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Recreation update
Page 6
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4 '
UilT
Perq
Weekly
35 cents
Land
use
plan
gets
update
ERIN RICKERT
Over the course of the
next year residents will
have a chance to weigh in
on changes to the county’s
land use plan that could
help officials guide growth
and development in
Perquimans during the
next seven years.
“It is a comprehensive
planning document for land
use,” said Perquimans
County Manager Bobby
Darden. “It’s a tool for map
ping the future and it’s an
important one, because our
growth pressures in the
next seven years are going
to be unprecedented.”
The county recently lift
ed a six-month subdivision
moratorium on develop
ments two lots or larger
after receiving a larger
than usual demand to build
in the area.
Darden said in the last
three years alone develop
ment of waterfront and
interior properties across
the county has brought
nearly 1,000 newly devel
oped lots to Perquimans.
Since the moratorium
was lifted in June the coun
ty already has requests to
rezone parcels of land for
four high-density subdivi
sions encompassing close
to 100 acres and more than
50 lots each.
With the recent demand
for subdivision develop
ment in the area, Darden
said, the land use plan will
provide a way to scale back
expansion to a level the
county can handle.
“It will serve as the com
munity’s blueprint for
growth,” Darden said. “We
can decide where we want
growth and where we do
not want growth.”
Darden said work began
on phase one of the plan in
February and completion of
phase two is expected in
June 2006.
Currently Perquimans is
one of 20 coastal North
Carolina counties who
under the Coastal Area
Management Act must
complete a land use plan
every seven years.
The act, administered by
the Coastal Resources
Commission, was estab
lished in 1974 to ensure pro
tection of productive and
natural resources.
As designated by CAMA,
Darden has hired Bill
Turner, a representative
from Community Planning
Collaborative out of
Virginia Beach, to help
gather data needed to com
plete the actual planning
document in Perquimans.
Darden said Turner, who
has completed land use
plans in Gates and Kitty
Hawk will work alongside
other officialsduring the
next few months to catalog
everything from soil type to
the zoning of land.
Once aU the necessary
Continued on page 6
•.S'
Development
plan highlights
town's growth
potential
m.-
J1
PHOTOS BY SUSAN HARRIS
Winfall's population
soared Monday, as the
town's 4th of July cele
bration in Winfall Landing
Park drew hundreds of
people for gospel music,
free food, games and fel
lowship. A huge tent
(above) was able to shel
ter only a small percent
age of the huge crowd
that filled the park.
Others sat in lawn chairs
in the shade, on the poVch
of the municipal building
and under numerous
umbrellas. A half-mile
long line wrapped around
the pavillion waiting for
the taste treats to come
off of a half dozen or so
huge grills billowing char
coal smoke into the after
noon air. Traffic control
volunteers reported a
steady stream for hours.
1 ^ »"
r-
Residents
for active
urged to be ready
hurricane season
ERIN RICKERT
Anyone who lived in
Perquimans County two
years ago remembers it —
uprooted trees, beach ero
sion, shattered roofs, stand
ing water, downed power
lines, fields of debris —
complete destruction.
The name behind the
damage, Isabel, and it
turned Perquimans upside
down when this powerful
category 2 hurricane hit
the county with nearly 100
m.p.h gusts Sept. 18,2003.
Now the 2005 hurricane
season has started and
Perquimans County
Emergency Management
Coordinator Harry
Winslow urges residents to
plan ahead so they are bet
ter prepared for the active
season experts have pre
dicted — with 15 named
tropical storms and eight
hurricanes.
“Make good decisions
about staying or leaving
during a hurricane,”
Winslow said. “Always err
on the side of safety.”
Winslow said during
Isabel many residents
chose to stay in the county
— leaving many to weather
the storm in their homes
once shelters filled over
capacity.
As it stands now,
Winslow said, Perquimans
County Middle School in
WinfaU is the only shelter
lined up for the season with
a capacity of about 225.
“We try to wait to open
the shelters until after peo
ple from the beach pass
through,” Winslow said.
“But shelters go early.”
Winslow also reminds
residents pets are not
allowed in shelters for
health and space reasons.
Arrangements must be
made early with vets and
other pet shelters, but
make sure your pet’s vacci
nations are up-to-date and
you have some type of car
rier to ensure your pet will
be allowed in.
