Currituck commissioners deny conditional rezoning for impound lot along Keratoke Highway

The Currituck County Board of Commissioners voted on June 1, 2026 to deny PB2603, a conditional rezoning request by the Clifton White heirs that would have allowed a two‑acre impound/automotive "record service" on about 7.69 acres off Keratoke Highway.

Planning staff told the board the site (tax map 41 parcels 70D, 70F and 70L in Crawford Township) lies within the 100‑year floodplain and has an approximate ground elevation of about 0–2 feet above mean sea level, while the county’s regulatory flood elevation is 6 feet. Staff and the county Technical Review Committee recommended denial, citing inconsistencies with multiple goals and policies in the Imagine Currituck 2024 vision plan (including community character, siting of intensive uses, and economic‑development guidance).

Applicant James House, owner of Silverback Towing and Recovery, described the proposed facility as a controlled, conditional light‑industrial impound lot intended for police‑rotation wrecks and short‑term storage. He said the impound would include a roughly 120‑by‑22‑foot reinforced concrete slab with 6‑inch curbing on three sides to contain fluids, a fenced two‑acre impound area set about 630 feet off the highway, and additional vegetative buffering. "It can only have nine inoperable vehicles," House said, describing the operation as designed to keep vehicles off the roadway and improve response times for the sheriff’s office.

Opponents and some neighbors raised concerns about wetlands, the site’s low elevation and groundwater proximity, the absence of a formal wetland delineation in the record, potential stormwater and contamination risks, and community‑character impacts along the Keratoke Highway corridor. Planning staff noted the Army Corps had reviewed the site and that the applicant had discussed limited permitting for the access, but staff told the board a formal wetland delineation had not been submitted for review.

After public comment from neighbors and heirs on both sides, a commissioner moved to deny PB2603 as inconsistent with Imagine Currituck 2024 policies (land use policies 1.3, 2.3, 2.8; land use goal 2; economic policy 5.1; environmental policy 1.1) and because storing wrecked vehicles on potentially wetland/floodplain land could cause adverse environmental impacts. The motion carried; the transcript does not record a numerical roll‑call tally. The denial means the property will remain in its current agricultural and single‑family residential zoning unless the applicant brings a revised proposal or pursues other legal remedies.

What’s next: The decision was legislative and final for this meeting; applicants may choose to pursue further steps (resubmittal with additional studies or a different proposal).