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Dare County’s Board of Commissioners has scheduled a Jan. 2, 2024 public hearing on the 2022 Dare County Land Use Plan.

At the conclusion of that hearing, the commissioners will be in a position to adopt a resolution of approval for the plan.

The Jan. 2 hearing is the last in a long list of items to be accomplished before the draft 2022 plan can be submitted to the Director of Coastal Management and certified.

On June 25, 2021, the county’s Planning Board forwarded the plan to the Division of Coastal Management for a completeness review. About six months later, the plan was returned with comments and corrections to be made. The county’s planning staff updated the plan based on the state’s comments and resubmitted the plan to the division. Final completeness approval from the state was received June 13 2023.

The county’s Planning Board reviewed the draft Nov 7, 2023, and recommended adoption by the commissioners.

Copies of the land use plan are available for review by the public at the Dare County Planning Department office located at 954 Marshall C Collins Dr. in Manteo, during normal office hours or on the department’s webpage at darenc.gov/departments/planning. For additional information, contact the director of the Dare County Planning Department at 252-475-5873.

At a regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 4, 2023, the commissioners took up three planning matters, all of which required public hearings.

A Buxton zoning map amendment was submitted by Cape Hatteras Electric Membership Corporation and Point Break Pools and Spa, LLC to reclassify six lots on one side of Light Plant Road in Buxton.

The approved request reclassified the six lots from R2-A, a residential zone, to C-3, a commercial zone. The newly approved zoning accurately aligns the use of the property, which is a commercial business operating in the location since 1948. The rezoning also increases lot coverage and would accommodate a 20-foot apron in front of truck bays for the cooperative’s new operations building.

The cooperative’s executive vice president Susan Flythe spoke at the public hearing for this matter.

On the second item, St. John United Methodist Church in Avon applied for a text amendment for the R2-A zoning district. The approved accessory use is for a youth retreat center with overnight accommodations.

Conditions for approval of this particular use include the center must be on the same or adjacent property which must be at least 20,000 square feet; principle buildings and outdoor recreation areas shall be set back 25 feet from existing residential uses; no long term use of accommodations; and buffers abutting existing residential use are provided.

The third planning item considered was a special use permit for Rick Albaugh, who wants to build a 10 by 20-foot mini storage building with six units on a lot with two other storage buildings constructed in 1985 at 40041 Brinkley Lane in Avon.

At the required quasi-judicial hearing, Albaugh was concerned about over-regulation with too much cost and restrictions. He is required to repair or replace the Brinkley Lane, which he maintained was torn up by garbage trucks. A fire hydrant is required. Lease agreements must be sent to the county.

After debate, the board approved the special use permit with a change in the draft of one item.

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