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Ye Olde Public Forum
The Island Gazette
"To print the news and raise hell" -- Ben Franklin "WE ALL LIVE HERE SO WE CARE ABOUT OUR ISLAND"
Established 1978 Published Every Wednesday by Seaside Press Co., Inc. 1003 Bennet Lane Suite F - P. O. Box 183, Carolina Beach, N. C. 28428 (910) 458-8156
Town Meetings Schedule Kure Beach Planning and Zoning Board holds their regular monthly meeting on the first Tuesday of each month at Town Hall at 7:00PM. Call for 458-8216 for more information. The Kure Beach Shoreline Access and Parking Committee meets every month on the first Tuesday at 5:00PM at Town Hall. Kure Beach Town Council meeting held on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 at Town Hall. Carolina Beach Police Advisory Committee meeting first Monday of each month at Town Hall at 7:00PM. Carolina Beach Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, 7PM, held in the Council meeting room at Town Hall the second Thursday of each month. Carolina Beach Town Council regular meeting
held in the Council meeting room at Town Hall the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM. Meetings are televised on Charter Cable Channel 3 on Tuesdays at 7PM and on New Hanover County Government Access Channel 5 on Fridays at 7AM and Sundays at 6PM. The Kure Beach Community Center Committee meets the second Tuesday of every month at 10:00 am at the Community Center. Kure Beach, Beach Protection Committee meets every month on the first Tuesday at 3:30PM at Town Hall. Call Kure Beach at 4588216 or Carolina Beach at 458-2999. You may also visit Carolina Beach online at w w w. c a r o l i n a b e a c h . o r g You may visit the Town of Kure Beach online at www.townofkurebeach.org
Carolina Beach Police.................................... 911 or Carolina Beach Fire Department ............................... Carolina Beach Crime Stoppers ............................... Town of Carolina Beach........................................... Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce....................... Kure Beach Police.......................................... 911 or Kure Beach Fire Department...................................... Town of Kure Beach................................................. New Hanover County Sheriffs Department................. Wilmington Police.................................................... City of Wilmington................................................... Coast Guard............................................................. Carolina Beach State Park......................................... Fort Fisher Aquarium................................................. Carolina Beach Library............................................... Cape Fear Community College................................... University of North Carolina At Wilmington............... Kure Beach Pier........................................................ Carolina Beach North End Pier................................. NH County Animal Control .................................... Kure Beach Community Center................................
458-2540 911 Emerg. 458-1246 458-2999 458-8434 458-7586 911 Emerg. 458-8216 798-4200 343-3600 341-7800 256-2615 458-8206 458-8257 798-6380 362-7000 962-3000 458-5524 458-5518 798-7500 458-8944
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SUBSCRIPTION RATES In New Hanover County . . . . . . . $29.00 per year Outside of County . . ........... . . . $39.00 per year The Island Gazette reserves the right to edit any news items submitted to us, including press releases, letters to the editor, and articles of interest submitted by individuals for publication. Deadline for news articles is 12 Noon Friday. Display ads must be submitted before 4:PM on Thursday. Classified ads must be in by 4pm on Friday. 2nd class postage paid at Carolina Beach, N. C. 28428 Publications Number (USPS 474-990) Š Copyright 1978 - 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publishers. Registered Library of Congress #ISSN 1084-144X - Š Copyright 1978 - 2013 OFFICE HOURS: Mon & Tues 8:00am - 4pm Wed 9am - 4pm : Thur 8:00am - 4pm Fri 9:00am - 4pm : Closed Sat & Sun
Gazette, July 30th, 2014
TO SUBMIT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR IS | DEADLINE MONDAY MORNING ~ SEE RULES AT LEFT
Editorial: Town Says Many Opposing Boardwalk Project Inaccurate
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By WILLARD KILLOUGH III Managing Editor
Recently an employee of the Town of Carolina Beach sent out an email asking citizens to write letters supporting the Town's request for a variance to build an 875' extension to the existing 750+ foot long wooden oceanfront boardwalk in the downtown area. (See report on page 1-A). In that email it was stated, "Many of the individuals writing letters against the updated and expanded Boardwalk are inconsistent, factually inaccurate and in many cases, they are neither property owners nor stakeholders in the property they claim to be representing; The Town has made every effort to address each of their specific concerns, including the addition of more physical security measures, lowering the structure’s height and eliminating any possibility of ocean views being blocked by the Boardwalk’s extension."
