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EDENTON NC 27932-,854
482-4418
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Inside
Today:
Look
for our
Spring
2014
Albemarle
Magazine
50«
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Preliminary results of the
2014 tax revaluation 'Show
the combined tax value of
| real property in Chowan
I County has gone down
nearly 13 percent and the
; combined value within the
f town limits of Edenton has
\ • fallen more than 14 percent
I The aggregate values
countywide have dropped
view police station plan as positive step
BY REBECCA BUNCH AND
X. REGGIE PONDER
Community leaders and
neighborhood residents are
hopeful that a new police
station could have a positive
effect on the Oakum Street
' area.;/'-Xx v
Although the final site de
cision has not been made,
the Edenton Town Council
’ has designated as its pre
ferred site an area at the in
tersection of North Oakum
Street and East Albemarle
Street.
Beatrice Stanley, who
served on the Citizens Advi
sory Committee that offered
the town input on the Police
Department Neighborhood
Redevelopment Plan, said
she was pleased with the
positive impact the project
would have on the future
of the Oakum Street com
munity.
Hie selection of a pre
ferred site that occurred at
’ the March 11 town council
meeting will allow the effort
to continue to move forward
as it should, she said.
Stanley added that she
also appreciated the fact
that the town had reached
out to citizens and given
them the chance to be a part
of the process.
“I’ve made my opinion
known and the people on
Oakum Street have voiced
their opinion,’’ she said.
Cheryl Williams owns
and lives in the house at the
northeast comer of North
Oakum and East Albemarle
streets.
Originally from Plym
outh, Williams has lived in
Restrictive zoning for Riversound
phase II to be considered
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The second phase of
the Riversound develop
ment on the Yeopim River
could be required to build
far fewer homes per acre
than originally planned if
Chowan County adopts a
proposed rezoning of the
property.
Tlte Chowan County.
Board of Commissioners
last week got the ball roll
ing on a potential rezon
ing of the property from
R-25 to A-l. While R-25 is
a residential district with a
minimum lot size of 25,000
square feet, A-l is an ag
ricultural district with a
minimum lot size of 40,000
02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
by some $185 million or
12.85 percent and the aggre
gate values in Edenton have
declined $65 million or 14.51
percent, according to Hosea
Wilson, Chowan County’s
tax administrator.
Wilson emphasized dur
ing an interview Monday
that the appeals process is
continuing and the values
are not yet final.
Because values have
dropped, some increase in
BHgTy'-:
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
The northeast corner of the North Oakum Street and East Albemarle Street, shown here last Thursday afternoon, has been tapped as the
preferred site for a new police station by the Edenton Town Council.
the house 24 years.
She came to Edenton in
the mid-1980s.
“I think it’s a good thing,”
Williams said of the plan to
locate a new police station
on the site where her home
now sits. “As long as they’re
willing to give me a fair price
I would be willing to negoti
ate with them. I’m not going
square feet.
Landin Holland, the
county’s planning direc
tor, said the rezoning
could limit by 70 percent
the number of habitable
units that could be built
as part of phase H.
Holland said it has
been the perception of
many residents and prop
erty owners in the area
that Riversound phase
I was approved for too
many building lots.
A petition with 75 sig
natures asks the county
to, rezone phase H to A
1 in order to limit the
density of development
there.
The commissioners
voted unanimously at
their March 17 meeting to
send the rezoning request
to the Planning Board for
its review and consid
eration. The matter will
then come back to the
county commissioners
for a vote,
Holland said it prob
the property tax rate will
be necessary this year if the
county is to maintain a “rev
enue neutral” rate — one
that will bring in the same
amount of revenue as last
year’s.
Because the last revalu
ation was in 2006 and the
market peak was actually
a couple of years after that
—followed by a precipitous
drop in the market — the
current values in aggregate
to give them a hard time.”
Williams said the neigh
borhood might be quieter
with a police station in its
midst
“It probably would be
quieter, but as far as safer
I can’t say,” Williams said
“If people have some kind
of crime they want to do,
they’re going to do it”
ably will be the May Plan
ning Board meeting when
the rezoning proposal is
taken up by that board.
. If the rezoning is ap
proved, the next step
would be consideration
of the site plan, Holland
explained.
Virginia Wood, who
owns land adjacent to the
site of Riversound phase
II, told the commission
ers that the land on which
the development is being
placed is swampland.
“It is swampland, y’all,
not matter what you
hear,” Wood said. “In
Chowan County terms, it
is swampland.”
Wood urged the com
missioners to “vote
truthfully, without dollar
marks in your eyes.”
Dossey Pruden told the
commissioners that the
wetland habitat where the
proposed development
is going is important to
See ZONING, 3A
are as much as 30 percent
below the peak values.
Speculation last year fo
cused on concerns that ag
gregate values could drop
as much as 20 percent in
this revaluation, a scenario
that did not come about
About 200 people so far
have appealed through the
informal process, Wilson
said.
“I can’t say people are
beating the door down with
Williams said she thinks
crime in the vicinity of the
Oakum-Albemarle intersec
tion peaked about a decade
ago.
“To me it’s not as bad as it
once was,” Williams said.
Surveillance cameras in
stalled by the town seem to
have helped, Williams said.
Wiliams said no one from
Butterfield: Wages increase needed
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield
said last week that wages
need to increase for work
ers since corporate profits
are increasing — and so are
consumer prices, he said.
' IN A RELATED f
. sister’s keepers on their path
io independence - 6B
.M»v- '■ . U ■■■ ■ .
“Everything is going up
except wages,” Butterfield
said in a speech to a group
of more than 100 women l^st
Wednesday night at New Ox
ley Hill Baptist Church. The
women gathered for a con
ference with Pastor Vonner
G. Horton on the economic
challenges that affect wom
en, especially in low-wealth
counties of northeastern
North Carolina.
The minimum wage needs
to be at least $10 an hour,
and wages need to be equi
table for women and men,
STORY
i Wnmon nloHdo ta ha
appeals,” Wilson said
Wilson said he encour
ages anyone with a concern
about their value to make
an appointment to come in
and talk about it The goal is
to provide people with com
plete information so that
they understand how the
value was determined
“That’s what we are here
to do,” Wilson said
The other important thing
is to correct any errors that
the town has contacted her
so far about the plans for
the new police station
Of course, that could
change now that the site has
been selected by the town
council as the preferred lo
cation for the facility.
“Me personally, I think it
would be a good thing for
the neighborhood overall,”
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., speaks to a group of
women last Wednesday night at New Oxley Hill Baptist
Church in Merry Hill.
Butterfield said.
Butterfield said something
is wrong when black women
earn only 64 cents for every
dollar earned by white mea
The speech also touched
on the national debt, the
budgeting process and the
federal health law known as
have occurred, he said
“That’s the most impor
tant thing,” Wilson said,
referring to making sure all
the data is correct “You’re
going to have errors in any
reappraisal. It is not a fail
safe process.”
Wilson noted it’s still very
early in the appeals process.
Informal appeals will con
tinue through April 15 and
See REVALUATION, 2A '
Williams said.
If she is displaced from
her current home by the
town’s police station proj
ect, Williams said she plans
to relocate elsewhere in
town. She said she doesn’t
want to live in the country.
A local minister, Pastor
See STATION, 3A
Obamacare. ,
In an interview after his
speech, Butterfield was
asked about remarks that
State Rep. Bob t Steinburg,
R-Chowan, made in Eliza
beth City last week at i
_See WAGES, 3A „ .
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