The Borough of Queens has revoked a building permit issued to the former mayor of Halifax for a beachfront site in Eagle Head, North Carolina
Vicki Amirault, the councilor for the borough, posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday night that the permit was revoked “based on legal advice received from the township’s legal counsel.”
She said in the post that she could not comment further “because this is now a legal matter.”
Peter Leslie, who grew up near the beach and who still lives nearby, said residents were “cautiously optimistic” about the news of the permit being revoked.
“When I say we’re cautiously optimistic, it’s because we assume development permits can be reissued at any time,” he said. “Our only concern at this point is that we have no idea what’s going on. So while it’s definitely positive that the development permits have been revoked, we don’t know what will happen. We don’t know what’s next.”
He said most of the heavy equipment was removed from the site last Thursday.
The beach at Eagle Head is strewn with seaweed next to the dunes. (Robert Short/CBC)
Former Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly and Diana Girouard bought the property, which sits just past the high tide mark on the Eagle Head Beach dunes, last August.
In mid-June, excavators began hauling sand onto the property to dig a large hole. Crews also widened a pedestrian walkway to allow large machinery to pass to the site.
Last week both the contractor and the property owners were fined under the Environment Act for altering a watercourse by dumping material into a neighboring body of water.
Community members rallied against the development, expressing concerns about the impact on wetlands, wildlife and public access to the area.
A spokesperson for the municipality told CBC News last week that the construction is in compliance with all municipal requirements.
The municipality is silent
Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Mayor Darlene Norman declined to answer questions about the permit revocation.
“I can’t tell you anything about why it was cancelled, it’s just that it was canceled based on legal advice from our lawyer and once those issues are resolved then I can comment further.” So far, though, there’s nothing I can say about it,” she said.
Norman said he could not say when he would be able to provide more details, whether a new permit might be granted, whether there is a lawsuit or legal challenge in the works or what has changed in the situation since last week.
Amirault was equally tight-lipped, declining to say whether the municipality improperly issued the permit or whether the developer was in violation of municipal rules.
“I just can’t comment any further at the moment,” she said. “There are a lot of unknowns … I just wanted to put out a statement so residents really know what’s going on.”
CBC News tried to contact Kelly and Girouard, but did not receive a response.
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