When asked who those individuals are, we received no comment. It is understandable that people have opinions and take sides on issues such as this project. That's the beauty of a free society. However, when people are being asked by a Town official to write letters supporting the Town's variance request to the Coastal Resources Commission and clearly labels people, in general without mentioning names, as "inconsistent" and "factually inaccurate" because they do not support the project, that's a cause for concern. It's interesting that in the letter sent out last week it states, "They are neither property owners nor stakeholders in the property they claim to be representing." That's an odd statement when you consider the land in question is owned - in the eyes of the law - by the entire state of North Carolina. That means even a man living in a cabin in
the North Carolina mountains is part owner of the land where the extension might be built. To the best of our knowledge every person that has written a letter to the Island Gazette concerning this issue owns - or has an interest in - land adjacent to the project area. Those individuals own residences, not commercial businesses. Evidently the people opposing the project are making their voices heard by the Coastal Resources Commission and now that the October CRC meeting will be held in Wilmington, it should make for an interesting venue. We have a bunch of letters that have been sent to the Coastal Resources Commission in recent weeks that we'll post online with this editorial later this week. People who have written letters to the editor over the last month have all expressed a concern with the proposed project and had numerous questions such as who will be liable for damage resulting from a storm
washing the structure into adjacent properties? That's a valid question to which the Town responded they designed it to withstand 139 mph winds. That didn't answer the question. I've yet to see an answer. Although I'm pretty sure the Town would deny all claims made against it due to that type of scenario. They do that for every claim against them and basically wait for you to take them to court. Getting back to the topic at hand.... I got a response from the Coastal Resources Commission when I inquired last week as to the cause for delaying the variance request until the CRC's October meeting. Ironically, it was due to agreeing on stipulated facts between the Town and the legal counsel for the CRC. It's perplexing as to why the public can't view those memos, but that's a topic for another day.
Meeting On Breweries In Wilmington WILMINGTON On Wednesday, July 30, the Planning Commission for the City of Wilmington will hold a special meeting to discuss draft zoning regulations for the craft brewing industry. The meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the first floor conference room at City Hall. The commission considered the draft regulations at their meeting earlier this month, but decided to have a special meeting to discuss further before taking action. Over the past year, the city has received inquiries from several craft brewers interested in locating
or expanding in Wilmington. Currently, breweries are not identified as a specific type of business in city code, resulting in confusion and delays in permitting. In response, the city has been working to clarify the code. The Wilmington Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday, July 30, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. in the Lord Spencer Compton Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall, 102 North 3rd Street, Wilmington, NC, to hold the following public hearings: SPECAIL MEETING: 1. Land Development Code
Amendment - Amend City Code Chapter 18, Land Development Code Sections 18-187. MX, Mixed Use District; 18194. CB, Community Business District; 18-195. RB, Regional Business District; 18-197. CS, Commercial Services District; 18-198. LI, Light Industrial District; 18-199. IND, Industrial District; 18-200. AI, Airport Industrial District; 18202. RFMU, Riverfront Mixed Use District; 18-204. UMX, Urban Mixed Use District. Amend Sections IND, Industrial District; 18-200. AI, Airport Industrial District to add "restaurant, standard" as a per-
mitted use. Add Section 18325. "Prescribed conditions for breweries, small regional and microbreweries." and add a definition for "brewery" with subsections for "small regional brewery" and "microbrewery" to Section 18812. Definitions. Phil Prete, Senior Planner (LDC-1-714). All interested persons are invited to attend. Please call the City of Wilmington Planning Office at (910) 254-0900 if you have questions regarding any of these agenda items. The City of Wilmington’s hearing impaired TDD number is (910) 341-7873.
