12-03-08: Pasquotank OKs subdivision despite runoff concerns

(c) 2008 Elizabeth City Daily Advance

By Reggie Ponder, Staff Writer

The Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners granted preliminary approval Monday to a 96-lot residential subdivision off Main Street Extended.

The preliminary plat for Fox Haven was approved 6-1, with Commissioner Jimmie Harris casting the lone no vote.

The subdivision plat generated some heated discussion by commissioners about stormwater drainage, traffic safety and even school construction.

The subdivision also is noteworthy because it is the first to change its name since the board adopted a rule last month that new subdivision names not mimic names of existing subdivisions in Pasquotank or Camden counties. The regulation is intended to prevent confusion in emergency communications and emergency response.

Northeast Development, developer of Fox Haven, voluntarily agreed to abandon the previous name — Bell’s Woods — after Pasquotank-Camden Emergency Medical Services Director Jerry Newell pointed out that there’s already a Bell Farm subdivision in Camden County.

Harris said the subdivision will be located between two of the worst places in the county for wrecks.

“What are you going to do with all of the traffic?” Harris asked.

Shelley Cox, county planning director, said the state Department of Transportation was considering four-laning Main Street Extended. She said the developer plans to install turn lanes to DOT standards as a safety feature.

Commissioner Jeff Dixon agreed the subdivision will be located between two dangerous curves. He asked what DOT might do to slow the movement of traffic along the road.

Cox said she thought DOT might consider reducing the speed limit on that stretch of Main Street Extended to 45 mph.

Harris said he’s concerned that an influx of new residents might overload the local schools and could force the county to construct new school facilities.

“Who’s going to pay for the schools?” he asked.

Cox said the schools might have to re-draw attendance districts, but she noted that the school system’s representative at a recent Technical Review Committee meeting had said the existing facilities could accommodate new students.

Harris, apparently unconvinced, said developers need to set aside land for new schools or put up money to help with school construction.

“What they’re doing is not right,” he said.

Joe Anlauf, an engineer with Quible and Associates, the firm acting as an agent for the developer, told commissioners that the new development would generate tax dollars.

But Harris said that wasn’t good enough. He said developers need to set aside land for new school construction.

“Mama and daddy want junior to be educated,” Harris said.

Several commissioners also had concerns related to stormwater management at the Fox Haven development. The board is on the cusp of adopting an official Stormwater Design Manual for the county.

Commissioner Bill Trueblood, chairman of the county’s Stormwater Committee, said it’s important to address stormwater issues when designing subdivisions.

Trueblood pointed out the Fox Haven development incorporates the standards that Greg Johnson, the engineer who works on stormwater drainage issues for the county, has been devising in cooperation with developers over the past several years. He thanked both Johnson and the developers for their work in “starting to get on the right track.”

Johnson said Fox Haven was typical of a new trend in stormwater runoff design in that it takes more water away from the road and holds it in a pond at the rear of the subdivision. That design reduces the quantity of water traveling downstream and also improves water quality, Johnson said.

Commissioner Jeff Dixon expressed reservations about the shared ownership of the pond. He said it could result in inadequate maintenance since some property owners might do a better job than others of maintaining the pond.

But Anlauf said the state Division of Water Quality would monitor maintenance. He explained the developer did not want to own the pond and did not want to have a homeowners’ association that would be responsible for pond upkeep.