Ruling hurts county's efforts to enforce ordinances (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)

ARTICLE: Ruling hurts county's efforts to enforce ordinances ): "Ruling hurts county's efforts to enforce ordinances

A judge has ruled that the federal government still has a strong interest in the historic Currituck Beach Lighthouse.
A judge has ruled that the federal government still has a strong interest in the historic Currituck Beach Lighthouse. DREW C. WILSON/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT FILE PHOTO

By JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, The Virginian-Pilot
� January 13, 2006

A judge has ruled that the federal government still has a strong interest in the historic Currituck Beach Lighthouse, hurting the county’s chances of forcing the beacon’s current owners to abide by local ordinances.

If the county limited use of the lighthouse by enforcing parking and other ordinances, it wouldn’t be available for education and recreation, and that would foil the federal government’s intentions when it turned the beacon over to the non profit Outer Banks Conservationists in 2003, U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle wrote.

The ruling hurts Currituck’s chances of enforcing the local ordinances, the conservation group’s founder John Wilson said .

“We believe this decides the important matters of this case,” Wilson said. “We would hope that Currituck County would accept this ruling.”"