Currituck Planning Board denies proposed impound lot rezoning, 4-2

The Currituck County Planning Board on April 14 denied a conditional rezoning request that would have allowed a two-acre screened impound and vehicle-storage lot as part of a proposed automotive wrecker service on roughly 7.69 acres.

Planning staff recommended denial, saying the proposal conflicted with the county’s Imagine Currituck 2040 vision plan. "The TRC recommendation is going to be for denial because of the inconsistencies with the Imagine Currituck 2040 vision plan," planning staff member Jenny Turner told the board, citing the site’s designation in the G1 low-density transect and multiple land-use policies. Turner identified specific policy concerns including community character and the location of new industrial uses.

The applicant and a family representative said the project would meet a practical need in the county’s growing northern corridor. "It's a police impound lot," said Carl Furby, who said he was speaking for the family that owns the property. Furby told the board officers currently haul impounded vehicles long distances and that a more local impound site would "reduce response times and towing distances, saving taxpayers by reducing officers' fuel and labor costs."

Applicant James Styles, who said he owns Silverback Towing, described site operations and environmental controls and said the lot would not be used for vehicle repairs. "The pad is gonna consist of sand on the bottom, and then we're gonna do a permeable type ... whether it's 57 stone or crusher run," Styles said, adding that fluid-capture practices such as absorbent materials would be used and that he had experience in containment. He also described the business' lien and disposition practice for unclaimed vehicles.

Board members questioned the strength of the evidence for need and the absence of written law-enforcement support. Several members said the applicant had relied on conversations rather than documented letters or statistics. "It wouldn't have hurt to have law enforcement letters stating this," one board member said, urging applicants to provide supporting documentation in the county record.

Staff materials described proposed conditions intended to limit impacts: the conceptual plan showed two acres of a larger parcel to be fenced and fully screened (opaque fencing plus chain-link), one ADA parking space, a small shed for limited office use, and a landscape buffer and arterial streetscape where the site abuts the highway. Staff said lighting would be limited (maximum mounting height 10 feet, not to exceed 15 foot-candles), cameras would be required, vegetation outside the development area would be retained, and signage would be restricted in size (the staff report described signage limits as 8 feet in height and referenced square footage in the packet).

Staff also noted the property lies in FEMA’s AE flood zone (base flood elevation of 4) and that wetland or stormwater issues would be addressed during site-plan review; the applicant said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had performed an initial inspection and that the preliminary assessment indicated the parcel was not jurisdictional wetlands, though that inspection had not been completed because the Corps staffer was transferred.

After deliberation, a board member moved to deny PB 26-03, citing inconsistency with Imagine Currituck 2040 (land use policies 1.3, 2.3, 2.8; land use goal 2; and economic development policy 5.1). The motion carried on a voice vote recorded as 4 to deny and 2 to approve.

The Planning Board’s denial is a recommendation; the conditional rezoning would next return to the Board of County Commissioners if the applicants choose to pursue it further. The board closed the meeting with routine announcements and adjourned.