It's Friday June 5, 2026
News & Comment About The Issues Facing Oriental.
In coming weeks, Oriental’s Town Board will refine the town’s budget for the next fiscal year. If there’s any money left to spare, some padded folding chairs for Town Board meetings would rank high on the list of Quality of Life Enhancers
There are a few padded seats now. The five Town board members have them. Out in the audience, however, citizens sit upon cold, hard metal chairs that become even colder and harder as the meetings run in to three and four hours. The board joked at the start of the March 6th meeting about cutting off meetings at the three hour mark, or 10pm. But they didn’t on that night.
So, while we wait for more comfy seating —or even more unlikely, shorter meetings — here’s the View From the Cheap Seats of what happened in those three-plus hours of the March 6th meeting.
First, there was a public hearing, which went on for almost an hour and a half. This was about a Special Use Permit for the River Neuse Condotels. As anyone who’s gone by the South Avenue site knows, work began months ago on that project. What had, until a year ago, been the River Neuse Motel and its 18 units, has been converted in to 16 condotels; they will be individually owned and then rented out short term, like hotel rooms. Work is almost complete on the project.
Initially, no SUP was needed for the River Neuse project. The way the GMO is written, an SUP is required if the renovation brought about a change of use for the business. But since it’s remaining a lodging establishment, there was technically, no change of use.
As many in town are aware, SUP’s are also required when multi-unit dwellings are proposed. But again, that didn’t apply to the River Neuse because it appears our GMO doesn’t consider the multiple units in a condotel to fit that definition of “multi-unit”. And as Former Town Commissioner Dick Moat pointed out to the current commissioners, that lack of clarity in the GMO means that when the developers go to put up some additional, new buildings and add even more units, no SUP will be needed, either.
There is, however a provision in the GMO which says that if the developer spends more than 50% of the value of the property on a renovation, an SUP is needed. With the addition of dormers and a gabled roof to create a third floor, the project had gone over the 50% mark. It was that technicality that prompted the SUP hearing, retroactively.
As it turned out, the SUP hearing was the town’s only opportunity to directly address an issue that has hung over a number of projects in town: whether the project provides enough on-site parking for the business. In this case, the old River Neuse Motel had had 7 parking spaces (on asphalt) and since there was technically, no change of use, the renovated condotels didn’t have to provide any more. If these 16 units had been built from scratch, 24 parking spaces, or 1-1/2 for each unit would have been required according to the GMO. Grandfathered clauses such as that give rise to concern from neighbors that if parking is inadequate on site, it will overflow on to the nearby residential streets.
In the end, the Town Board did not order new parking spaces be set aside at this phase in the project. But the Board stipulated that if and when new buildings with more units are added to the site, those would have to comply with the 1-1/2 spaces per unit rule and that the developer would have to put at least one more additional new space (one in total) for the existing units.
Additionally, the developer will have to install gutters so that the now gabled and sloping roof will not pour water on to the neighbor’s yard.
Virtually everyone who spoke — even those neighbors who wanted the town to impose some conditions — praised the look of the renovation, which had taken a flat-roofed somewhat institutional-looking motel and transformed it with metal pitched roof, dormers and light colored paint on the brick. Mayor Sherrill Styron noted that it was the expense to which the developer went to change the look which ran up the price. It was, in the end, only that technicality which allowed the town to intercede.
(And that’s what took up more than the first hour of the meeting. You can stretch now. Those at the meeting did at this point in the proceedings. The Comfier Chairs for Town Hall Campaign would like to note that the meeting went on for another 2 hours. Just saying. )
The Town Board heard a proposal put forward by some residents of Main Street between South Water and Factory Streets who suggested that the town close Main Street where it crosses the Duck Pond and open up that body of water. The roadway floods often, usually after heavy rains and when there’s a northerly wind.
The subject of What To Do With Submerged Main Street has come up before at least one previous town board. A few years ago, it was said that the culprit was a culvert that wasn’t big enough to let water thru and that raising the road and installing a proper bridge could be extensive and expensive. The suggestion from some of the neighbors in that area now is that the town rip up the road and perhaps install a footbridge that would allow pedestrians and bikes over, and kayaks underneath.
