry out functions that we fee! would be
a duplication of what we were doing to begin
with?"'
In the presence of Hank Ruttcr, who was ap
pointed earlier by town commissioners to die
landscaping commission, the planning board dis
cussed the ordinance that would create the com
mission. Mayor pro tem George Anderson and
Commissioner Stu Thorn attended also.
"We're serving the pubiic here," said Ms.
Lewellyn, "and there was a tremendous outcry
about this particular ordinance. So, if we sit down
and decide to work this out and pass something to
please the planning board or the people on this
committee, are we in fact doing what the people
want?"
By the end of the discussion, the entire board
had decided that the landscaping commission was
not necessary.
New planning board member A1 Smith said
he would not support the formation of a group
that seems to do what the planning board docs.
Smith proposed that the commission be set up
as an advisory board, but acceptance never came
from the planning board.
"This is not a cut and dried thing," said Thorn
of the proposed ordinance and the description ot
the commission. "It wasn't presented that way."
He suggested that many changes could be
made before the panel is activated.
Anderson said he wasn't sure if the commis
sion was needed, either, but that he simply want
ed more discussion on the matter.
? ? . r\ ^ ? n? _,.i
VSriglllM VI i\c?icw a ami
The landscaping commission, formed in
February 1990, was set up originally to work with
the planning board that would insure the overall
bcautification of Calabash.
Ii consisted of Tj. Morgan, Jane K.napp,
Glenn Praccjus, Jay Morman, Chuck Radcliffe,
Charles O'Roarke. Charlotte Rice and Hank
Rutter.
Their first, and apparently only, duty was to
develop a landscape and tree ordinance for the
town, which they did.
"Are we in
fact doing
what the
people want?"
? Pati Lewellvn
Planning Board
Chairman
Thai ordinance, which mandated protection of
certain types of trees within town limits, never re
ceived a recommendation from the planning
board Instead, that board asked that it be rewrit
ten to clearly oudine the difference in how the
rules would apply to commercial and residential
properties.
In a March 12, 1991. letter from landscaping
commission memoer i j. vhh i;.u i . Ik infoiiiiCu
planning hoard Chairman Warren "Bud" Knapp
that the commission was dissolving itself. He
cited a "lack of direction, communication and
support" from the town commissioners as well as
ihf planning board.
Disagreement last year about the function and
actions of the landscaping commission were what
Ms. Lcwellyn said was "one of the many reasons"
that caused the Planning and Zoning Board to col
lectively resign last August.
Since then, that membership has filled out,
and the planning board resumed a regular meeting
schedule in November.
Tnc issue was brought into public light again
at the Jan. 14 commissioners' meeting, when the
Planning and Zoning Board announced it did not
recommend the proposed ordinance reinstaung
the group.
In a telephone interview last week, Ms
Lewcllyn said town commissioners requested last
fall that the planning board reconsider the ordi
nance that would outline the duties and powers of
the new commission.
A Nov. 15, 1991, letter from Anderson asked
the planners to give the ordinance second priority
and report back to the commissioners by Feb. 2,
1992.
"We need to know more about it," said Ms.
Lcwellyn.
As submitted to the planning board, the ordi
nance would allow die landscape commission to
"formulate and recommend to the Town
Commissioners the adoption and amendment of
ordinances dial will serve to enhance the appear
ance of the town."
However, confusion exists on both sides of
the debate as to what the chain of command
should be for the panel if it were created.
Members of the planning board were asking
why the pane! should not submit recommenda
tions to it, rather than to the commissioners, to
avoid duplication of effort.
At the Jan. 14 commissioners' meeting.
Commissioner Ray Card attempted to settle Uie
confusion, saying that the planning board and
town council were "not working in synch".
"Wc had some rough times in 1991, and wc
don't want to see '91 repeated," he said.
Finally, Lewcllyn and the commissioners
agreed that the planning board should reconsider
its rejection and discuss the ordinance further at
its meeting Monday night.
Future Still Uncertain
Despite the planning board's rejection of the
pro|xiscd ordinance Mondsy, Rullcr said he has
always believed the commission was created by
the town board of commissioners and should re
port to it.
He said he thought the original intent was for
the review panel to exist for longer than just the
creation of the controversial tree ordinance.
"I thought that this was an ongoing thing,"
R utter said of the landscaping commission,
adding that his group had been using town build
ing inspector Ed Schaack, then on the planning
hoard, as a liaison to that board.
