BOGUE — The Bogue Planning Board approved allowing businesses to apply for a special-use permit to offer outdoor entertainment.
The board took the action during its meeting March 7 in town hall at 121 Chimney Branch Road.
A public hearing on the B-1 special use ordinance is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 15, followed by the regular town board meeting. The council could consider action on the recommendation during the April 15 meeting.
The planning board also approved updates to its streets and sidewalks ordinance that would change the minimum requirement for new ditch culverts installed in town from a 12-inch diameter to a 15-inch diameter. The change is being considered “to improve the water flow in town,” according to Town Clerk Shawne Southard.
Other revisions to the ordinance were also approved. The updates to the streets and sidewalks ordinance will also be included in the April 15 public hearing and regular meeting.
In addition, the planning board approved allowing Southard to apply for a N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) development grant in order to develop the 4 acres on Bogue Loop Road that will be deeded to the town this year to develop a town park.
Southard said the 4 acres that The Conservation Fund is wanting to gift to the town could be conveyed to Bogue as early as this spring.
“We expect it to be deeded to the town by the end of the year,” Southard said.
The property, formerly owned by Donald and Sybil Rahilly on Bogue Loop Road, is being purchased by The Conservation Fund, which wants to give the land to the town of Bogue. The group is still in the process of finalizing the closing for the property with N.C. Land and Water Trust Fund money.
The property is across the highway from Bogue Field, an auxiliary landing strip and training area for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. The military is interested in putting the property under conservation easements to reduce development around its facilities.
The town, through the help of The Conservation Fund, had been attempting to obtain grants the last few years to purchase a 7-acre tract and a 4-acre tract that front Bogue Loop Road and Highway 24 for a town park. Last April, a representative of The Conservation Fund received the go-ahead to apply for a grant to help buy the land.
In addition, the same group previously applied for a $300,000 grant from the N.C. Land and Water Trust Fund (LWTF) at the town’s request. That grant was approved, and representatives of The Conservation Fund are in the process of finalizing the closing on the Rahilly property with the LWTF money.
While The Conservation Fund had originally hoped to also purchase the other 7-acre tract owned by heirs of the Rose Humphrey Trust, the family was not interested in selling.
Once The Conservation Fund acquires the Rahilly land, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point will obtain a restrictive-use easement for the tract prior to the deed being turned over to the town for use as a public park.
Contact Cheryl Burke at 252-726-7081, ext. 255; email [email protected]; or follow on Twitter @cherylccnt.