Plans to build a new two-storey building on the Hotel Eldorado's marina got council approval on Monday.
The project is coming forward as the property owners will replace two older buildings and expand the marina.
Argus Properties VP Peter Downward says it'll fit in well.
"It's really a customer service building. People come off the lake to buy gas, people come in to rent parts for their boats, and people rent boats directly from us," he said.
"Part of the process in putting the building out into the deeper water is to try and stay away from putting impact on the foreshore."
Downward says because of the boat traffic that comes with the gas bar, it's better to push the building out a little further than the current ones are.
And he says while he understood council's concerns about possibly damaging sightlines, there's a good reason to move things away from the foreshore.
"We get a lot of boats coming in, the gas has been sold off of this marina for quite a number of years. By having them a little from shore, then it saves that wash and the turbulence and such in the shallower waters," he said.
"When you get into where the existing building was, the waters were only about four or five feet deep. By putting it out, we're trying to help that environmental side of things."
Downward also talked about minimizing the effects of silt erosion, which is a reason behind the repairs to the boat launch.
When it came to the vote, Mayor Colin Basran and Councillor Luke Stack were the only two who voted against it.
Basran says memories of the dock expansion at the nearby Manteo Resort gave him enough reason to pause.
"I am harkening back to the huge outcry of when the Manteo dock itself was approved and under construction. Fortunately the owner at the time listened to that public outcry and scaled it back," he said.
"So this not only is a dock expansion, but now it's adding a large structure on top of it. I'm sorry, I have issue with the form and character in this location."
The final vote was 6-2 in favour, as Councillor Brad Sieben was absent from the meeting.