Planning board members agreed Monday that
the proposed ordinance did not satisfy their ques
tions regarding who the commission would report
to and how much power it would have.
1 1 iv vichutc concerning upjx'uruncc punc!
and the ordinance creating it isn't over.
At their Jan. 14 meeting, town commissioners
suggested that two members of each group meet
to discuss the pros and cons of the matter, and
plans were made to follow up on that request.
Planning and Zoning Board members Smith
and Bruce Kibblehousc volunteered to meet with
tw?; commissioners and two members of the land
scaping commission.
A date to meet hasn't been set.
Calabash Fills
Seat By Luck
Of The Draw
Calabash commissioners turned to an un
orthodox method when selecting the seventh
and final member of the town's planning and
zoning board last week.
Three community residents had volun
teered to fill the seat: A1 Smith, Bob Russo
and Jack Hinty.
Some commissioners knew one or more
or all of the candidates, others knew none. As
far as the commissioners knew, all were
equally interested in and qualified for the ap
pointment. When it came time to choose one
of the three, they were slumped.
Giving equal odds, they decided to let fate
have a hand in the decision. Commissioners
wrote the name of each candidate on a slip of
paper and put the slips in the cupped hands of
Mayor pro teni George Anderson. He shook
the slips and asked an audience member to
diaw one.
Al Smith's name was on that slip. He was
then ap|)oinied to the board by the usual pro
CvduTv
Appointment of the Carolina Shores resi
dent fills the last vacancy on the Calabash
Planning and Zoning Board, which was all but
emptied last summer by mass resignations.
Smith will serve a three-year as one of
five representatives form District 2.
Three Killed In Separate Highway Accidents
Three people were killed in sepa
rate accidents on Brunswick County
highways last week.
Seven people have been killed on
the county's roads since the year be
gan, said Ruby Oakley, spokesper
son for the State Highway Patrol of
fice in Wilmington.
"That's an unusually high num
ber," said Ms. Oakley. "It has been a
terrible January."
Four Albemarle residents were
killed in a wreck in Grissettown
when their car pulled into the path of
a dump truck on U.S. 17 on Jan. 7.
The fatalities last week involved a
Grissettown pedestrian, a passenger
in a car that struck the rear of a farm
tractor near Sandy Creek and the
driver of a car that sideswiped a
tractor-trailer truck near Bolivia.
Car Hits Tractor
A Wilmington man was killed
when a car he was riding in struck
the rear of a farm tractor on U.S. 74
76 a half mile cast of Sandy Creek
Saturday morning.
Robert Lee Moore, 61 , of Harnett
Street, was killed in the 9 a.m. acci
dent, reported Trooper D.A. Lewis.
Moore was a passenger in the right
front of a 1984 Toyota driven by
Robert Pollock Jr., 28, of Raleigh,
Lewis stated.
The car ran into the rear of a 197X
Ford tractor that was traveling west
in the outside lane of U.S. 74-76.
The tractor had a rotary brush on the
front and a scraper blade on the rear
and was traveling between jobs,
Lewis staled.
The impact caused the tractor to
lose a tire and travel off the road. Its
driver, Kenneth Delano Guyton, 52,
of Castle Haync, received minor in
juries.
Pollock sustained class B injuries,
which are serious but not incapaci
taung. He was charged with faiiure
to reduce speed and death by motor
vehicle, stated Lewis.
Damage was listed at SI, 500 to
the tractor and $2,000 to the car.
Driver Killed
An accident near Bolivia early
Saturday killed the driver of a car
that hit a tractor trailer.
William Arthur Clark, 37, of
Wilmington died after the 1986
Nissan he was driving crossed the
center line and struck the left side of
a 1991 tractor trailer traveling north
about four miles north of Bolivia,
reported Trooper C.E. Ward.
The car then crashed into the rear
of the trailer, throwing Clark panial
ly out of his car. Ward slated.
A passenger in Clark's vehicle,
Daniel Lloyd Edens Jr., 31, of
Wrightsville Beach was seriously in
jured and taken to New Hanover
Regional Medical Center in Wil
mington. The driver of the truck,
Glenn Thomas Hooper, 37, of Wil
mington was not injured.
Damage was listed at $5,000 to
the truck and S6.000 to the car in the
2:40 a.m. accident.
No charges will be filed, Ward re
ported.
