Berkley Manor update

A reader requested an update on the status of saving the Berkley Manor. That is certainly a current and hot topic around here.

Here's the background:
- Several years ago, a group, called the Berkley Manor Steering Committee (BSC), was formed to attempt to purchase the property.
- This group ended up working with the Trust for Public Land, but there was a need for the community to show some good faith regarding what monies it would provide for the process (for example, if the Trust purchased the property, how would the community gain the funding required to maintain it?)
- The BSC approached then Representative Culpepper with the challenge; he suggested that the community consider an additional occupancy tax (which is a tax paid for lodging, including room rentals (B&Bs, hotels, etc.) and whole house rentals) and use the funds generated for this and similar projects. Currently, a 3% occupancy tax is collected on Ocracoke (Hatteras Island, in Dare County, collects 5% I believe...it may be as high as 6%, which is the maximum allowed). There are two other types of taxes which some counties use for funding of this type: land transfer tax and food/beverage tax (on meals in restaurants, not grocery store purchases). My understanding is that legislation limits the number of NC counties which can apply these two kinds of taxes to only a handful, and Hyde is not one of them. (There is proposed legislation which would enable all 100 NC counties to use these two taxes if they chose to do so, but it remains to be seen whether that will pass into law).
- The BSC worked with the Hyde County Commissioners to request and receive their support for this proposal.
- Rep. Culpepper left and was replaced by Rep. Tim Spear; when Tim took over, he was obligated to follow up on any open items Culpepper had left behind (one of which was the request for legislation enabling Ocracoke to pass an additional occupancy tax of up to 2%).
- Rep. Spear brought the request to the NC House, which passed it into law (SL2006-0128) for Hyde County, and several other counties as well. The legislation requires that 2/3 of funds raised be used for marketing, leaving 1/3 to potentially be used for projects like the Berkley (the final 1/3 must be used for "tourism related" projects, but the Berkley could fall into that category if it were used as a visitor or information center, which had been suggested.

Now here's where it gets a bit fuzzy:
- Depending whom you ask, the lodging business owners (hotels, motels, B&Bs, realty companies, etc.) were or were not asked for their opinion on this proposal to add to a tax which they collect.

One thing is for sure, though: now that they (the lodging owners) know about the proposed tax, several of them are not pleased about it. They have formed an organization (called the Ocracoke Lodging Association, or OLA) and have written a letter requesting that the Hyde County Commissioners pursue a repeal of the enabling legislation.

In the meantime, the Berkley property has remained on the open market, and unfortunately it is now under contract to another buyer. Here's the update printed in the spring Mullet Wrapper:
The Berkley Manor Steering Committee (BSC) met with Mike Nolan, owner of Berkley Manor, on April 4, where he announced that the property is under contract with another party, who is not a public or non-profit entity. Committee members and Mr. Nolan were both disappointed that funding could not be secured to allow this historic property to become the civic, cultural, and recreational center the community has envisioned. Both Mr. Nolan and the BSC expressed their deep thanks to the Trust for Public Land and its Raleigh office director, David Proper, for their enormous dedication and support over the past several years exploring various conventional and innovative funding options. The BSC expressed its hope the new owners will work with the community to keep the historic Manor and its green-space a positive attribute of Ocracoke village.

There are still folks on the island who feel that the additional Occupancy Tax should be passed anyway, as the monies could be used to benefit Ocracoke tourism in other ways and for other projects.

Wow, that was probably WAY more information than you wanted! I just happen to have spent a good bit of time talking with a variety of people about this topic recently, so I had a lot in my head about it. The answer to the next question might not be quite as thorough!