Here is an update article from the Daily Advance on the A-1 Towing operation for those of you who have been following
Corolla towing problem may be soon solved
By Cindy Beamon
Staff Writer
Monday, August 15, 2011
CURRITUCK — Towed vehicles in Corolla and the off-road beaches of northern Currituck had nowhere to go but Kitty Hawk this summer, but the problem may be resolved soon.
A-1 Towing — Corolla’s only towing company — lost its special use permit last December and was not allowed to operate its impound lot in Villages at Ocean Hill this summer.
Since then, Dare County has became the closest destination for broken-down and wrecked vehicles, or those impounded after driving-while-impaired arrests.
A-1 Towing is seeking a new permit to reopen its impound lot after it was shut down by the county. The request won approval from the Currituck Planning Board on condition that the property owner build a new access road to the property. In addition to the impound lot, the company is also seeking approval of two equipment storage/stockpile areas on the site.
For the past 10 years, the towing company has used Ponton Lane, off N.C. Highway 12, to access its impound lot, said Midlantic manager Jim Bickford.
The access was not part of the original plan, but the adjacent property owner Gerald Friedman allowed the company to pass on his property.
A “squabble” between the two businessmen has brought that agreement to an end, said Bickford.
In September, the county granted A-1 Towing an extension of its special use permit to create another access north of Ponton Lane. When nothing happened, the county shut down the operation.
On Friday, the A-1 tow truck was parked in Carova, and Bickford said the operator was still towing vehicles but had no place to take them in Currituck.
Under the terms of the new special use permit, Bickford will have a year to get the new access built.
As a temporary fix, Friedman has agreed to let A-1 Towing use Ponton Lane for another year.
Once that agreement expires, however, A-1 Towing has no other way to reach its impound lot unless Midlantic builds an access where it originally planned.
Building the access will take some time, said Bickford, because the small 30-foot easement crosses wetlands, which will require a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
County planners said Midlantic will also need to improve the dirt road leading back to the impound lot if it wants to use the site for equipment storage and stockpiling. Otherwise, the site can only be used as an impound lot without the road improvements.
Bickford said he was willing to make the investment in the road because of the community’s need for the services.
Karen Ish, representing the Ocean Hill Property Owners Association, attended last week’s Planning Board meeting to oppose any possibility that the Coral Lane stub would be used as an access. Ish said the stub is part of the subdivision’s stormwater management system and should not be part of the towing operation’s route.
Currituck commissioners are scheduled to consider the special use permit request in September.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Corolla towing problem may be soon solved
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2 comments:
Hi, this is donald dickenson (owner:D&D ENTERPRISES)from lyndhurst va.About 3 to 3.5 years ago,i purchased a lot on sandfiddler road.We were supposed to be at attorney Brumsey office to close later that day.while we were going in to look at the lot,the radiator blew the side out of it.Larry towed us to the garden in and was very helpful.we had been sitting there for about 2 hours before he came through and are cell phones didnt work out there and we knew no one there.Since then,Larry and me have become pretty good friends.Ihave personally been to his storage lot myself about 75 to 100 times.Every time ive been to his lot,all of the vehicles(customers and his own,incl. his dump truck and his trailer and school bus)have always been inside the fenced in area which cannot be seen from the public highway anyway.Granted,the road could have used some gravels to access it but i figured that as people lived on through the woods passed his impound yard and there was another bussiness beside his,they left it as was to elimate (wanders)from driving in there just to see what was back there.Whoever is in charge of permits there should call the sherrifs office to see how many times hes done them favors as well as his neighbors and other bussiness owners through out there.Me personally,(having a special use permit for my automotive repair shop and sales in virginia,think the county should probably concentrate on the falling down,abandoned houses that look like shit to tourist comming there for vacation on currituck highway.i love it down there,ive been going to myrtle beach every year for 46 years and the falling barns and houses and old bussiness are twice as bad there.Iknow your economy is alot worse there than ours is so why hassle bussiness that keep their places as they should be kept and concentrate on something more important.
It's a shame all that revenue went to Dare County.
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