Pedestrian Killed
A Grisscttown woman was killed
while crossing U.S. 17 about seven
miles south of Shallottc last Thurs
day, Jan. 16.
Clarice Cedelle Miles, 30, was
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Brunswick Hospital in Supply after
she was struck by a car around 7:45
p.m., Trooper B.C. Jones reported.
Ms. Miles' daughter, Kimberly
Cedelle Clitton, 7, ol Shallottc, was
crossing the road with her and was
also struck. She received only minor
injuries and was treated at The
Brunswick Hospital and released.
The two were crossing the road
front the west side to a private drive
way on the cast side when a 1990
Pontiac driven by William Henry
Stephens, 48, of Long Beach suuck
them in the northbound lane, said
Jones.
Stephens, traveling north on U.S.
17, did not see the pedestrians in
time to stop. No charges will be
filed, Jones indicated.
Damage to the car was listed at
S1,5(X).
Six Injured
Six people were injured hi an ac
cident Friday evening on N.C. 179
about .7 of a mile north of Calabash.
Fardinand Williams, 32, of Shal
lotte was charged with driving while
impaired and a stop signal violation
after his 1990 Ford traveled through
a red light and struck a 1988 Dodge
van driven by John Thomas John
son, 29, of Sanford, Trooper D.B.
Harvell reported.
Johnson was making a left turn at
the light when his van was struck in
the left side by the Williams vehicle.
Harvell stated.
Johnson and two passengers, John
Keith Womack, 28, of Sanford and
Jimmy Lewis Love Jr., 30, of
Sanford, each received minor in
juries. A third passenger, Gregory
Cowan, 30, of Sanford was seriously
injured.
Williams and a passenger in his
vehicle. Herman Williams Sr., 38. of
Shalloue, were also seriously in
jured. All were transported U) The
Brunswick Hospital by ambulance.
Damage was listed at $6,000 to
the van and S7.000 to the Williams
vehicle in the 6:45 p.m. accident.
Brakes Locked
A Supply woman told Trooper
D.A. Lewis that her brakes locked
when she touched them Friday while
she was traveling north on U.S. 17
about 2.5 miles south of Bolivia.
Barbara Turner Hcwett, 55, was
driving a 1983 Lincoln when her car
stopped abruptly and was hit in the
rear by a 1989 Chevrolet station
wagon driven by James Cobbs, 46,
of Wilmington, Lewis reported.
Cobbs was charged with failure to
reduce speed, Lewis stated.
Ms. Hewett was seriously injured
while Cobbs received minor in
juries. Both were taken to New
Hanover Regional Medical Center.
Damage was estimated at $3,(KX)
to the Hewett vehicle and $4,000 to
the Cobbs car in the 4:20 p.m. acci
dent.
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!
HANK R UTTER (RIGHT) DISCUSSES a proposed town land
scaping and architectural review commission at the Calabash
Planning and Zoning Hoard meeting Monday night. The hoard
nixed the proposal for a second time.
Calabash Hears Good Audit
Report, Water Test Results
Calabash commissioners heard a
favorable audit report at their Jan.
14 meeting, as well as getting a
clean bill of health from recent wa
ter samplings.
Joy Bullard and Johnny Briti, cer
tified public accountants with S.
Preston Douglas, presented the
town's audit for the fiscal year end
ing June 30, 1991.
Calabash is in good financial
shape and "is aware of its future po
tential," said Ms. Bullard.
The tax collection rate for
Calabash rose from 92.46 percent as
of June 30, 1990, to the 98.28 per
cent for 1991.
Mayor pro tern George Anderson
reported that he had received a re
port back from the Brunswick
County Health Department, which
analyzed a sample of Calabash wa
tcr for potential health risks.
The report stated. Anderson said,
that "all factors were well within
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency) regulations" for safe drink
ing water.
Only the pK 'evel was a little low,
he said the report added, having
been measured at 5.6 pH.
A Carolina Shores resident had
requested at the last town meeting
that a sample be tested because he
feared the sodium levels were dan
gerously high in his drinking water.
The commissioners aiso voted
unanimously to donate SI 00 each to
Hope Harbor Home in Shallotte and
the Brunswick County Literacy
Council. They have already donated
S800 this year to the Calabash
Merchants Association, Anderson
said.
Tax Sheltered Annuities
Employees of non-profit orQsnlzstions
are eligible to deduct part of their
income for tax sheltered annunities.
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