BY MILES LAYTON

Rainy Sunday morning, so it’s time to focus on Edenton Town Council matters such as Hotel Hinton, Harbor Town Project’s lease, an appointment to the Edenton Preservation Commission and what folks asked during the Public Comments portion of the meeting.   

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HOTEL HINTON

First, let’s go to Hotel Hinton and SAGA — not going to recap the hotel’s 99 years of history (circa 1926) other than to say that back in 1960, Chowan County bought the building, using it for government offices until 2015 — SAGA Realty and Construction later purchased the property.  

Located at East King Street within one of Edenton’s most historic and pretty parts, the hotel has remained vacant and, quite honestly, has been deteriorating. Once upon a time, there was a tree growing on the roof.

In October of 2019, this ink stained wretch, who walks past that building 2-3 times a day, reported some vandalism to Town Hall – windows were broken out, doors opened, someone toured the building without permission … 

Residents have complained, with good reason, about the vacant building’s deteriorating status for years, but to no avail. 

I’m going to say the quiet part out loud – the hotel has a lot of potential to be developed, but it isn’t going to be cheap to restore. Even with tax credits, SAGA will have to make some tough decisions because money poured into this investment means the company can’t apply those resources elsewhere, possibly to more lucrative projects at the Outer Banks. 

This property has a lot of potential because it’s located in the heart of the historic district in a town that attracts tens of thousands of tourists yearly. And with the opening of Hayes Plantation as a state park along with the the Harbor Town Project’s potential, Edenton’s tourism base is poised for strong growth.

Moreover, if developed properly, the hotel could become one of the destination points for many tourists, much like dining at the Herringbone on the Waterfront – remember when that property malingered along until folks stepped forward to develop it into an iconic restaurant with great hamburgers.  

A project like Hotel Hinton will take vision, but the right results can truly echo an eternity, leaving a lasting legacy more so than building another beach house or strip mall. 

In December, Council unanimously approved a Major Special Use Permit (MSUP) for SAGA to develop the property on East King Street within one of Edenton’s most historic and pretty parts. 

SAGA signed off on 13 conditions established by Council that the company must abide by when developing the property.    

“I wanted to thank the members of the community for their patience,” Mayor High said at the December meeting. “It did take us a while to listen to their comments and find out, determine what we legally could do and could not do. And it was very much a process and I know it did not happen as quickly as some people wanted it to, but we definitely needed that time to look through and consider all the legalities involved.”

According to the MSUP, “If any of the conditions set forth herein shall be found in violation, the Town Planning Director will send out a notice of a violation that will require a resolution to the violation within 60 days from the date this notice is received. If additional time is needed, the applicant can request additional time that is reasonably necessary to remedy the violation.”    

Carefully read the conditions – they’re important because they set the stage for the type of project to come. 

Among the conditions listed within the MSUP:

• No condominiums unless an additional Major Special Use Permit is applied for and granted
• Project will contain no less than two commercial spaces on the ground floor facing East King Street, and a combination of short-term rentals and rentals of less than one year. No other uses may be permitted without the express consent of the Town of Edenton. The permitted applicant can request review of the occupancy data with the Town Administration for consideration of an amendment to these conditions after one year from the opening.  
• All lodging units must comply with the Town of Edenton Unified Development Ordinance and all other local, state and federal ordinances, laws, rules and regulations applicable to hotels and extended stay lodging, including management. 
• Any variations, amendments, enforcement or modifications from the protective covenants, conditions and restriction for Hotel Hinton would require expressed written approval from Preservation North Carolina.  
• Upon issuance of a building permit for the project, owner must follow the National Park Service part 2 scheduled completion timeframe. Any variations, amendments, enforcement or modifications from the original scheduled completion timeframe would require expressed written approval from the National Park Service. 

HARBOR TOWN PROJECT

Let’s move to the next topic – Harbor Towns Project. In 2023, five Harbor Towns in North Carolina have been given a collective grant of $10 million to improve infrastructure as part of its waterway project. The grant will provide $2 million each to Edenton, Hertford, Columbia, Plymouth and Elizabeth City. It will be used to improve each town’s waterfront and dock facilities. Harbor Towns Inc. will be managing the grant funds.

That said, Harbor Town’s Edenton location is the flagship hub for the project. Moreover, the project seeks to develop the waterfront and docking facilities, so investing in the project by offering low rent in the formative stages is an investment in the future.  

Yes, the lease for the old Chamber building is a bit low – $125 a month, particularly when considering the project has $2 million in the bank. There’s no denying that space, particularly space that’s downtown, is leased at much higher amounts.  

Toward this end, Council will watch Harbor Town’s progress this year and evaluate whether to raise the rent. 

“I did want to share that I had met on January 6 with the folks from Harbor Towns regarding the lease,” Town Manager Corey Gooden said. “And also as an update on the overall project. We did discuss some of the concerns the council had to begin with and they did indicate that they would be, this would be their first full season and it would allow them to, to consider more in debt financial review of the program and any acceptable overhead.” 

Gooden continued, “They did also agree with the idea of giving a one year term to the lease to allow for that type of financial review to happen. We also talked about revisiting some of the docking improvements that we should see earlier in March. We received an update on that as well. That’s for the loading and unloading of any of the passengers for those vessels.” 

