Sports
Hoggard rallies in the final
quarter to defeat Cougs, who
host Clinton on Friday -- 1C
Kids, crabs (
becoming trac
Day in Southj
C
Lakes board wilt conuuci
hearing on rules governing
pier length — Page 2
PUD
rules
Lon&Beach to hold
workshop on change
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
A planning board proposal to
amend the town’s residential
planned unit development (PUD)
ordinance will be the subject of a
council workshop tonight
(Wednesday) at the Long Beach
Recreation Center.
The workshop, to be attended by
councilors and planning board
members, will begin at 6 p.m. and is
to last about one and a half hours.
When council was asked August
id aci a puuuc iicming uaic iwi
the planning board’s proposed
amendments to the residential PUD
ordinance, councilor Frances Allen
balked at even scheduling the
required hearing, saying council did
not know enough about the propos
al. She said the nine-page ordinance
was “complex” and council’s deci
sions about it would have “repercus
sions.”
A public hearing is the last legally
required step before council may act
to amend a portion of the zoning
ordinance.
Whatever the repercussions, they
will be most immediately felt in the
Long Beach extraterritorial zoning
and subdivision jurisdiction (ETJ) —
most importantly at St. James
Plantation.
The ordinance which has gov
erned PUD development has always
required PUDs to be of at least ten
contiguous acres. Only one ten-acre
tract exists within town limits and it
is in a fragile area likely not suitable
for development. Any PUD devel
opment to be governed by the Long
Beach PUD ordinance will likely
occur in the one-mile ETJ.
A residential PUD is a develop
ment designed to allow creative
placement or clustering of housing
units to provide more open space in
that development. PUDs may be
developed in any residential zoning
district in Long Beach and in its
ETJ. A master plan approved by
council governs development of a
PUD, but it is otherwise exempt
from most other provisions of the
town’s subdivision and zoning ordi
nances.
Last week councilor Allen told the
Pilot her greatest objection to the
proposed PUD amendment was to a
provision which allowed golf cours
es to be considered in a calculation
See PUD, page 9
Forecast
Another hurricane seems to loom
on the horizon, making the weathei
slightly unpredictable. We can how
ever count on a chance of showers and
thunderstorms with highs each day in
the mid 80's.
INSIDE
— —r
Opinion.. 4
Police report .. ► 10
Church ....6B
Business.7B
TV schedule.... 8B
district Court .. 7C
Classifieds >;>.
ISLAND FESTIVAL
I
" Photo by Jim Harper
Three parts Labor Day, two parts excellent weather and a dash of danger from a storm that never came
was the recipe for a successful Labor Day holiday in the community. These youngsters were riding high while
flying lo\y through Middleton Park at the Oak Island Art Guild arts and crafts show on Saturday.
Man falls from pier, lost
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
A 28-year-old Leland man was
missing and presumed dead
Tuesday after falling off the
Southport city pier Monday night.
William Mark Allen was attempt
ing to do a hand-stand on the railing
at the end of the pier when he fell
into the water, said witness Barry
Allen of Wilmington, William
Allen’s cousin.
Allen reportedly held onto the pier
and tried to return to shore, but was
pulled away by the strong current.
“The next thing I know he was
hollering ‘help’ and going back
wards away from the pier,” Barry
Allen said.
While another witness called 911
from a pay phone at the Ship’s
Chandler Restaurant, Allen said he
lost sight of his cousin.
Southport officers and members of
the U. S. Coast Guard searched the
See Victim, page 6
Mining impacted
County drops
a ‘bombshell’
in ordinance
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A new countywide explosives
ordinance which took effect mid
night Tuesday bans all types of det
onations in the county, including
blasts at underground rock quarries.
The Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners dropped a bomb
Tuesday in quick passage of the
explosives ban aimed at protecting
the underground Castle Hayne
aquifer from destruction and the
possible formation of sinkholes.
In passing the measure, commis
sioners failed to say the new law is
aimed at Martin Marietta
Aggregates Inc., which plans to
mine for limestone on acreage just
north of Southport. A similar explo
sives ban challenged in court earlier
this year by Martin Marietta was
-struck down by a Superior Court
judge, but the issue is still pending
‘No person or cor
poration shall fire,
detonate, blast,
explode or charge
any explosives
within the County
of Brunswick.’
before the N. C. Court of Appeals.
The newer version drafted by
county attorney Huey Marshall
doesn’t address the aquifer, mining
or mining companies. It is an out
right ban on all blasting within the
See Bombshell, page 6
p
Bald Head suit
before council
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Bald Head Island Village Council members were briefed Tuesday on the
recent suit against the village and against mayor Tom Bradshaw — the sec
ond suit against council filed this summer — but deferred action on how to
defend the matter pending a recommendation from the village attorney.
The council and Bradshaw, personally, were sued in mid-August over
alleged failure to pay up in a scheme to gain a favorable ruling from the
Coastal Resources Commission on a request to install beach groins.
Bradshaw said the council will await a recommendation from Southport
attorney Bill Fairley before asking counsel to go forward in the case.
Regarding his personal defense, Bradshaw said he would also await
Fairley’s recommendation.
Among matters the council dealt with Tuesday in the open portion of their
session was a review of emergency procedures in the event of a severe
weather threat.
“The council will decide whether to turn off the electricity,” Bradshaw
said, “and also when to evacuate -- in consultation with the transportation
franchise holder,” Bald Head Island Management.
Bradshaw said he hopes for a “full-blown discussion” on emergency pro
cedures in the September 21 council session, and said discussion of solid
waste disposal, including participation in the “blue bag” program, is expect
ed then.
Fran poses threat
to southeast coast
A hurricane watch is expected to be
issued for the Southport-Oak Island area
today as Category 3 Hurricane Fran
makes her way towards the southeastern
United Stages coast.
At 2 a.im today, the National Weather '
Service predicted there was a six-to-ten
percent probability Fran would strike
within J5 miles of Myrtle Beach or
Wilmington from 2 p.m. Thursday ,
through 2 p.m. Friday. Probability of a
strike by Saturday near Myrtle Beach cj
Wilmington ranged from 13 to 18 percent.
Fran’s center at 5 a m. Wednesday was
reported about 540 miles southeast of
Charleston, SC, the storm packing maxi
mum sustained winds ot 115 miles per
hour and moving northwestward at 12
miles per hour. Further intensification is
expected today.
The National Weather Service Tuesday
issued hurricane warnings for a portion of
the southeastern United States ranging
northward to Little River Inlet - a watch
area expected to extend farther to the
north as this day progresses.
Hurricane Fran is the third tropical
cyclone of the still-early season to menace
the Southport-Oak Island area.
The eye of Hurricane Bertha, with its
85-mph winds on either side, passed
See Threat, page 6
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