Commissioner Warren Johnson called it a great idea. Town manager Wyatt Cutler said the asphalt road would be “fairly easy to take out” and that “we can go ahead and do it”. Bill Sage, who lives one block over on Neuse Street however asked that the town consider the impact of closing one of the four streets leading to the water. (The other three are Hodges, Neuse and Church/Freemason). Traffic on the other streets, he said, could be affected. Dee Sage, who says she walks her dog near there daily, asked that if the town did do some work in that area, it should deal with the “bubbly oil” that seeps out of the ground near Main and Neuse Streets.
But before moving forward, the board asked the Town Manager to further investigate.
In another proposal put before the board, Ed Bryant said that if the town was continuing to look at buying land for a parking lot, he would lease the town the 14,000 square feet of land he owns behind the BB&T ATM machine on Broad Street. Mr. Bryant said that he recognized it was not near the waterfront which other lots under consideration had been, but that those properties would cost the town more. Town Manager Wyatt Cutler said Mr. Bryant was offering to lease his land to the town for a dollar a year for several years.
There were, however, some conditions. Several trees on the lot would have to come down and the town would have to pay a share of that. Also, Mr. Bryant said he would want the town to pave the lot. Commissioner Nancy Inger, who has been the town board’s point person on negotiations over parking lot space, signaled some reluctance to strike that deal. “Paving is very expensive. It would not be our intention to pave a lot,” she said, Instead, Commissioner Inger, said, the town “would want to put a pervious surface on it such as rock.” (There is much discussion at board meetings about encouraging gravel and other pervious surfaces as a way to reduce stormwater runoff.)
But it emerged in the discussion that it was impervious surface that Mr. Bryant wanted. Mr. Bryant said he was proposing that lease-and-pave arrangement with the town because he wanted an impervious surface on the land before the state’s Division of Water Quality imposed tough new rules that could, by some reports, limit impervious surface areas on lots to 12%. Generally, lots that are covered to a greater percentage would be grandfathered in. If the town paved the lot in exchange for a cheap lease, the possibly stricter rules would not apply to Mr. Bryant’s land.
The Town Board said it would put Mr. Bryant’s proposal with the others that have come to the town since developer Henry Frazer offered to sell the town three lots on South Water Street.
And in one other item.
The Town Board heard a Tourism Board report about the upcoming “Loose on the Neuse” concerts in Lou Mac Park in July, August and September. The purpose of the concerts when initiated last year, was to bring tourists to town on weekends when there was little else happening. This year, the July concert is taking place the same weekend as the Rotary Club’s Tarpon Tournament, which aside from Croakerfest, may be the second biggest tourist weekend in town in summer. The event, which has been held for years on the last weekend in July, is also the Rotary’s biggest fundraising event of the year.
It was reported to the Town Board that the Rotary Club had expressed concern to the Tourism Board that the concert running from 5-7pm at Lou Mac Park would detract from the number of people who would normally attend the Tarpon Tournament dinner which starts at 7pm at Whittaker Pointe Marina. (Picnic dinners can be brought to the Loose on the Neuse shows.)
The Tourism Board, it was reported, regretted the oversight in scheduling the two together, but would not change the date of that concert because one magazine, Food and Wine, would be advertising Loose on the Neuse as happening on that date. The Rotary Club, it was reported, had offered to provide tents and a stage and hold the concert at Whittaker Pointe so that everyone was at one place. The Tourism Board it was reported, said it would go along with that, but the Tourism Board liason, Commissioner Candy Bohmert signaled that she thought the concert should remain in Lou Mac Park. In the end, the Town Board took no action to change the date or location of Loose on the Neuse’s July show.
Though advertising in one magazine and a website had been cited as reasons for not moving the date, it emerged at the Town Board meeting that none of the bands had been booked for the Loose on the Neuse shows.
The Town Board also discussed the proposed pier for Lou Mac Park. And the town had applied for a grant to purchase land for a parking lot, visitors center, museum and public restrooms. Those stories coming up.
Posted Wednesday March 14, 2007 by Melinda Penkava
