H0ME spdnT
I 482-4418
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Judge to rule on affordable housing dispute
| Evergreen decision
I expected this week
I By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
The town of Edenton will
learn this week whether coun
cilors erred when they denied a
builder the opportunity to build
an affordable housing complex.
I An attorney for Evergreen
| Construction argued Friday af
ternoon in Pasquotank County’s
I Herald
! wins 5
| NC Press
awards
Honors include
first, second, third
From Staff Reports
The Chowan Herald col
lected five editorial awards
at the 2012 North Carolina
Press Association News
Editorial and Photojour
nalism Contest award cer
emony held in Chapel Hill,
Thursday.
The Herald’s big brother
in The Daily Advance won
10 awards, including sec
ond place for General Ex
cellence. The Perquimans
Weekly also won three
C awards at the annual ban
quet held at the George
Watts Hill Alumni Center
on the cam
pus of the
University
of North
Carolina.
In the di
vision that
includes
commu
nity news- Starnes
papers with circulations
between 3,500-10,000, the
Chowan Herald took home
one first place, two second
place, and two third place
finishes. Two of the awards
for education reporting
were presented to Herald
Editor Ritchie Starnes.
Judges awarded Starnes
first place for his Sept. 12
story “NAACP Demands
Firings for Discrimina
tion.” The judges called
the story “Comprehen
sive, objective coverage
that covered both sides of
the issue. Well researched
and written.”
For his Sept. 5 story
“J.A. Holmes’ Princi
pal Sets Expectations,”
Starnes earned a third
place award. Judges called
the article a “well written
feature.”
The Edenton editor also
garnered a runner-up
award for feature writing
in a December 2011 story
dubbed “Train House,”
about a Christmas tra
dition in Eure. Judges
wrote, “The secret to this
story was getting the read
er in close to the details. A
nicely paced read.”
The Daily Advance
See AWARDS, 2A
f
■i
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Superior Court that Edenton’s
Town Council ignored the N.C.
Fair Housing Act when it denied
the builder a conditional use per
mit to pave the way for garden
apartments for the economically
challenged. The town’s attorney
Hood Ellis countered that Eden
ton leaders rejected Evergreen’s
request because its appraiser
failed to provide data that sup
ported his conclusion that Eden
ton lacked adequate affordable,
multi-family dwellings. Town
officials argue that Edenton has
History in Black and White
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
This undated photo shows what downtown commerce looked like around the turn of the 20th century when horse and buggy was still the primary mode of
transportation.
Aged photos reveal town’s past
Images go back
more than a century
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
If a photo is worth 1,000
words, think of the
number of memories
it stirs.
In what can only be
described as a serendipi
tous discovery, PNC Bank
officials here recently
stumbled on a photo
album in a locked cabinet
within the downtown
branch’s vault. Inside lay
a treasure trove of faded
black and white images
more than a century old.
Most of the photos accom
panied brief summaries,
apparent recollections
from old timers with keen
memories, many since de
ceased, or at least handed
down knowledge of the
town’s colorful history
And this fortuitous
find arrives as the town
launches the 300th anni
versary of its founding.
ample rental housing.
Evergreen’s attorney William
J. Brian Jr. told Judge Cy Grant
that instead of deciding whether
to grant the builder a condition
al use permit on legitimate land
use ordinances, the town based
its decision on prejudice against
affordable housing.
“All they focused on was the
type of people who would live
there, not its use,” Brian said.
He continued that the State
Fair Housing Act prohibits land
Use decisions based on residents’
“With the 300th, it was
perfect timing,” said
Deborah Lee, PNC branch
manager. “Whoever did it
(album) tried to find out
as much as they possibly
could,” she added about ■>
the unknown author of
the collection.
“I wish I knew who did
it so I could give them
credit. They obviously
did their homework,” she
added.
A need for more vault
space to accommodate
safety deposit boxes
prompted the removal of
items, including the small
cabinet. Before then, not
much consideration had
been given to the contents
inside. Once unlatched,
they discovered items not
perused for years. Along
with the album of old
photos of a past Edenton,
there were photos of
previous banking events,
Lee said.
“My thinking is that
there was a banker who
was a historian,” Lee
said. “PNC is really inter
Curtain falls on Edenton Little Theater
m
FILE PHOTO
Jennifer Fenner (left), Carolyn Pastorek and Ernie Wahlers re
hearse Edenton Little Theater's “Key Lime Pie" It was the final
production for the now disbanded acting troupe.
income.
“You’re supposed to be mak
ing decisions based on land use,
not who’s going to live there,”
Brian added.
But, Ellis argued that it was Ev
ergreen’s appraiser Paul Cumo
of Coastal Carolina Group who -
interjected the need for more af
fordable housing when he issued
his opinion that Evergreen’s
project would not adversely im
pact surrounding properties.
Cumo did so without documen
tation to support his claims,
ested in the legacy of all
its banks.”
Also inside lay a file
full of every receipt and
correspondence about the
1911 construction of the
Bank ofj Edenton, which
now serves as Town Hall.
Construction of the for
mer bank cost just under
$14,000. PNC donated the
building to the town in
1971, Lee said.
But, it’s the yellowed
photographs that capti
vate the casual observer.
So much that some think
the images could go a long
way at generating atten
tion for the 300th anniver
sary. If nothing else, the
photos can help integrate
locals, especially those
reared here, into the
celebration.
“I think it enhances ev
erything that we’re trying
to do, not just about the
colonial period, but over
the last 300 years,” said
Gregg Nathan, executive
director of the Edenton
See PHOTOS, 3A
Lack of younger
actors befalls group
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Edenton Little The
ater is no more.
On March 19 the re
maining members and of
ficers of the organization
that had entertained the
community for decades
reluctantly made the deci
sion to disband.
Bruce King, who had
served as the nonprofit’s
president for the past 10,
years, said the decision
was a sad one, but neces
sary.
“We just feel that there
is no longer a need for
people to spend six weeks
(working on) on a play
Ellis added. And because of the
Council’s diligent research,
town leaders challenged Cumo’s
findings, he continued.
“Where’s the beef?” Ellis said.
“He (Cumo) didn’t give us any
methodology as to how he ar
rived at his opinions. He prob:
ably had the credentials, but he
didn’t do anything. He just gave
his opinion.”
Evergreen sought a condi
tional use permit in hopes of
See RULING, 2A
A crowd gathers at the county’s first exhibit hall and grand
stand at Hicks Field where horse racing was held.
The Bay View Hotel stands where the later built Hinton Ho
tel was erected, which next served as the headquarters for
Chowan County.
that may or may not be
successful,” King said.
King said that most of
those involved in the ELT
at the end were at an age
where they needed to be
able to pass the responsi
bility for the organization
on to a new generation.
But, he said, there was
not sufficient interest
among younger residents
of the community for that
to happen.
“It’s not a happy deci
sion,” King said of dis
banding the group. “But
you do what you have to
do.”
King said that the group
got its start in the 1940s
and had experienced a
series of ebbs and flows.
ELT was popular during
the 1960s, for example,
and then became big again
during the 1980s, he said.
King recalled that mu
sicals were a big draw for
the organization during
the 1990s. Productions in
cluded “Arsenic and Old
Lace,” “Guys and Dolls,
South Pacific” and the
hugely popular “My Fair
Lady.”
Over the years since
then, though, the acting
troupe has struggled to
get enough volunteers to
mount other large pro
ductions, King said.
Carolyn Pastorek, who
directed some of the ELT’s
more recent productions,
said that the small num
ber of people in the com
munity willing to act in
piays led her to focus on
one-act plays that only r
See THEATER, 3A
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