Vol. LXXIII
No. 33
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
50*
Coming Next Week
Settle In for a visit
to Whiteman's store
Hwy. 32 widening has
businesses seeing red
See Below
Copeland expects
permit hold to be
temporary
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
The Sandy Point project is
on hold while its developer
grapples with environmental
problems at the waterfront
site.
Steven J. Levitas, the attor
ney for Sam Young and The
Fund for Sandy Point, sent a
recent letter to a state official
asking for a permit for the
large subdivision be put dn
hold. The recent discovery of
protected aquatic plants near
the shores of the Albemarle
r
Aces take aim at stellar season
~~f —i vam
V._Jordan Eure/The Chowan Herald
Edenton quarterback Joseph Westrook (No. 8) drops back to pass during a scrimmage jamboree while Aces
teammates Perry Owens (No. 60) and Scott Daniel (No. 20) join in the action. See pages B2 and B3 of this
edition for full rosters and game schedules for the Aces' varsity and junior varsity football teams.
INDEX
A Local
Opinion...> A6
Land Transfers......... A7
B Sports
Recreation News...... B1 ^
Football Feature.... B2,3
C Community News
Upcoming Events.C2
Society. C3
t Obituaries.C6
f[ Church..,..C7,8 ^
D Classifieds jr?
- Buy/Sell/Trade D1
y._ Service Directory....;. D2
Employment.... D4
Contact us
Call 482-4418
02006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Sound caused the state Divi
sion of Coastal Management to
express concerns about dredg
ing plans for the project.
“We expect to have these is
sues resolved in the near fu
ture,” Levitas wrote in his Aug.
9 letter to DCM permit official
Doug Huggett.
Levitas said his client would
notify Huggett when he is
ready to have the permit clock
begin ticking again.
Young told The Chowan Her
ald last week he would not be
seeking a hold on the permit
application;
“I can’t get into the details of
what Steve Levitas is doing for
me,” Young said.
Chowan County Manager
Cliff Copeland said the hold
should be temporary. He said
Hwy. 32 businesses upset over road boundaries
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
Business owners along NfC.
Highway 32 South are express
ing discontent over the upcom
ing road-widening project in
the Frog Crossing area.
The project to widen the
road to include a turn lane re
ceived state funding three
years after being placed on the
books initially.
Surveys of the area were
taken last month and stakes
placed where new property
lines aye projected.
But several shop owners
wonder if taking land to the
east of the road (where the
area is dense with industry) is
the right thing.
“I know that the road needs
to be widened,” Richard Blan
chard, owner of Cherry Weld
ing said, “but I’m going to lose
25 foot of property. The trucks
(bringing loads of steel) barely
have enough room to turn
around now. I know it’s a dan- ,
gerous curve but I just don’t
understand their (NCDOT)
thinking."
he expects the application to go
back on active status—and be
approved — next week.
“It was a technical thing,”
Copeland said. “That was not
a substantive move.”
Young agreed.
“That’s procedural stuff,” he
said.
The 930-acre project includes
hundreds of homes and some
businesses just south of
Edenton.
Copeland and' Young both
said the project has been put
on hold due to the fact that
state and federal agencies
reviewing the application
have deadlines set to expire
soon.
Young said he initially had
expected to have his.permits
in hand last month and
Timeline
■ Plans for the U.S. 32 widening began 3 years ago
■ State funds released last year
■ Widening the highway's northern end began in June
■ Widening Frog Crossing area may begin this summer
To prepare for the project,
Blanchard is in negotiations
for vacant acreage behind his
shop. The additional land will
help to make up the difference
of space lost.
“I’m all for widening the
road as long as it's favorable to
everyone,” Blanchard added.
Others do not have the op
tion of extending property
lines behind current busi
nesses.
And Joe Lee in particular,
proprietor of Frog Crossing,
does not see the situation as
favorable for anyone involved.
Frog Crossing will lose 15
parking spaces, room for the
Greyhound bus to turn
around, and may force him to
shut the doors of his
laundromat due to lack of
space for parking.
‘The regulators apparently
can't make an exception,
even if they wanted to:’
Developer Sam Young
wanted to break ground in
November.
“Everybody anticipated
that,” he said.
But in mid-July at least three
types of protected plants were
found along the shores of the
Albemarle Sound. Young said
his project — which encom
passes 8,400 feet of shoreline—
is impacted by just 200 feet of
the plant bloom.
State law prohibits the dis
“And what about those little
old ladies,” he said as he
pointed to the small brick
houses on the same side as his
enterprise. “The State ain’t
going to help them when it
comes time to take their prop
erty.”
Leonard Small, owner of
V.A. Fork Produce, like
Blanchard, doesn’t understand
the reasoning behind the
project.
“They’re going to come in
and three lane it but in five
years they’re going to have to
come back in and four lane it.
Why not build an alternate
route, completely bypassing
the area through the woods
behind the shopping center or
Albemarle Motors and join up
further down 32?"
See UPSET, Page A3 >
turbance of the plants, which
have bloomed heavily this
year, state officials have said.
“It’s everywhere,” Young
said.
Meanwhile, Sandy Point is
on a holding pattern.
“The regulators appar
ently can’t make an excep
tion,” Young added, “even if
they wanted to.”
Young said Tuesday that
the delay has cost him time
Councilors
grant permit
for Farm Fresh
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Top town officials approved
the arrival of a Farm Fresh
supermarket to Edenton last
week, paving the way for the
development of a large-scale
shopping center.
Tom Retnauer, of Retnauer
Design Associates, said the su
permarket should be open
by next April. He said Farm
Fresh can build a store in five
months.
Council unanimously ap
proved a permit for the pro
posed Edenton Commons
Shopping Center on Aug. 8, fol
lowing a hearing lasting
nearly two hours. Councilman
Sambo Dixon was absent from
the meeting.
Town planner Elizabeth
Bryant said the project has met
all the standards required by
the town’s Unified Develop
ment Ordinance.
“We feel like it’s a wonderful
opportunity to blend the new
and money.
Copeland also said the
county has spent “hardly
any” money assisting with
the project.
“That’s been mostly the de
veloper, obviously,” the
county manager said. .
In addition, Copeland said
county staff has not spent
much time on the project.
“I’ve probably been the
only staff member that’s
been involved,” Copeland
added.
Young said he hopes state
officials will plow through
the history of the plants in
the Albemarle Sound.
“This summer there’s an
extra growth throughout the
entire Albemarle Sound,” he
said. “The question is why?”
with the old,” Retnauer’s
Sandra Baynes said.
The anchor supermarket,
which would include a fuel sta
tion, is slated to be 56,000
square feet.
Developers have also said
that four smaller anchor stores
— from 6,000 to 21,000 square
feet — would join a number of
other retail businesses at the
center, located next to Hamp
ton Inn off of the N.C. High
way 32 exit from U.S. Highway
17.
Retnauer said the primary
developer, Norfolk, Va.-based
Wheeler Development, plans
to match the town’s current
residential and retail har
mony
“They expect quality out of
their products,” Retnauer said
of Wheeler Development.
Retnauer said traffic assess
ments of the area along N.C. 32
have anticipated residential
and business growth.
See PERMIT, Page A3 >
Earline White/The Chowan Herald
The pumps at Frog Crossing are just feet away from a yel
low line showing where the Hwy. 32 widening project will
leave property lines.