Shell Island Newspaper Articles

Reprinted by permission of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina

March 25, 1998

The News & Observer

Resort told to file doomsday plan

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Page: A3

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH -- A demolition or relocation plan must be filed by owners of the imperiled Shell Island resort despite its lawsuits challenging state coastal rules, regulators say.

The nine-story resort hotel, perched on the eroding edge of Mason's Inlet at the north end of this beach town, was declared "imminently threatened" in September. Under state regulations, the hotel has to file a plan for dismantling or relocating when that declaration is made.

State coastal regulators meet this week in New Bern, but the hotel isn't on the agenda of the Coastal Resources Commission, CRC spokeswoman Alison Davis said Tuesday.

The $22 million hotel now is protected by a temporary wall of large sandbags.

Roger Schecter, head of the state Division of Coastal of Management, reminded resort homeowners in a March 19 letter that they have until September 1999 to prepare the plan. The sandbags now in place must be removed by then.

"This letter is not a request that the Shell Island Resort building be dismantled at this time," Schecter wrote. "However, it is a request that the Shell Island Homeowners Association and the individual unit owners submit a plan for removal of the structure in the event that it becomes a threat to public health and safety."

Schecter also said the resort had to submit a long-term plan for the building that "does not involve construction of a permanent erosion-control device."

The resort, composed of individual condo units, has sued to get permission to build a steel sea wall to protect the building.

Resort attorneys said they don't need the plan because of the lawsuit challenging the state ban on sea walls.

"To draw up a plan for demolishing is a little far-fetched," said Susan McDaniel, a resort attorney.

Ken Shanklin, another resort lawyer, said the lawsuit should trump any requirements for contingency plans.

"We're challenging several of their rules," he said. "Until that's resolved, I don't see the need for any plan."

Shell Island also is challenging a permit the CRC granted landowners at Figure Eight Island on the north side of Mason's Inlet. The permit allowed dredging for sand in the sound behind Figure Eight to replenish the private island's beach and protect homes.

Until the challenge is heard by an administrative law judge and finally decided by the commission, the dredging is on hold, Davis said.

McDaniel said the hotel owners objected to Figure Eight's plan because the dredging would increase the amount of water in the inlet and possibly speed erosion.

Figure Eight landowners wanted to build up their beaches before the 1998 hurricane season, and attorney Bill Raney said he hoped the appeal could be handled quickly.

An Army Corps of Engineers official said when the inlet was dredged in 1993 it appeared to slow the rate of erosion toward Shell Island.

Section: News
Edition: Final
Estimated Printed Pages: 2

Index Terms:
Shell Island resort
NC
coast

Caption:
photo; file

Shell Island resort at the northern end of Wrightsville Beach is

threatened by erosion from Mason's Inlet.

Copyright 1998 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.

Record Number: 1998083125