By Staff
Company has plans to build subdivision
By TED STRONG
Staff Writer
A Winston-Salem-based real-estate company wants to build a 90-acre subdivision near what was once Beaufort County’s segregated black beach.
The proposal from Turnpike Properties LLC, which has an option on several tracts in the Griffin’s Beach area south of River Road, calls for about 15 duplexes, 10 condominium buildings, more than 50 single-family homes, a marina and dry-boat storage.
There likely will be housing for 100 to 200 families at the development when it’s finished, said Bill Hollan, CEO of Turnpike Properties.
The plan goes to the Beaufort County Planning Board for its consideration of preliminary approval April 14.
He said construction will wait until the project’s required permits are acquired — it’s next to the Pamlico River — and the housing market turns around, which makes it difficult to say when construction could begin.
The permits likely will take at least another year to obtain, Hollan said.
The company isn’t keying heavily on the site’s history, Hollan said.
Bill Booth, head of the Beaufort County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a former manager of the beach, said he wishes the project luck.
Booth, who has fond memories of the beach, said that although the beach had problems at times, it was violence-free during his tenure there.
Doug Mercer, chairman of the planning board, wasn’t familiar with the specific project, but he was able to outline the process that will occur at the meeting.
The board will review the plans to determine if they’re practical and in line with the county’s subdivision ordinance. If the board signs off on the plan, it will have preliminary approval, which will allow the developer to continue with planning and, if desired, put in infrastructure like roads and sewers, Mercer said.
If the developer doesn’t want to build roads and sewers, as is often the case with larger projects, the company may post a bond and continue toward final approval without putting in infrastructure, Mercer said.
The company has worked on a development near Belhaven, and the Rich Company will likely handle marketing for the new homes, Hollan said.
Cutline for corresponding photo: The proposed development at Griffin’s Beach would run along both sides of Glenhaven Road shown above. (WDN Photo/Ted Strong)