Gooden described the Harbor Town group as “one of our local nonprofit organizations that we partner with to really try to enhance our local tourism here, the economy here.”

HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION

In other matters, Council appointed Wade Rogers to serve on the Edenton Preservation Commission, which seeks to safeguard the integrity of the Edenton Historic District by ensuring that property within the district is treated consistently with the special character of the district. One of the most useful functions performed by the Edenton Preservation Commission is to encourage property owners to plan sensitively and carefully the changes they choose to make to their property. 

Commission’s candidates were Rogers and Hal Murray, with Gay Chatham deciding that she should withdraw her name from consideration but keep her name in the hat for other boards.  

Rogers is a good choice for the Commission – a very good choice – so much so that after hearing about his qualifications, Murray opted to withdraw his candidacy – a very classy move.  

Rogers is employed at Andrew Ownbey Restoration and has served as chairman of Bath’s Historic Committee and on the Board of the Historic Bath Foundation.  

“Having someone as knowledgeable as Wade Rogers on this  Commission will help ensure that all preservation work will be done correctly,” the Elizabeth Van Moore Foundation posted to Facebook. “Wade and his family have recently moved to Edenton where his wife, Laura, is the site manager of the Edenton State Historic Site. The Rogers  are restoring the Manning House on East Church Street to the highest standard. Wade is also part of the team helping with the restoration of Hayes, Kadesh Church and the Cupola House. In Edenton Preservation is Progress and it is a form of economic development. Wade joins Lisa Baker, Paul Hicks, Frances Maffitt, Tom Newbern, Catherine Smoak and Caroline Butler on this Commission. These individuals are all so dedicated to the protection of Edenton’s architectural heritage. Thank you Wade for choosing to serve Edenton.”

Last note as to Rogers – he and his wife Laura are restoring the Manning House on East Church Street. Since I live next door, I can say with absolute certainty that this house ‘s painstaking restoration is going to transform the property into one of Edenton’s historical gems. Wade, if you want to get rid of that blue kayak by the trash dump, I take it off your hands.

PUBLIC COMMENT PORTION — Edenton’s version of Prime Minister’s questions.

In Britain, members of Parliament ask questions of the Prime Minister in a way that’s both informative and entertaining. See Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s first televised questions by clicking this link.

While Edenton’s Town Council meetings are not as rowdy as Parliament, the Public Comment portion of the meeting does allow citizens and Town Hall to engage in matters of public concern.

A few notes from the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting:

Though Hal Murray of West Queen Street has submitted two public record requests to Town Hall, he said they have languished for months.  Murray said one has to do with the EPC and proper notification of properties within 200 feet of a worksite.  The other inquiry is about the purchase of the Creswell parking lot.  It was originally submitted on October 11, 2024 — 4 months ago.  

Murray asked – “Where are these public record requests results and when might I expect to receive them?”    

Murray said on July 26, 2024 of this year, Destination Downtown Edenton, now operating under the name of Mainstreet Edenton Purchased the Creswell parking lot for $235K.  January through June 2024 the Town of Edenton made payments to DDE at $6.25K each month.  July through December payment to DDE/MSE was doubled to $12.5K a month. 

·      Why the step-change in payments to DDE? 

·      What is the reasoning behind increasing the town’s donation to Mainstreet Edenton to 12.5k a month from $6.25K ?

·      Does this payment increase in any way, directly or indirectly related to DDE’s purchase of the Creswell parking lot?  Timing is coincidental.

·      How much was Ches Chesson paid in 2024?

·      What is Ches Chesson 2025 salary?  He is an appointed official getting Town funds.

·      How much is Timmy Turner paid by DDE or through Town of Edenton Funding?

All very good questions – Town Hall is looking into these matters.  

Susan Inglis of Water Street noted that MLK Day is Monday and inquired about Council’s plans for celebrating the occasion.

Mayor Hackney High said Council will commemorate MLK Day as part of a planning retreat meeting that will be held at Warren Grove Missionary Baptist Church on January 20 where MLK Day observances will also be held. The event will start at 7:30 a.m. and the address is 122 Warren Grove Rd, Edenton.  

Jimmy Alligood of Hewes Street asked about a loan Town Hall made regarding ElectricCities, the membership organization that provides power supply and related critical services to over 90 community-owned electric systems in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia—collectively known as public power. ElectriCities manages the power supply for two power agencies in North Carolina and provides technical services to assist members in operating their electric distribution systems

“The way I understood that time, it was going to be paid off in about 20 years. Was that ever paid off? Has it been paid off?” Alligood asked. “I was told last year during the swearing in ceremony it would be paid off this past year.” 

Alligood continued, “If it was paid off, when will electrical bills start being dropped? I’ve heard a lot of complaints lately about electrical bills going up and being hired, and they seem to be, should be or whatever, but if we are paid off, the money that we are paying monthly or yearly or whatever should be deducted from them that bills that we’ve been paying.”  

Gooden answered that Town Hall is researching the matter.  

JD Grant, a business neighbor of Hotel Hinton, asked about SAGA – so that set the stage for the discussion (see above) about those matters.