P8/C8******CAR-RT LOT**C 002 A0109
482-4418 Wednesday, July 9, 2014
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Sheriff’s race is on: Brabble on ballot
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Former Chowan County Sheriffs
Department officer Tim Brabble
will be running unaffiliated for
Chowan County sheriff in the No
vember General Election against in
cumbent Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin.
Goodwin is a Democrat. Brabble
is a registered Republican who is
running unaffiliated after collecting
433 signatures of Chowan County
voters to get on the ballot.
Under state law a minimum of
420 signatures was required.
Brabble filed as a candidate
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STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
Chloe Carpenter wows the crowd at Edenton’s Fabulous Fourth of July with her impromptu mini-concert Friday afternoon
at Colonial Park in Edenton. For more 4th of July photos, see page IB.
Consultants suggest land use amendments for town
■ High percentage of rentals,
multi-family units cause concern
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
A consulting firm has recom
mended a series of changes to
Edenton’s land use regulations
with the intention of addressing
town officials’ concerns about
the relatively high percentage of
multi-family housing in town.
Wilmington-based Holland
Consulting Planners Inc. recom
mended specific changes to the
town’s Land Use Plan and Uni
fied Development Ordinance after
conducting a housing inventory
assessment within the town
The recommended changes are
Lamb cites experience in bid for district attorney seat
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
•£
Nancy Lamb said last
week she believes her three
decades as a prosecutor has
provided her unique prepa
ration to be the lead pros
ecutor for the 1st District
Iamb, who served as in
terim district attorney last
year following the death
02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Monday afternoon at the Chowan
County Board of Elections Office.
Goodwin filed for reelection dur
ing the filing period in February.
Brabble said he appreciated all
the people who signed his peti
tions.
“I’m glad the people put their
faith and trust in me to do this for
me,” Brabble said. “I’m looking for
ward to the challenge.”
Brabble, 49, ran as a Republican
in 2010. But he said he didn’t want
to run as a political party’s candi
date this time because that goes
against his platform of making the
intended to reflect current find
ings and projected land use trends
and the town’s concerns about the
number of multi-family housing
units versus single-family homes,
according to Dale Holland, prin
cipal planner for the consulting
finn.
Holland made the recommen
dations during the council’s June
23 work session.
The firm recommended that the
town:
■ • Revise its Land Use Plan to
reflect greater concern with resi
dential density and resulting envi
ronmental impact;
• Revise its UDO to remove
future multi-family housing from
residential zoned districts, includ
ing R40, R-20, R-14 and R-10;
of District Attorney Frank
Parrish, is on the ballot in
November against Andrew
Womble, who was appoint
ed by Gov. Pat McCrory to
serve out the remainder of
Parrish’s unexpired term as
district attorney.
Womble is a Republican
and Lamb is a Democrat
Lamb brought her cam
paign on Friday to Eden
ton’s Fabulous Fourth of
July event
During an interview at the
Edenton waterfront, Lamb
- with Parrish’s widow, Kim
Parrish, at her side - char
acterized her 30 years as a
prosecutor working under
’ ■
sheriff’s office less political.
An officer with the Chowan
County Sheriff’s Department for 11
years, Brabble now works for the
Vidant Police at Vidant Bertie Hos
pital.
Brabble said he hopes his cam-.
paign changes the way politics
works not just locally but across
the country.
One of the things Brabble has
been talking about a lot on social
media and in person since he
started this latest campaign to get
See BRABBLE,2A
“Pretty dose to 56 percent
of our housing is rental
housing"
Bob Quinn
Edenton City Councilman
• Prohibit multi-family units of
three or more in the town’s his
toric district;
• Amend requirements for envi
ronmental impact statements;
• Add a multi-family zoning dis
trict within the town.
Holland noted that in 2008, with
a number of planned subdivisions
on tire horizon, the town’s popula
tion was expected to increase sub
two elected district attor
neys as solid preparation
for serving as district attor
ney herself.
