03-24-08: State grants hearing on sewer permit

(c) Jacksonville Daily News

By Jannette Pippin, Staff Writer

RALEIGH - State regulators have granted a public hearing request from a Carteret County residents' group that continues to seek information about a proposed subdivision project that led to its pursuit of better development rules for the Down East area of the county.

The public hearing will be on a sewer permit application for Marina Village at Snug Harbor, a proposed 62-lot subdivision and marina on Salters Creek near Stacy. The application filed in December requests a permit for a nondischarge wastewater treatment and high-rate infiltration system that would treat 100,000 gallons of sewage a day.

Down East Tomorrow, the grassroots group that formed in reaction to the proposed project and general concerns about high-density development Down East, and the North Carolina Coastal Federation asked for the public hearing after the permit application was filed.

Down East Tomorrow Co-chairman Gerry Barrett said the size of the plant being requested doesn't seem to fit with a proposal for a 60-lot subdivision. The group views the public hearing as an opportunity to find out more about a project for which there have been few details revealed.

"We're very grateful the state is willing to hear the concerns. Hopefully by raising some questions, we'll get some answers," he said.

Barrett said the owners of Marina Village have about 6,000 undeveloped acres Down East but their ultimate plans for the property have not been revealed via a master plan to county or state agencies.

"I'm looking forward to full disclosure from the developers on the master plan for the entire 6,000 acres, as required by the county's subdivision ordinance and the (state) Coastal Area Management Act," Barrett said.

According to the Coastal Federation, the applicants intend to apply the treated sewage on land they own across U.S. 70 from the proposed subdivision.

In their request for a public hearing, the Coastal Federation and Down East Tomorrow argued that the subdivision has been the center of intense public interest and scrutiny, and the questioned the need for such a large sewer plant.

"We're very pleased that the state has agreed to hold the hearing," Cape Lookout Coastkeeper Frank Tursi said via a Coastal Federation news release. "The sewer plant, as proposed, will be large enough for about 300 houses in what's now a very rural area of the county. The people most affected by this development will now have a chance to be heard."

Tursi said the possibility of hundreds of houses has the potential to pollute nearby Core Sound, which is considered an Outstanding Resource Water unless contaminated runoff is strictly controlled. Outstanding Resource Waters are the state's highest classification.

"It also could change a way of life," Tursi said. "Down East is one of the last traditional coastal fishing communities left in North Carolina. The type of large-scale, yet unplanned development that this sewer plant could trigger is what residents feared to years ago."

The proposed development of Snug Harbor project sparked general concerns about future growth Down East and the formation of Down East Tomorrow, which sought a one-year moratorium on high-density development for Down East communities in 2006 so that more protective rules could be enacted.

In lieu of the moratorium, the Carteret County Board of Commissioners agreed to and later approved a Down East Conservation Ordinance to address concerns.

The Coastal Federation said the conservation has done little to stem the tide of development Down East and applauds the state's decision to hear public input before acting on the sewer permit application.

"Wisely, the state has called a time out for this project," Tursi said. "Instead of rushing to approve this permit and potentially change the character of Down East, state regulators decided to take the time to more fully evaluate all of the possible effects and to listen to what people have to say. Those are good things."

No date has been set at this time for the public hearing.

A public hearing on the Snug Harbor project is not required by rule, said N.C. Division of Water Quality spokeswoman Susan Massengale, but can be called if there's sufficient public interest.

"It's not something that we do all the time, but it's not incredibly unusual. It is something we'll do if there's public interest," she said.

Massengale said the project is still in the review phase, and more information may be needed before the staff puts together a draft permit. A completed draft permit will be made available for public review and a date and location of the public hearing will be given.

There will be at least a couple weeks of public review of the draft permit before the hearing, she said.



Contact staff writer Jannette Pippin at jpippin@freedomenc.com at 252-808-2275.