COROLLA, N.C.

Pine Island residents are protesting plans to build a 100-room hotel and residential complex on oceanfront land currently owned by the Audubon Society.

Through an electronic petition, 130 signatures were gathered in two days this past week, said Bob Sprague, president of the Pine Island Property Owners Association.

"The residents are asking the county not to grant the permits," Sprague said.

The National Audubon Society owns 2,600 acres of marshes and uplands set aside as a sanctuary on the soundside. Plans are to sell a 12.75-acre tract on the oceanfront along N.C. 12.

Developer Sumit Gupta has filed plans with Currituck County to build 100 hotel rooms in two buildings, 32 condominiums and 22,000 square feet of retail space on the property.

Holding a tax value of $24.99 million, the property sits between two sections of the upscale Pine Island community. A Hampton Inn and a diner sit close by.

Heavy development has lessened the preservation value of a small oceanfront tract, said Chris Canfield, executive director of Audubon North Carolina.

"I'm trying to make the best conservation decision based on the reality in front of us," he said.

Using proceeds from the sale, Audubon plans to increase education programs, public access and conservation projects, Canfield said.

But residents say it is valuable for conservation and they oppose additional traffic, flood-water runoff and development near their homes.

Sprague has seen loggerhead turtles and piping plovers, both endangered species, at the site, he said.

"I am appalled an organization with name recognition and public trust like the Audubon Society would renege on its implied commitment to wildlife preservation and its advertised mission to donors, and I would urge this body to not follow in their footsteps," Elizabeth Lindemann wrote to the county.

The tract is part of the state's Natural Heritage Program that Currituck County designates as areas where no significant development should occur, according to a map provided by the county.

A community of about 300 homes, Pine Island itself sits on acreage once owned by the Audubon Society.

In 1978, developer Earl Slick donated 4,100 acres to Audubon that stretched from ocean to sound, according to a sketch plan application filed with the county in 1990.

In exchange for more soundside property, in 1989, Audubon deeded back to Slick 104 acres on the oceanfront that would become Pine Island, Canfield said.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com