“I recommend people
pay attention to reports and
if it looks like it is going to
be anything like Isabel
leave,” Winslow said. “If
we are in the direct path to
be hit, a two or above, we
are not going to open shel
ters. We can’t make it a
mandatory evacuation, we
can just ask you to leave.”
Winslow suggests resi-
ERIN RICKERT
Local merchants recent
ly received some advice not
only on how to capture con
sumers’ attention, but how
to create a more productive
downtown during a special
presentation from an area
expert.
“We compiled every
thing to take a picture for
you of what downtown can
look like,” said Robert
Murphrey, the coordinator
for the North Carolina
Small Town Main Street
Program.
It was business owners
and town officials who met
at the Hertford United
Methodist Church for the
Historic Hertford, Inc.
annual meeting to hear
Murphrey present the find
ings of the Business
Development Plan.
The plan highlighted six
factors including the exam
ination of market condi
tions and the business cli
mate, which could be major
contributors to future
growth and development in
Hertford’s downtown..
Each was based,
Murphrey said, on the
information collected from
surveys filled out by con
sumers and downtown
business owners in May.
Information on surround
ing real estate potential
was also provided by Main
Street Program Manager
Wendy Jewett.
Through review of the
survey data, Murphrey
said, he was able to deter
mine Hertford’s downtown
provides goods and ser
vices to a trade area of
about five miles with some
additional sales from near
by communities.
As with most businesses,
Murphrey said, data also
revealed summer months
are the slowest while
October through December
bring the highest profit.
“This [month data] indi
cates that downtown serves
primarily a local market
and is the primary source
for retailing in the area,”
Murphrey said.
Yet only 34 percent of
retail was cited as being
Continued on page 8
School meal
prices to rise
dents follow the marked
evacuation route signs on
US Highway 17 out of town.
And anyone who does
plan to wait the storm out
should take several preven
tative measures to help pro
tect their lives and proper
ty
To guard your home
against wind, retrofit your
existing roof with hurri
cane straps, install braces
to give additional support
to doorways and attach
storm shutters to protect
windows — this can be
done with a simple piece of
plywood and some screws.
For protection against
flooding move valuables
from basements and have
the main breaker or fuse
box elevated.
Most importantly,
because most standard
homeowner’s insurance
does not cover it, the North
Carolina Department of
Insurance recommends
you buy flood insurance.
“It’s crucial for policy
holders to know about their
insurance coverage before
a storm hits,” said Ken
Enscoe, Nationwide
Mutual Insurance
Continued on page 3
ERIN RICKERT
Meals for students in
three schools in the
Perquimans County School
system will increase as
much as 25 cents with the
start of the 2005-06 school
year in August.
“With the increased cost
of food, supplies, salaries
and equipment repairs over
the past two years, the child
nutrition program is strug
gling to remain solvent,”
said Child Nutrition
Director Donna Harris. “It
is something we didn’t real
ly want to do, but we had to
do it. We are supposed to be
self-supporting. Our fund
ing is dependent on the
number of meals we
serve.”
The change, which
affects students in grades
3—12, raises breakfast
prices from $1 to $1.10 and
lunch prices from $1.50 to
$1.75 at PCMS, PCHS and
Hertford Grammar School.
Under the change,
passed by the School Board
last Monday night,
Perquimans Central
School prices would
remain the same at $1 for
breakfast and $1.50 for
lunch.
Harris said prices at
Central School would
remain the same because
“emphasis is being placed
on serving the recommend
ed calories to children per
meal, so we will adjust the
portions [of different types
of foods] that we are serv
ing younger students.”
Students receiving free
and reduced lunches will be
unaffected by the change,
Harris said.
Those qualifying for free
lunches will continue to
receive their meals as usual
while reduced lunch stu
dents will continue to pay
30 cents for breakfast and
40 cents for lunch.
Harris said it will be the
nearly 38 percent of stu
dents who pay for their
lunches in full and are in
the qualifying grade levels
who will really see a
change.
Continued on page 6
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 90
Low: 73
Scattered T'storms
Friday
High: 84
Low: 71
ScAHERED T'storms
Saturday
High: 86
Low: 71
Scattered T'storms
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