Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) cooked up a surprise cameo in a local pizza skirmish in a North Carolina beach town earlier this month.
The senator appeared at a town meeting on Sept. 7 to weigh in on a dispute between local restaurant Nags Head Pizza Company and neighboring residents over the privacy and safety concerns about having such a bustling business in such close proximity to their homes.
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“Here’s our ask,” Burr told the Nags Head town board of commissioners, Outer Bank Voice reported Wednesday. “Let’s roll the permit back to take-out only until there is a compliance with public safety, vegetation, set-back requirements, and the parking that’s required for a facility like this. It’s a public safety issue.”
Nags Head Pizza Company has been in business since 2017, but it opened a new location near S. Virginia Trail on about Independence Day, according to the report. While the owner insists that the facility is in a location that has held a commercial zone for over 60 years, locals have been rankled by their new neighbor.
To the chagrin of Burr and his like-minded neighbors, Nags Head Town Manager Andy Garman wrote on Sept. 16 to neighbors contending that Nags Head Pizza Company is largely in compliance with its regulations and only needs to make a few adjustments.
Garman also said that the pizza company appears amenable to erecting a vegetative screen near the perimeter of its business to help shield neighbors from its patrons.
Burr, who reportedly owns a vacation home in a nearby lot, was one of seven Republican senators who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his words and actions on Jan. 6, 2021, and has opted not to vie for reelection.
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The Republican has faced scrutiny over a slew of “well-timed stock sales” in which he evaded over $80,000 in losses during the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to recently unsealed court documents. Justice Department officials retrieved his phone as part of an insider trading investigation. The investigation has since concluded, and he was not charged.
The Washington Examiner reached out to a Burr representative for comment.
