CRC To Review Holden Beach Land Use
Plan Next Thursday
BY DORl COSGROVE (JURCJANUS
The Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) will dis
cuss Uie Holdcn Beach Land Use Plan when it meets at
Atlantic Beach next Thursday, Jan. 23.
The meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. at the Sheraton
and is expected to conclude that same day.
CRC spokesman Jeanette Johnson said the agenda
will include review of land use plan updates from sever
al coastal communities, including Holdcn Beach. On its
second review by the commission, die Holdcn Bcach
plan is up for final certification.
However, Haskcii Riicii, planning and uvacss hhiiui
nator for the Department of Coastal Management
(DCM) in Wilmington, is submitting the plan update
without a staff recommendation.
In a letter to the Planning and Special Issues
Committee of the CRC, he wrote that the staff "with
holds recommendation at this time".
Rhctt suggested that die CRC will want to deliberate
"on matters relating to plan content..." at the meeting.
The new land use plan has been passed twice by die
town council of Holden Beach in two forms; once in
August 1991 and again in Dcccmber 1991 after some
amendments.
It was first submitted !o the CRC in June 1990 for re
view and was found to have many duplications and not
to reflect existing town policy. It was returned to the
town by the CRC in October 1990 and reworked by the
Holdcn Beach town council and planning and zoning
board. It went to public hearing in August.
According to Rhett's letter, more changes were
deemed necessary by the town council afu_f the August
hearing, ami were made accordingly.
Aiter a Dec. I public hearing, Holdcn Beach resub
mitted the plan in December for final certification. That
should be considered at the January meeting, Ms.
Johnson said.
Rhett had suggested changes in the plan prior to its
submission to the state office for staff review. He ex
pressed concern in December about the town's designa
tion of areas as "rural," saying that was perhaps not ap
propriate for a fragile barrier island. Rhett recommended
creation of a new category, conservation special use. that
would allow an individual property owner interested in
development to petition the town to change the designa
lion 10 a less restrictive category.
instead the town 'eft one group of islands us "rural,
allowing the possibility of development at a rate of 2 to
21/2 units per acre. It created a new category, rural spe
cial use, to designate existing and proposed dredge spoil
islands.
Also on the CRC agenda will be discussions of a
declaratory ruling on variances for construction permits
and their rulings, which will influence the U.S. Army
Ccips of Engineers and their methods of requesting vari
ances
Presently, said Ms. Johnson, the Corps docs not ap
ply for permits since it is a federal agency, and the CRC
therefore questions ihc Corps' right or need to request
variances to non-existing permits.
The board will discuss clarifications concerning du
plication of certain erosion control rules and the deter
mining of techniques for sizing ocean front structures.
In a related issue, Ms. Johnson said that the CRC
may adopt the previously proposed amendment for
occanfront setback rulings, which was addressed in a
public hearing at the December meeting.
Procedures for designating areas of environmental
conccrn (AEC) will be challenged when the AEC com
miuec makes its presentation on alternatives 10 the pre
sent rulings.
Currently, anyone on the CRC can nominate an area
for AEC designation, and have it approved in a public
hearing and by various committees' approval. Ms.
Johnson said the commission desires a "closer involve
ment with other agencies who would have the technical
expertise to screen" the list of nominations.
Tom Jarrett of the Corps of Engineers will make a
presentation or. methods and avenues of government
funding for environmental projects.
No word has been heard, Ms. Johnson reported, on
the status of a grant application that if approved would
enable die state to purchase a 198-acre tract of maritime
forest on Bald Head Island.
Ms. Johnson added that this would be a "busy meet
ing," but that the CRC should be able to address every
topic on its agenda. Normally, meetings of the commis
sion arc stretched over two days, but this one should
wrap up by 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Nothing is scheduled
for Friday, she said.
CRC meetings arc open to the public.
Advisory Board Strikes Back
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Planning Board, S35; Partes and
Rccrcaiion. S20; Utility Operations,
S35; and Keep America Beautiful,
$20. However, there arc other
boards whose members receive no
per diem.
"There were no financial matters
discussed," said Robinson. "There
were no questions asked of me."
The advisory' board, Carter said,
was active in following new laws
through the state legislature that af
fect the register of deeds office.
Board members were also outspo
ken last year on the county's new
subdivision ordinance, on sections
that regulate the recording of subdi
vision plats, he said.
Carter alleged that two members
of the Parks and Recrcation board
have received more than S400 in
compensation sincc July 1, but that
it hasn't been an issue with commis
sioners. He claimed Parts and
Rccrcaiion board members collect
per dicms on both meetings and
conferences they attend.
