New rules wouldn't sink marinas, state says 



What both sides want is a peace 

 treaty, not a war. But sizing up the 

 issues, a cynic might predict the worst. 



On one hand are the marina 

 operators, by most accounts some of 

 the hardiest and most independent 

 men and women doing business in 

 North Carolina. One of them said: 

 "Regulations are like poison darts; the 

 more they let fly, the more likely you'll 

 get stuck." 



On the other hand is the Office of 

 Coastal Management, the regulators. 

 They have the responsibility of 

 protecting the coastal environment for 

 the common good, and they intend to 

 regulate how marinas affect that en- 

 vironment. 



In fact, there has already been one 

 skirmish, over a new set of standards 

 proposed by Coastal Management at a 

 meeting of the Coastal Resources 

 Commission in July. Marina operators 

 present at the meeting took issue with 

 the proposals and accused Coastal 

 Management of trying to regulate 

 marinas out of business. 



"We were taken aback," says 

 Preston Pate, director of field services 

 in Coastal Management's Morehead 

 City office. "They said we hadn't 

 made an effort to get their opinions, 

 and we felt we had." Pate says that on 



Photos by Neil Caudle 



June 26 he sent out 140 copies of a let- 

 ter to members of the marina industry. 

 The letter included copies of the 

 proposed standards and asked for com- 

 ments before the July meeting. 



"I got one written comment and one 

 phone call," Pate says. He says the 

 lack of response led him to believe that 

 most of the operators were reasonably 

 satisfied with the proposals. 



But marina operators point out that 

 the letter came during their busy 

 season, when all but the most pressing 

 mail stacks up on desks, unopened. Af- 

 ter hearing the marina operators' com- 

 plaints in the July meeting, the com- 

 mission moved to postpone approving 

 the standards until later this year, af- 

 ter marina operators had had more 

 time to respond. The proposals were to 

 have been discussed at the October 

 meeting of the commission. If ap- 

 proved, they will be aired in public 

 hearings and could be adopted as early 

 as December. 



Gene Floyd, a Wrightsville Beach 

 marina owner and president of the 

 N. C. Marina Association, says several 

 of the standards, as written, could 

 have the effect of stunting new growth 

 among North Carolina marinas. Floyd 

 cites one standard that would prevent 

 marinas from being situated within 



500 yards of shellfish beds. "You can 

 find a clam just about anywhere," 

 Floyd says. "And you could use that 

 rule to stop just about any marina." 



Floyd and others also feel that the 

 new standards will further complicate 

 the process by which new marinas are 

 granted construction and operating 

 permits — a process they say is already 

 too time-consuming. 



"It takes everything from six 

 months to a year to get anything 

 done," Floyd says. "We don't think we 

 need all this regulation. For example, 

 we're concerned about water quality, 

 because we live with it every day. A lot 

 of operators are voluntarily putting in 

 grease traps, and we're coming up with 

 our own ideas about pumpout sta- 

 tions." 



Preston Pate says the proposed 

 standards were never intended to dis- 

 courage new marinas. 



"I don't think what we're doing is 

 going to have that effect," he says, 

 "and it's not an attempt to change the 

 operations of any existing marinas. 

 Our coastal program recognizes marina 

 development as an integral part of the 

 coastal communities. But we have seen 

 some development that does not ex- 

 hibit the wise use of the resources we 

 have." 



Dry-stack marinas like this one near Atlantic beach store many boats 

 efficiently. But at any saltwater marina, maintenance is a problem. 

 Damaged pilings like the one at right, from a marina near Morehead 

 City, must be replaced before the structure becomes unsafe. 



