BOILING SPRING LAKES, N.C. (AP) -- State officials and environmentalists say a sewage treatment plant and other development could halt expansion of a 7,700-acre coastal nature preserve.
There's a proposal before the Boiling Spring Lakes' board of commissioners to rezone residential lots for industrial use. That idea is creating tension between developers and those trying to protect the endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers thriving in the area.
A hearing today may lead to a vote on whether a 235-acre rectangle made of the nature preserve's land and private lots should be rezoned. The change would make the sewage plant a reality for a proposed subdivision nearby, but would anger those working to protect the land.
State officials and environmentalists oppose rezoning the land for industry. Dan Bell of the Nature Conservancy says certain uses could conflict with the controlled burns done to keep woodpeckers' ideal habitats of pine forests with little undergrowth.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