Hotels
The North Carolina Aquariums Division had planned to construct three piers along the coastline. One was built in Nags Head, NC in the Outer Banks. The second pier was planned for Emerald Isle, NC but was not funded. The Carolina Beach project was to be the third pier. The original pier project called for a 1,000 foot long concrete pier with wooden decking proposed by the NC Aquariums complete with seating kiosks, fish tanks, conference space, kitchen facilities, pier store, decks and balconies to view the ocean, equipment rentals, a 10,000 square foot pier house, ADA accessibility and the potential for outdoor entertainment. The Town would be required to sponsor other improvements including 150+ parking spaces that are adjacent to existing parking lots. The Council later worked to renegotiate the loans with BB&T as well as generate revenue from two hotels located on the properties to help pay the mortgage. On October 9th, 2012 the Town Council voted to forego an expensive oceanfront park plan and put all of the properties on the market to pay off what they owe the bank. In February of last year the properties were put up for sale for $4.65 million dollars. That decision included properties located at 234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 302, and 309 Carolina Beach Avenue North, Carolina Beach, NC. That included a lot known as the Harbor Master's Lot on Canal Drive that was purchased directly by the Town, not CBP3, and is currently used as a public payparking lot. That lot is not part of the current deal and will be retained to generate parking revenues. Councilman Steve Shuttleworth said, "I know a lot of people have said we've already spent a ton of money on the property but I believe Dawn's
last summary to us showed where what we spent and what we brought in have now zeroed out. We might be seven to ten thousand dollars to the good so we've been able to catch up on the past efficiencies and the money expended towards remodel on the revenues brought in. So I think that part has been a wash. So it really hasn't cost the Town another million dollars." He said, "I think Dan's brought up a good point. The future loan balance is going to be $2,007,000 approximately. If you subtract out the $475,000 for the Harbor Master lot that really brings us down to $1.5 and some change." Mayor Dan Wilcox said, "There has been a lot going back and fourth between CBP3 and Council since the election and all in effort for everybody to wrap their minds around this and try and work towards a situation that would be the most beneficial or least loss to the citizens" and, "I want to thank Steve for all of the work he's put into it and the CBP3 and not just the work in getting everything together, the changes they made previously that resulted in more revenues and less cost due to the reduced interest rate." On Tuesday July 22, Town Manager Michael Cramer explained to Council, "After several conversations with BB&T and the Local Government Commission we have developed an efficient process allowing CBP3 to close on the sale of the hotel properties. We have confirmed that, if Council votes to do so, the Harbor Master lot and the Fisherman’s lot can be transferred to CBP3, Inc and BB&T will accept those two properties as collateral for the remaining balance on the CBP3 loan." The two lots Cramer mentioned in his memo to the Council are located adjacent to the Carolina Beach Marina on Canal Drive. Both lots serve as public pay-parking lots gener-
ating revenue for the Town. Cramer explained the process for transferring the property is as follows: 1. At a regular meeting, the Council must adopt a resolution or order authorizing the Town Manager to dispose of the real property. 2. The resolution must identify the property. 3. A notice must be published one time and the transfer cannot take place until after 10 days from the date of publication. 4. The deed must contain covenants and conditions of public use by the entity. He explained, "Once the property is transferred, the Town and CBP3 will enter into a management agreement stipulating that the Town will continue to receive all proceeds from the parking revenue on both lots. The Town will also continue to manage the property as public property and maintain the property for that use. If this process is followed, than the Town will not need to go through the LCG for a loan, CBP3 will be able to close on the sale of the hotel properties and the town will continue to budget for the remaining loan proceeds." Cramer said at this point the estimated remaining loan balance and future payments are estimated as: Future CBP3 Loan ‡ &%3 /RDQ %DODQFH $2,007,441 ‡ ,QWHUHVW 5DWH ‡ 7HUP \HDUV ‡ $QQXDO /RDQ $PRXQW $184,404 Town Annual Budget Savings ‡ /RDQ 3D\PHQW %XGJHWHG Savings $72,260 ‡ )XWXUH 7D[HV DQG ,QVXUance From Hotel Property $ 57,336 ‡ 1HW 6DYLQJV The Council will consider a resolution making the change at their August 12, regular meeting at 6:30PM at Town Hall.
From page 1-A the Town's terms, CBP3 could make the same offer with the same conditions to Troutman. The Town has wrestled with how to deal with paying the debt on $4.3 million dollars in property it purchased in 2009 on Canal Drive and Carolina Beach Avenue North to facilitate a future NC Aquarium Pier and park. The 1.972 acres of land included the Surfside Motorlodge, Guy Johnson Motel and other parcels on Carolina Beach Avenue North and Canal Drive. When the land was purchased the Town set up a nonprofit shell corporation called CBP3, Inc. (Carolina Beach Public Purpose). That shell corporation was established because the Town hoped to fund the purchase by obtaining state and federal grants. Some agencies will not award grants to reimburse for property that's already been purchased by a local government. Using a separate corporation to purchase the property, the Town had an option to purchase the land from CBP3 at a future date even though the Town was actually paying the bills through property taxes and revenues from the hotels. Among the grants obtained for the Pier Project, an $800,000 grant from the State Division of Coastal Management was obtained. Later the Town was able to secure $603,000 of that grant to be transferred to a project to improve the aging wooden Boardwalk walkway along the downtown oceanfront. With the economic downturn in the economy, the state said they would not be able to fund the Aquarium Pier project. The estimated cost was $15 million for the pier with the state funding the land upon which the actual structure would be located.