Currituck residents on Tuesday night once again expressed divided opinions on whether to amend the county's land-use plan to allow much more intense development on the southern Currituck mainland.

At a second town hall meeting this month to gauge public opinion, 15 residents voted in favor of the proposed plan change, while 9 voted

against it.

Forty-four residents from different corners of the county who attended the meeting at the county's Extension Center expressed widely diverse views about the proposed plan change, which could allow a tripling of residential densities and much more intense commercial development on 6,500 acres in the Jarvisburg area south of Grandy.

Residents who voted at a town hall meeting on June 5 at the Kilmarlic Club were not allowed to vote again. At that meeting at Powells Point, 45 residents indicated they support the land-use plan change, while 46 indicated they oppose it.

County Commissioner Owen Etheridge, who called for the meeting on Tuesday night, said he wasn't reading much into the overall vote.

"I think it is just a small sample (of public opinion)," Etheridge said.

Etheridge said he still is opposed to changing the current land-use plan, noting that it was adopted only a couple of years ago, and he sees no urgency to change it.

"I still stand behind the first land-use plan as currently adopted. It is very reflective of what the people of Currituck wanted," Etheridge said.

Etheridge also noted that landowners who support the plan change are able to marshal forces to attend these types of town hall meetings.

Several were in attendance on Tuesday night, including Roy Sawyer, who heads up a group known as "Concerned Citizens for Responsible Development." The group, which consists of Jarvisburg landowners, has lobbied commissioners to change the land-use plan.

Sawyer, who also heads up the Currituck Democratic party and was commission chairman Barry Nelms largest campaign contributor in the last election, said Tuesday night that the plan change would benefit the economy of Currituck.

"It will lead to positive economic development," Sawyer said. "It could lead to some healthy development of different types. It would put a happy medium between the residential and commercial (development)."

But Bob Kohler, who lives in the Courthouse township area of Currituck, said he questions the rush to change the current plan that was adopted in 2006.

"What is driving the change? Is it politics, because we're looking at the possibility of a new commission coming on in the fall of the year?" he said. "Or are we talking about support that certain people gave to certain commissioners, and is this (political) payback?"

Kirk Shaw, who owns land in southern Currituck, said he supports the plan change. He said it could attract big box stores and generate numerous needed jobs.

"Lowe's (home improvement store) was going to come in here, and didn't because of (land-plan) constraints," he said. "Wal-Mart was considering a Supercenter. This would bring 400 jobs to the county."

He also said changing the plan from limited to full-service in southern Currituck might pave the way for some needed light industry.

"Kids (from Currituck) graduate from high school and go away (to work). None of mine live here," he said.

Shaw also said Currituck's economy is way too dependent upon tourism, which could take a serious downturn in the event of a hurricane.

"Seventy percent of the county's eggs are in the tourism basket. If we have a bad storm, that's it," he said.

His wife Diane also supports the plan change. She said the hodgepodge of limited and full-service plan designations in southern Currituck is unfair to landowners.

"It is unfair to deny one group of people something that others get," she said.

Also, she said, that landowners were promised a commercial corridor south of Grandy when the county's first plan was adopted.

"They have lost sight of the corridor that was promised to everybody ... Nobody has to honor their word," she said. "That's what upsets me."

The current land use plan's "limited-service classification" recommends residential development be limited to one unit per acre, but it can be increased to 1.5 units depending on whether services are in place or planned. The plan also allows low-impact commercial development.

By comparison, the full-service designation encourages both multi-family residential developments and large-scale commercial development, including so-called "big box" stores.

Two residential units per acre is the contemplated density, but that can be increased to three to four units per acre depending upon available services and the potential impact on the surrounding area.