AT HOLDEN BEACH
State Promises
Relief Along Bumpy
Boulevard
BY DOUG RUTTKR
The bumpy drive along Ocean
Boulevard ai Holdcn Beach should
change to smooth sailing before the
end of the year.
State transportation officials told
town commissioners last week the
state plans to repair and resurface at
least half of the boulevard this fall
and the remainder during the fol
lowing fiscal year.
Doug Bowers and Jim Cook, di
vision and district engineers with
the N.C. Department of
Transportation (DOT), met with
town officials last Wednesday to
discuss improvements along the
state road which runs parallel to the
shoreline at Holden Beach.
Bowers said the DOT plans to
patch the existing pavement, level
the road where necessary and top it
off with about 1 1/2 inches of as
phalt. Due to lack of funds, howev
er, the project will be completed
over a period of two fiscal years.
Before hearing the good news
last week, town officials grumbled
about the condition of the road,
which is the major traffic route on
the island. They said it has deterio
rated over the years under the
weight of heavy construction equip
ment.
Ccinniissioncr Kcr.ner Amos said
the boulevard hasn't been improved
in six or seven years and hasn't
been capped in about 10 years. "It's
received a ioi of abuse since then,"
he said. "It's getting rough, it's cav
ing in on the sides."
Mayor John Tandy compared the
drive along one of the most heavily
used sections of the street to a ride
at an amusement park. "Right
around the pier you think you're on
a roller coaster...," he said. "We just
need to do something."
Since resurfacing funds are limit
ed, Bowers said the DOT cannot af
mmw'ii? Mi il inn" mm if
SWF PHOTO BY DOUG Kl/TTM
THIS STRETCH of Ocean Boulevard Wti/ ai Hulden Beach
may be part of a three-mile section of the road scheduled to be
repaired and resurfaced this fall.
ford to repair the entire six-mile
stretch of Ocean Boulevard in one
year. Whatever is not completed
next fiscal year will be finished in
fiscal year 1991-92.
He said the town board will be
permitted to suggest which section
of the boulevard it would like to see
completed first. Commissioners in
dicated last week that a top priority
will probably be the well-traveled
stretch between the bridge and
Holden Beach Fishing Pier.
The DOT hopes to accept bids
and award a contract for the im
provements shortly after funds be
come available July 1 so work can
begin this fall. Bowers said a simi
lar resurfacing project is planned for
Beach Drive al Long Beach.
Cook estimated it will cost
S50.000 per mile to repair and
resurface Ocean Boulevard. The
money will come out of the state's
urban resurfacing fund.
While resurfacing of the boule
vard is assured, DOT officials were
less optimistic about the chances of
widening the street to accommodate
bicycles, joggers and pedestrians.
Commissioner Amos, who had
suggested the widening and the
meeting with DOT officials at the
town board's last regular session,
said adding one or two feet on each
side of the street would help.
"We're getting a lot more traffic
than we were getting in the old
days."
Though the state officials
promised to look into widening the
street. Bowers said the project
would be very expensive. All con
crete driveways that extend to the
edge of the existing road would
have to be cut and later repaired if
the boulevard was widened.
While he admitted there is little
money available. Bowers suggested
the town seek funds for a bike path
or walkway through the DOT's bi
cycle program. Holdcn Beach ap
plied for bike path money several
years ago, but didn't receive any.
In other business relating to
transportation last week, Cook said
the DOT plans to correct drainage
problems along the boulevard at
Neptune Drive and Blockade
Runner.
Also, the town manager reported
thai a Hashing yellow and red traffic
signal will be installed on the island
at the foot of the bridge as soon as a
suitable location is found for a pole.
Holden Board Denies Bathhouse Variance
BY DOUG RUTTER
A Holden Beach campground
manager said he will set up rest
room facilities in an existing build
ing after being a variance
Monday that would have allowed
construction of a new bathhouse in
violation of flood elevation code.
The Holden Reach Zoning Board
of Adjustment voted 3-2 Monday to
grant a variance requested by the
manager of Holden Beach Family
Campground. He wanted to rebuild
the bathhouse destroyed in Hurri
cane Hugo without meeting eleva
tion requirements. However, since a
four-fifths majority is needed to
giant a variance, the request was de
nied.
