SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Following multiple meetings with municipalities in both Pender and Brunswick counties, the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is proposing to not incorporate additional territories.
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The WMPO gave eight interested jurisdictions until the end of July to decide to join, an ask that would have to be mutually agreed upon.
A long-range plan is being put together for future transportation projects, to be adopted in November 2025. However, in order for future jurisdictions to be included in the plan, WMPO and interested parties have to decide earlier.
WMPO director Mike Kozlosky said no one formally submitted a request to join, though noted Southport requested additional information this month, past the deadline.
“We haven’t decided not to join the WMPO, we actually expressed interest in all three planning organizations,” Southport assistant city manager Dorothy Dutton said. “From what we were told, there was no guarantee that the WMPO would be extending, but they wanted to gauge interest before they voted.”
At Wednesday’s WMPO technical coordinating committee meeting, deputy director Abby Lorenzo told the board the subcommittee is recommending no changes to its coverage area.
The local planning organization began discussions about its boundary reviews back in February, identifying possible municipalities to expand into. These include jurisdictions within Pender — Burgaw, Surf City and Topsail — as well as additional towns in Brunswick, such as Boiling Springs Lake, Southport, Oak Island, Bald Head Island, Caswell Beach and St. James.
All are already covered by the Cape Fear Regional Planning Organization, which does not receive federal money and has fewer resources than the WMPO. It’s chartered by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and only receives state funding.
The WMPO covers 494 square miles, including the City of Wilmington, New Hanover County, Pender County, Town of Leland, Brunswick County, Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Belville and Navassa.
By federal law, after each U.S. Census is released, it must reevaluate its boundaries based on population to see if it should expand what’s considered urbanized. The planning area must cover an existing urbanized area defined by the Census, plus contiguous towns expected to become urbanized within a 20-year forecast.
An urban area is identified by number and density of housing units, impervious surface, and population.
Kozlosky and Lorenzo reached out to leadership in all towns that could be considered. Those interested received a presentation on the pros and cons as well as what the WMPO can offer.
Additional funding and backing for transportation projects were the main highlights of joining a larger organization. It also would have given WMPO more regional coordination and collaboration to advocate for improvements that benefit more than one county, such as along U.S. 17, N.C. Highway 50 and cross-county infrastructure.
Lorezno also noted at a May meeting with the subcommittee charged with making a final recommendation that expanding would increase competitiveness for funding and could further strain a small staff of 12 full-time WMPO employees.
Lorenzo presented to the Topsail Beach Board of Commissioners in May, at the behest of Mayor Steven Smith, who expressed his interest in the “clout” that comes with being a part of a larger planning organization.
While other commissioners noted how the small town has limited multi-modal transportation options, Smith said in May the WMPO could give the town a voice to expand on sidewalks and bike paths.
Topsail Beach ultimately decided to stay part of the Cape Fear Regional Planning Organization — noting the town has been with the RPO for more than 20 years and already had projects in the works — as did Surf City. Municipalities can’t join both the CFPO and WMPO, only counties.
During a recent subcommittee meeting reviewing the possibilities for expansion, Lorenzo noted most growth is occurring in Brunswick County versus Pender.
WMPO member and New Hanover County commissioner Jonathan Barfield agreed in a subcommittee meeting he didn’t think Pender County and Hampstead would be urbanized in 20 years.
Brunswick County towns received an WMPO presentation with some areas having multiple transportation organizations to choose from. For example, Southport could join the WMPO or the Grand Strand MPO (which covers some of South Carolina as well). It’s been a member of the Cape Fear RPO since 2001.
Barfield also expressed concern about spreading the funding and voting representation on the board too thin.
Those that join the WMPO contribute annual dues based on their populations. For example, the City of Wilmington doles out roughly $150,000, while Navassa contributes a little more than $2,000.
The WMPO board will vote on the recommendation to not expand at its Aug. 30 meeting.
“In the future, there would be nothing to preclude the MPO from evaluating and adjusting the MPO planning area boundary, but this would have to occur after November 18, 2025 or with the next review following the release of the 2030 census data,” Kozlosky wrote in an email to Port City Daily.
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