Morgan, who represents survey
ors on the advisory board, said he
would be willing to serve as a vol
unteer.
"It's been a very good conduit for
people and other surveyors just to
express our views to Robert and also
to explain ami carry back to them
what they need to know," he said.
"This year was one of the busiest
years for legislation that has affccted
us."
Pay for board members was not an
issue at budget time, said Ms. Shires.
"Compensation is not an issue, as
far as I'm concerned," she said. "It
is beneficial, as far as representing
my clients. We had a voice in the ex
cise tax and the transfer tax laws."
When Ms. Thorpe was appointed
to the board, she agreed to serve
without knowing that she would be
paid for meetings.
"I've never been here for the com
pensation. In fact, I was shocked,"
she said. "I had no idea. To dissolve
this advisory board is a mistake. I'm
really sorry to see it happen."
The county budgeted for advisory
board meetings for the 1991-92 fis
cal year, which ends June 30.
"Once money has been appropri
ated to this office, it's at my discre
tion," said Robinson.
But with compensation no longer
an issue among board members, he
said, they would not be offered pay
under a new charter.
"I don't want it to be an issue of
compensation," he said.
Hnnlfbi Roard Eves Comoloinfs
m a a ? a ? ? ^ V^I ? W? Am / V-J III jk/ I V?? II II W
(Continued From Page 1-A)
owner is caught in that situation.
Permits given to property owners
state that the permits will expire if
not used b> a certain date.
'Three-year permits arc probably
the ones you've been hearing
about," said Rhodes, "where the per
mit has run out, and it's not a valid
permit any more. That has hap
pened. How often that has hap
pened, I don't know."
Davis replied, "I'm more con
cerned about what we're going to do
about it, not how many times it has
happened."
Usually, it's the non-resident
property owner who has purchased
land in Brunswick County wlto falls
victim, said Chairman Bill Rabon.
"They think that 10 years from
now they are going to retire, and this
is where they are going to move,"
said Rabon. "Then the bubble
bursts. The person who tends to be
caught is the non-resident or expatri
ate. A lot of people who wait until
they are in their 60s to build are af
fected, and that's a sad time."
Added Davis, "All of a sudden
their dream home is gone. They
don't even have a place to put it
anymore; their land won't perk."
Rhodes said he received a request
from a local developer who wants to
be on the agenda at the board's Feb
ruary meeting to "discuss a commu
nications problem" within Environ
mental Health Services. The person
agreed to meet with the board's En
vironmental Health Committee first
to sec if the problem could be
worked out there, said Rhodes.
Serving on that committee arc
Rabon, Davis and Brad Williams.
They will meet sometime this
month, said Rabon.
Rhodes also told the board that
the state began giving control of the
larger below-surface septic systems
to local health departments Jan. 2.
Permits and inspections for such
systems must now be given by local
health specialists.
In Brunswick County, about 56
such larger systems will be affected
by the transition, said Rhodes. The
state will still maintain control of
above- the-ground-sewage disposal
systems.
"We feel if one agency has under
ground disposal and one surface dis
posal," said Rhodes, "to the public,
it would be unclear as to who has re
sponsibility."
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Bomb Threat Said To Be Hoax
State Department of Transportation employees evacuated the
Shalioite maintenance office for about an hour Tuesday morning fol
lowing a bomb threat.
'There wasn't anything to it," Shallotte Police Lt. Chuck Yager
said. "I believe it was a hoax."
Lee Curry, supervisor of the Shallotte DOT office, said he had no
idea who could have made the call.
Yager said someone telephoned a secretary who works in a
Wilmington DOT ofTicc at her home Tuesday around 6:30 a.m. and
told her that two bombs had been placed in the Shallotte office.
The caller reportedly told the secretary that the bombs would ex
plode at 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Yager said the Shallotte office was evacuated between 8:30 and y
a.m. and again between 10:45 and 1 1 : 15 Ttiesday as a precaution.
Police searched the building for bombs but didn't find anything.
Yager said.
Said Curry, "Everything turned out fine."
Winter's On
It's going lo feel more like winter
across the South Brunswick Islands
during the' next week, meteorologist
Jackson Canady said Tuesday.
He said temperatures and precipi
tation should be below average as a
cooler flow of air from the Arctic re
gion heads toward the North
Carolina coast. Temperatures will be
in the mid 30s at night and in the
low 50s during the day, he predicted.
Canady expects less than a half-inch
of rainfall.