The fear that Holden Beach's
participation in the National Flood
Insurance Program could be jeopar
dized by granting the variance prov
ed to be the main reason for denial.
Campground manager Gil Bass
had asked for the variance from lo
cal flood elevation rules, which are
identical to federal regulations. The
code would have required that the
bathhouse be raised about nine feet
off the ground on pilings. Bass
wanted to build the structure two or
three feet above ground level to
provide easier access for elderly and
handicapped campers.
Board of adjustment members
Allan Dameron, Graham King and
Martin Feldt voted in favor of
granting the variance, while Geor
gia Langley and Alfred Bell op
posed it
Immediately after the vote, Bass
announced that he intended to build
bathhouse facilities ? commodes,
sinks and showers ? inside an exist
ing, ground-level building next to
the campground on Ocean Boule
vaxu West. The facilities wiii be set
up inside the Huluen Beach Fishing
"If something happened in the flood
insurance program , I do not want to be
held responsible
? Georgia Langley, member
Hoiden Beach Board of Adjustment
Pier building, which Bass also man
ages, or a smaller structure east of
the pier shop.
About 20 Holden Beach resi
dents, including three town com
missioners, turned out for Monday's
45-minute variance hearing at town
haii.
The hearing had been postponed
two weeks earlier when it was dis
covered that granting a variance
might affect the status of the federal
flood insurance program at Holden
Beach.
Bass had requested the delay due
to conflicting statements from fed
eral flood insurance officials regard
ing what effect the variance could
have at Holden Beach. He pointed
out Monday. "Dealing with the fed
eral government, you still don't
have an exact answer."
Throughout this week's meeting,
however, board members referred to
a five-page document from the Fed
eral Emergency Management Agen
cy (FEMA) on guidelines for local
variances.
After a lengthy discussion and a
few minutes of silence Monday,
Dameron made the motion to grant
the variance, which would have al
lowed Bass to build a bathhouse
four feet above the ground.
Dameron based his position on a
Jan. 19 leuer from C. Richard May
son, chief of the natural hazards
branch with hhMA. Ihe letter stat
ed in part that "patterns of variances
and communities that issue 2 large
number of variances could be sub
ject to enforcement action ..."
Building Inspector Dwight Car
roll testified at the hearing that he is
aware of only two variances the
town has granted in recent years
and that FEMA officials never ob
jected IU UiClll.
Said Dameron, "If the only thing
we're going to do is quote (the
rules) verbatim, there's no need for
this board."
King supported Dameron 's posi
tion, staling that the purpose of the
board of adjustment is to provide
relief to property owners in cases of
hardship. He pointed out that the
town had received no firm response
from FEMA whether the variance in
question would affect the flood in
surance program at Holden Beach.
Also basing her opinion on the
contents of the FEMA letter, Mrs.
Langley was the most vocal oppo
nent of granting the variance.
She argued that the town had re
ceived nothing in writing stating
that the flood insurance program on
the island would not be affected by
a variance. "If something happened
in the flood insurance program, I do
not want to be held responsible,"
CLASSIFIEDS
Good News
reopie Can Use
she continued.
The FEMA letter indicated that,
generally speaking, most situations
do not warrant a variance. The key
element that is often overlooked, it
continued, is that variances should
be given as a result of problems
w ith the luiid and not fm uum ic*t
sons.
Carroll said the variance, com
bined with other variances or flood
code violations at Holden Beach,
could possibly affect flood insur
ance program on the island. He not
ed, however, that FEMA has never
canceled flood insurance in a beach
community.
Mrs. Langiey commented, 'i
don't want to test the federal gov
ernment"
Asked what he thought would
happen if a variance was granted,
Carroll replied, "I don't think the
sky's going to fall down. I don't
think the moon's going to turn
blue."
At the start of the hearing, Bass
explained that he had requested the
variance to provide easier access for
campers. He said about 25 percent
of them are retirees and senior citi
zens, some of whom use canes or
walkers.
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Cash, Checks Taken From
Shallotte Point Business
Cash and chccks worth approxi
mately SI, 900 were stolen Sunday
from a Shalloltc Point store, accord
ing to reports on file at the Bruns
wick County Sheriff's Department.
