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Contractor seeks regulation change to aid in Islander rehab

A Mathews contractor has petitioned supervisors to revise the county’s flood plain management ordinance to allow repairs to be made to the Islander Motel and Restaurant on Gwynn’s Island.

David Jones, vice president of JB Property Development in Mathews, speaking at the board’s Jan. 23 meeting, said that he’s been asked to complete the project, but “there are some discrepancies in the National Flood Insurance Program that will probably keep us from moving forward.”

He said that when substantial damage has occurred to a building, the building’s value can be assessed based on its market value before the damage was sustained rather than its current market value. The Islander building is assessed by the county today at just $9,000, he said, while in 2002, prior to Hurricane Isabel, which flooded the facility, it was assessed for $1.5 million.

Jones explained in a subsequent conversation that under the current regulation, if a property has sustai...

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