' STAFF PHOTO BY
REGGIE PONDER
Nancy
Lamb talks
with Louis
Spry during
[ July Fourth
" festivities at
the Edenton
waterfront.
afforded her by having pros
ecuted criminal cases in all
seven counties in the district
has allowed her a change to
see the things that work and
stantiaUy.
But with the recession came
a halt to construction of the sub
divisions and in the years since,
he said, Edenton and other small
towns in northeastern North Car
olina have experienced a popula
tion decline.
“It is not unique to Edenton,"
Holland said of the population de
cline. “We’ve seen a lot of that”
He said that based on current
trends the chance for any substan
tial increase in population was
“not very promising.”
The assessment found that
Edenton has an above average
percentage — 27.5 percent — of
multi-family housing compared to
the state average of 20.7 percent.
Holland said. He added that 18
also the things that don't
work so well, Lamb said.
Lamb especially defend
ed the work she and Frank
Parrish had done in light
of the Womble campaign’s
message about inefficiency
and a backlog of cases.
“The criminal justice
system doesn’t lend itself
to efficiency because we’re
dealing with human beings,"
Lamb said. “Each case that
comes before the criminal
justice system has to be
looked at individually when
we’re dealing with people
who have committed crimi
nal offenses.”
Lamb said that doesn’t
MS ’ ■ ■
■ STAFF PHOTO
BY REGGIE PONDER
fj Tim Brabble files
Monday afternoon
| as a candidate for
if sheriff in Chowan
| County.
Weather doesn’t
dampen spirits
on Fabulous 4th
BY REBECCA BUNCH AND REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writers
Hurricane Andrew brought wind and a lot of wa
ter to the Outer Banks on the other side of Albe
marle Sound but didn’t stop the Chowan-Edenton
Optimist Club from holding its annual Fabulous
Fourth of July festivities last Friday.
The Edenton Tea Party Chapter, National So
ciety Daughters of the American Revolution did
move the Joseph Hewes observance with the read
ing of the Declaration of Independence to Saturday
morning because of weather-related concerns. The
DAR event was well attended on Saturday, how
ever, and the Friday night crowd for fireworks was
standing room only.
“It wasn’t so bad,” Alexis Forrester of Lively, •
Va., said of the wind and rain dropped on Chowan
County by Hurricane Arthur. “We didn’t have very
much wind.”
Forrester, who was at the downtown Edenton
waterfront on July 4 helping her daughter and son- •
in-law Jill and Kirk DeVine with kids’ events at the
Fabulous Fourth of July celebration, said she had
to call and reassure her other grandson that every
body at the DeVine home' was okay.
“He told me I was crazy to come here,” Forrester
said with a laugh. “But Jill told me the celebration
has never been rained out. So I guess that record
stands.”
Forpier Edenton Fire Chief Charles Westbrook,
who was actively serving as chief when Hurricane
Isabel roared through the community in 2003
See SPIRITS, 5B
percent of Edenton’s housing in
ventory consists of public housing
or housing receiving some sort of
subsidy or program support. Find
ings also show that 20.9 percent of
the population is at or below.the
poverty level, Holland said.
Holland said that 56.4 percent
of the town is zoned for resi
dential use. Normally, in eastern
North Carolina communities, that
range is closer to 25-35 percent,
he said.
The median household income
in Edenton is $25,700, the inven
tory found.
Councilman Bob Quinn said
that the assessment reflected
See LAND USE, 5B
preclude a DAls office from
having policies, such as the
one Parrish had regard
ing driving while impaired
cases.’Parrish insisted that
if there was a breathalyzer
test showing the driver was
legally intoxicated and oth
er evidence of DWI, the case
would have to be tried and
no plea to a lesser charge
would be accepted, accord
ing to Lamb.
“It’s about protecting pub
lic safety,” Lamb said of the
policy.
Lamb also said it has
been a frequent strategy of
See LAMB, 5B
. 1