LeGwin Williams of Village Mart
on Village Point Road near Bay
Road told sheriff's deputies that the
larceny occurred Sunday between
11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Williams said a United Carolina
Bank bag containing cash, chccks, a
Master Card slip and two bank
books apparently was removed
from under the store counter when
he was briefly called away from the
front of the business by a customer.
Break-Ins Reported
The sheriff's department Monday
was investigating several break-ins
reported over the weekend.
Ingcmar Johannson ! lank ins of
Route 2, Bolivia, told authorities
that his mobile home on Randolph
ville Road just off U.S. 17 was en
tered between 7 p.m. Friday and
8:15 a.m. Saturday. The intruder
pried open a back door.
Stolen were a Colortyme console
vidcocasscttc recorder. Pioneer
stereo, Sanyo compact disc player.
Whirlpool microwave oven, Zenith
19-inch color television, Fender am
plifier, two Fisher stereo speakers,
AT&T cordless telephone, two
30.06-caliber rifles, .38-caIiber re
volver and a South Brunswick High
School class ring. The property was
worth 55,130.
In another break-in, Johnny
Matthews of Fairmont reported that
someone entered his mobile home
in Styron's Landing subdivision off
CRIME REPORT
Seashore Road by prying open a
front door. The break-in happened
between Jan. 6 and 1:30 p.m. Sun
day.
Missing items included a General
Electric 19-inch color television and
Hotpoint microwave oven. Theft
less was listed at $740. Also, dam
ages were estimated at SI 90.
Jack Aubry Tucker of Racford
told officers that the storage shed of
his vacation home in Seaside
Hideaway Estates was broken into
between Nov. 19, 1989, and noon
Sunday. A lock was pried off the
shed door. Fishing equipment worth
S355 was taken.
Jimmy Helms of Ashcboro re
ported a break-in at his summer
house in the Brown's Landing area
near Holden Beach. The brcak-in,
which was discovered Friday even
ing, happened within the previous
two weeks.
An intruder pried open the back
door of the house and removed an
Agfa camera and a sword; the items
were worth S150. Approximately
$100 in damage also was done to an
antique desk.
Car Stolen
The sheriff's department Monday
njso was on the lookout for 2 cur
that was stolen Saturday from a Le
land area residence.
Connie Sue Owens of Route 1,
Lcland, said her 1984 Chevrolet
Cavalier was taken from where it
was parked in her yard between 10
p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
The car was worth $4,000.
' SOS ' Group To Discuss Sludge
A.R. Rubin, a bio- and agri-cngi
nccring specialist at N.C. State Uni
versity, will be the guest speaker at
the February meeting of the "Save
Our Shellfish" organization. The
meeting is set for Friday at 7:30
p.m. at the Lock wood Folly Com
munity Building.
According to Brunswick County
Agricultural Extension Chairman
Milton Coleman, Rubin will present
a program on the permitting process
and land application techniques for
mnnir in-il sludge on ggnnnhurol
lands. Rubin also will discuss re
ceiver sites ? areas where untreated
septage from home septic tanks is
disposed.
Those issues arc of interest to
SOS due to the organization's ef
forts to identify sources of pollution
on the Lockwood Folly River. State
environmental agencies have said
the river's pollution problems arc
Gray Cockatiel'
'with yellow cheeks flew
the coop Saturday from.
Varnamtown. He was last
seen m Maple Creek area*
y. He can say a few words and
' does several wtvstles. He also calls the
cat. If you see or hear him, please call
Tammie, 754-6890 or 842-9231.
Thanks and keep your eye in the sky!
AAA*** *
causcd, in genera!, by stormwaicr
runoff and septic tank effluent
For more information on Friday's
meeting, contact SOS President
Annie Smigicl at 842-6758.
For Life
insurance,
check with
State Farm.
? Permanent Life.
? Term Life
? Retirement,
pension and
group plans.
? universal Life.
DWIGHT
FLANAGAN
L Ae a good neighbor State Farm is there
Phone 754-9923
Jet. Hwy. 17 & 211
PO Box 78
Supply, NC 28462
Stale Farm Lit# Insurance Company
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