He estimated the Arctic flow
shouldn't bring bitterly coid temper
atures to the region, but "it will be
noticeably cooler for at least the
next five days." Canady said this
Its Way Here
would be a change from the milder
conditions experienced so far this
season in the coastal area.
For the period Jan. 7 through 13,
the maximum daytime high temper
ature was 66 degrees, recorded on
Jan. 9. The minimum evening low
temperature was 29 degrees, record
ed on both Jan. 8 and Jan. 12.
The average daytime high was 60
degrees and the average evening low
was 37 degrees, for a daily average
temperature of 48 degrees. Canady
said that reading is two degrees
above avcraye for this time of vonr
He measured only .52 of an inch
of rainfall at his Shallotte Poini
home.
Homeowners Claim Stolen
Property !n Varnam Case
some ot the slolcn property con
fiscated from a Holdcn Beach area
theft ring that detectives uncovered
last week has been returned to the
owners.
Olaf Dale Vamam, 40, of Route 2,
Supply, was chargcd last week with
six counts of second-degree burglary
and six counts of larceny after
breaking and entering. Dctectives
have accused the convicted drug tra
fficker of leading an area theft ring
that involved thousands of dollars in
stolen goods.
Officers seized appaiximately
S50,(XX) in stolen items from Var
nam's home on Stone Chimney
Road (S.R. 1115) last Monday, Jan.
6.
Vamam was released from the
Brunswick County Jail Jan. 7 under
596,000 bond after making a first
appearance in Rmnswick Coiintv
District Court. Judge Napoleon
"Poli" Barefoot Jr. reduced bond
from SI 30, (XX).
Three Holden Beach area proper
ly owners whose homes were among
those broken into have claimed their
furniture and appliances, reported
Brunswick County Sheriff's
Detective Gene Allen Caison.
He said the stolen items had been
set up for use in Vamam 's home.
Dctective Kevin Holden said the
items confiscated had been ?inien
from homes in the Holden Beach
area between March and November
1991.
Peggy Jeffrey of Barbourvillc, W.
Va., reclaimed S 1 ,(>90 in goods tak
en fiom Iter home ? including a
dishwasher, wall clock, pink afghan,
video recorder, two lamps, ceramic
ducks and pigs, stove-top burner
covers with a matching kettle and a
silk plant arrangement, Caison re
ported.
Also, Mary Culp Jarvis, of Route
1, Supply, reclaimed a clock radio
that had been taken in a break-in,
said Caison. Another resident. Bill
Corzine of Concord, got his couch,
lovcscat and chair that had been re
ported stolen in another break-in.
Vamam received a 15-year sus
pended sentence in Brunswick
County Superior Court in September
1988 and was placed on five years'
supervised probation after he plead
ed guilty to 18 counts of trafficking
in cocaine, awl IX counts of conspir
acy to traffic in cocaine.
Indicunents accuscd him of dis
tributing more than eight pounds of
cocaine in Brunswick County be
tween February 1985 and May
1986. His cooperation with authori
ties and personal danger from those
he helped implicate in the undercov
er operation were factors in his not
receiving an activc jail term, a
Superior Court judge noted.
Holden said Monday that no other
hnvp bOCH filed Stemming
from the three-month investigation.
He expects several suspects will be
charged.
Health Department Asked To Ban
BY TERRY POPE
A physician who works in the
children's clinic ai the Brunswick
County Health Department says
workers there arc setting a "very
poor example" by not following a
no smoking policy.
A plan to prohibit smoking inside
the health building almost went to a
vote at the Board of Health meeting
Monday. Instead, the board agreed
to send the matter to a committee for
further study.
Of the two new members who
joined the board Monday, one was
assigned to the committee by Chair
man Bill Rabon.
Marcus Williams, a Shallotte phy
sician, will join board members
Rabon, Brad Williams and six de
partment employees ? three smokers
and three non-smokers ? to work on
a possible no smoking plan.
Williams and Joey Galloway, a
?-? ? ?
them quit and ? '
given a desig- CALLOWAY
natal area to smoke.
A letter from Dr. Gordon Cole
man, who works in the department's
pediatric clinic, raised the board's
awareness about possible health
problems stemming from cigarette
smoke.
Supply pharm
acist, were
sworn in as new
members Mon
day. The board
agreed that em
ployees who
smoke should
first be offered a
program to help
Brad Williams' motion to ban
smoking was
sccondcd by Pat
Nutter and al
most went to a
vote. He agreed
to withdraw the
motion follow
ing discussion.
Coleman's
letter states that
the area where
children are ex
amined at the health department is
not a smoke-free environment.
