HAMPSTEAD — A marina was told it is still violating its permit after a spat with a former elected official.
The Pender County Board of Adjustment determined Hampstead Marina, 128 Broadview Lane, still needs to take corrective action on a security light and parking in a buffer area. They were two of three points outlined in a notice of violation of its special use permit after a complaint was closed earlier this year.
The issue came to the county’s attention on Feb. 6, when former Pender County Commissioner David Piepmeyer — who lives adjacent to the marina — filed a complaint alleging cars, boats and trailers were parked in the 10-foot buffer along the property’s southwest fence. He also said there was not enough vegetative cover and a light was not properly oriented away from neighboring residences.
Conditions were placed on the marina in 2004, when it received a special use permit to operate in a residentially zoned area. SUPs typically include negotiated terms which go beyond the rules applied to other properties in the same district, including parking surface, buffer, cover and lighting requirements.
County staff visited the site on Feb. 9, documented the violations reported by Piepmeyer and issued a notice to the marina to correct the issues. Staff returned to the site on March 1 at the request of marina owner Wooten Holding Co. LLC. They found no vehicles in the buffer, sod had been installed to provide more ground cover, and “the lights in question were determined to be downward casting onto the subject property,” according to a report from the county.
The county sent a letter to the owner on March 22 informing the marina owners the violations were resolved, but Piepmeyer appealed on April 19, stating the lighting and parking issues remained. His appeal included photos showing vehicles parked in the buffer area and of the offending pole which casts light onto his home.
The issue came to a head on Wednesday. BOA member and Surf City Town Manager Kyle Breuer recused himself from discussing the case because he is the county’s former planning director.
“I’m not trying to close down Hampstead Marina or have its SUP revoked,” Piepmeyer said to the board. “But I am simply trying to have the SUP holders, the Wootens, correct the violations.”
The board unanimously agreed parking was still an issue. The board suggested creating a physical barrier, like a rope, along the buffer.
The lighting issue was more complicated. The offending pole was placed on a residential parcel adjoining the marina in 2020, after someone vandalized the property.
Joyce Wooten, one of the owners, told the board someone entered the property at the time and poured an herbicide along the bank, causing the grass to die and the bank to erode. The Wootens had to install sod to correct the issue. She said the incident was the first report of criminal activity at the marina since it began operating more than 40 years ago.
Wooten added the security light was installed at the adjoining residential rental property the Wootens own, at the behest of the tenant. Wooten said the tenant did not believe the existing lights were sufficient.
“Duke Energy was given strict instructions to shine the light away from the adjoining residential property,” Wooten said, adding cameras were installed at the marina as well.
Wooten said she asked the utility company to return to correct the light’s orientation away from the adjoining neighbors’ property after the pole was installed.
Sam Franck, an attorney representing the Wootens, showed the board photos of three other lights in the area shining into the area surrounding the Piepmeyers’ home. He argued other light pollution from neighboring properties illuminated the residence.
The rental property owned by the Wootens is also on a separate parcel from the marina. County Attorney Trey Thurman cautioned the board the SUP’s requirements follow the property it is applied to only.
The board, with the exception of chair Max Kipfer, still decided the light is a violation. He stated he is not sure the board can dictate whether the light needs to be modified because it is not on the marina property, even though it appears to serve a commercial purpose.
“It frustrates me to some degree the light is there,” Kipfer said.
Staff was directed to determine what methods would be best to resolve the issues with the marina but not given a specific timeframe.
The marina has run into trouble over its SUP conditions in the past. In 2019 the county board of commissioners considered revoking the permit after the marina was issued a violation a year prior. The marina was cited for misplaced fencing, lack of vegetation in the buffer and a lack of stabilized parking area. The commissioners eventually determined the marina was in compliance.
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