Currituck Stays In Hands of OBC

Debate Over Currituck Beach Lighthouse Enters Third Year

During 2005, Currituck County filed suit in county court against the Outer Banks Conservationists (OBC), the non profit organization that holds the deed to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. The county aims to take the lighthouse away from OBC. The county also filed suit against the state of North Carolina in a demand that local ordinances concerning adequate parking and rest rooms and a permit to run a gift shop were met. But there is inadequate space at the site to add parking spaces and new rest rooms, effectively preventing the group from abiding by the ordinances. The suit went to federal court. The judge's ruling follows concerning these restrictive county ordinances.

In a decision handed down January 10, 2006, by Judge Terrence W. Boyle, U.S. District Judge, Currituck County will be in a weak position to enforce local ordinances including adequate parking spaces and bathroom facilities in order to force the Outer Banks Conservationists (OBC) , owners of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse (CBLH) , to give up the historic site to the county.

Judge Boyle ruled that the federal government retains a strong interest in the historic Currituck Beach Lighthouse as provided in a reversionary clause in the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act (NHLPA) of 2000. The act was created to enable the transfer of 300 American lighthouses to qualifying entities. OBC was awarded the deed to the CBLH after two decades of preservation work.

Boyle said of the NHLPA, “The program serves dual goals: to reserve historic light stations for educational, cultural, and historic purposes; and, to maintain the light stations as homes for Federal aids to navigation.”
Should OBC not be able to meet the requirements of the NHLPA, the property would revert to the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources or the federal government. Legislative precedence has always given the federal government the right to take land for its own for infrastructural improvement, lighthouses included. This reversion clause gives the federal government significant interest in the historic site and therefore overrules local and state law that would normally prevail.

One of the most important statements the judge made in his ruling concerned the county's complaints about OBC's inability to meet local ordinances. There simply is not enough room that conveyed with the lighthouse to meet today's county demands. Boyle ruled that if the county enforces parking and other ordinances, OBC wouldn't be able to keep the historic site open for education and recreation, and that would foil the federal government's intentions when it turned the lighthouse over OBC in 2003 in the first place. The defense of its deed has cost OBC more than $350,000. Imagine how far this would have gone for lighthouse maintenance.

As a final update late February 2006

Currituck County Manager Dan Scanlon said in a statement, just days after Judge Boyle's ruling recently, that the county would make the U.S. government a party to its challenge.

The Outer Banks Lighthouse Society continues to support the Outer Banks Conservationists in their rightfully won deed to the lighthouse that they have not only saved but also have meticulously preserved and opened to the public. Whereas OBC is deserving of national recognition for their outstanding restoration efforts over the past two decades, they are only receiving local harassment.

Meanwhile…work at the CBLH continues: Meghan Agresto, who is keeper at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse along with husband Luis for the Outer Banks Conservationists, wrote, “We have been very busy here at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. International Chimney arrived mid-January and has been replacing the glass in lens room and scraped and repainted the ceiling in there. We had some cracked lantern room glass and have almost finished replacing it with laminated glass, for the safety of the lens and everyone below. The rotation mechanism had been

painted grey at some point in its history. From tests, we learned that it had been green before and repainted it the correct color.

“Luis has been busy scraping and sanding the 214 stairs and the 9 landings. He will begin priming soon and then repaint the whole stairwell before we open on April 10th. The color will remain the same - the paint was provided by International Chimney.

“Because much of the land we have is leased from the State, we are eligible to have state prisoners help us with the grounds while the compound is closed to the public. They arrived this Monday and have been helping with the enormous job of mulching and helping us clear out a drain.

“Also in January we began leaving the compound open to visitors who want to be able to get close to the lighthouse and take pictures. This is a change from previous years when the compound remained closed during the off-season.

“We invite everyone to take a look at our website at www.currituckbeachlight.com , contact us by email, or call us at 252-453-8152.” Meghan Agresto

Thanks to OBLHS president, Bett Padgett for supplying this information from Keepers Meghan and Luis Agresto