"I found that disturbing for sever
al reasons," he wrote in a letter to
Dr. James Forstner, president of the
Brunswick County Medical Society.
A copy was forwarded to Health
Director Michael Rhodes.
"First, we are seeing children
there who have respiratory illnesses
in examining moms locate/1 swljaccni
to an employee lounge where smok
ing is taking place," Coleman wrote.
"Secondly, I know of at least one of
the employees in that area who is
very sensitive to the effects of tobac
co smoke."
He added, "But above and beyond
that, it is a very poor example for a
county health department not to
have a no smoking policy."
Coleman serves as president of
the New Hanover-Pender County
Medical Society. His Children's
Clinic on S. 16th Street in Wilming
ton covers the pediatric clinic at the
Brunswick Health Department.
Rhodes, a smoker, said he decid
ed to bring the matter to the board's
attention. Of the department's 60
employees, approximately 20 pcr
ccnt smoke, he said.
Health employees are told not to
smoke in front of clients or patients,
but are allowed to smoke in the pri
vacy of their offices, said Rhodes.
"I would like this portion of the
building smoke-free," said Brad
Williams.
Rabon said he did not want to
prohibit employees from smoking.
"None of them, when they were
hired, were told they could not
smoke," said Rabon. "I'm dead set
against the no smoking policy."
Marcus Williams said he agreed
with a ban on smoking, but that em
ployees would first need time to pre
pare and a program to help them
quit. Five percent of smokers are
nicotine addictive and can never
quit, he said.
'This is a big decision to be mak
ing in nnc night" he added.
Members voted unanimously to
form the committee, which will re
port back to the board at a later date.
In other business Monday, the
board:
?Received a report from Health
Specialist Gary McDonald on the
department's new booklet, "Guide
lines for New and Remodeled Food
Service Establishments", which
summarizes rules and requirements
for persons who want to open a
restaurant.
Smoking
?Heard from McDonald that the de
partment conductcd its firsl soil
study under the new Brunswick
County Subdivision Ordinance. A
12-lot subdivision was the only pre
liminary plat filed for Planning
Board approval in lime for that
board's Jan. 22 meeting.
?Received an updated listing of
potassium iodide supplies main
tained by the department in the event
of a nuclear power plant accident af
fecting citizens. Brunswick County
leads the state list, 3.800 units in
stock, with each unit containing 14
tablets. The next highest number of
units, 1,400, is assigned to the
Mecklenburg County Environmental
Health Department in Charlotte. The
drug is used as a thyroid block to
prevent the spread of radiation in the
body, said Marcus Williams.
?Heard a request from Animal
Control to whIyc or rcducc fees for
the county's three nursing homes
and two rest homes who may want
to adopt dogs from the animal shel
ter to use in pet therapy with pa
tients. Fees are set by Brunswick
County Commissioners.
?Learned that flouride will not be
added to the county's drinking water
supply until a new tank arrives and
is installed within the next few
weeks. The contractor reported that
the wrong tank arrived with the
equipment, said Rhodes.
Timothy P. Gibble, M.D.
Adult Medicine
Board Certified Internist
Susan Gibble, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Complete Adult Medicine Care
New Patients Welcome
All Medicare claims filed. Assignment accepted on all in
patient care and out-patient procedures
Convenient to
754-8921 The Brunswick Hospital
House Plan Splits Brunswick
(Continued From Page 1-A)
labor City. The district would also
includc Columbus County and all
but a chunk of northwestern Bladen
County.
Rcdwine opposed creation of mi
nority districts, saying they would
dissipate blacks' influence over leg
islation.
"It's actually rescgrcgating, pul
ling blacks into political reserva
tions," he said Monday. With other
representatives in districts without
substantial blark populations, he
suggested they would be less inter
ested in issues mainly of concern to
blacks because their constituents
would not be.
Republicans in the General As
sembly, he asserted, "want to create
additional minority districts bccausc
it enhances their chances of election
or re-election.
"They're going to make districts
whiter and more Republican and
ihey are using the Justice
Department and the Voting Rights
Act to do that."
While black slate legislators have
also opposed creation of minority
districts, the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
People and the American Civil
Liberties Union have concurred with
the U.S. Justicc Department.
The proposed House restricting
plan was adopted by the House on
votes that split along party lines and
is still subject to amendment before
its final adoption by both houses,
said Rcdwinc. But, he added, "This
is a plan we think the Justicc
Department will approve. We've
covered the areas they wanted us to
look at."
However, Republican leaders in
the House arc predicting both it and
the Senate plan will be rejected.