CAROLINA BEACH — A subdivision in Carolina Beach has been moving forward despite resident protests, with the second phase needing approval from the United States Army Corps of Engineers to disturb wetlands onsite.
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Fisher’s Reserve, a single-family subdivision under construction at 1215 Saint Joseph St., is a phased development drawing concern from neighbors. The first phase of nine units was approved, and is now in construction, by Carolina Beach’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 13.
The project was the first subdivision taken up by the commission since the Carolina Beach Town Council delegated sole authority over subdivision applications to the planning commission last year. The shift was a part of the town’s rewrite of development regulations when the town created a unified development ordinance, adopted July 9,, 2024.
Flooding was the main problem broached by neighbors at the February meeting, both in the first and second phases — the latter to consist of an additional 10 units that would require filling around 2 acres of wetlands.
Richard Collier — a member of the Wilmington Planning Commission, also running for city council this year, and McKim & Creed engineer representing property owner Westcott Butler — confirmed his team had filed a permit application to fill the wetlands for approval by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Now USACE is requesting public input on the permit application until June 13. According to USACE, permits “will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.” A host of factors are evaluated, including flood hazards, water quality, esthetics, historical properties, fish and wildlife values, and property ownership.
The project site consists of 2.1-acres of high Pocosin type wetlands with sand ridge uplands towards the front/east side of the property. Surface water from the site drains to the northeast, across Saint Joseph Street and into the Carolina Beach Yacht Basin.
In the application, Butler says the wetlands impacts are necessary for constructing an access road and infrastructure to support the subdivision. To offset the impact, he has proposed to purchase credits from the Lower Cape Fear Mitigation Bank, which consists of two wetland and stream sites in Brunswick County, near the Cape Fear River.
USACE spokesperson Jed Cayton told Port City Daily the Corps would make the final decision on any required mitigation, but noted a 2008 rule from the EPA recommends using an approved mitigation bank as a first option. After that option comes in-lieu fee programs, followed by permittee-responsible mitigation.
The Carolina Beach planning commissioners would still be able to reject the second phase, even if USACE grants Butler a permit; however, the second phase has not yet been submitted to the town for review.
Port City Daily reached out to both Butler and Collier for more information on their phase 2 plans; Butler said he wasn’t able to share more on the project.
“The mitigation process with the Army Corps of Engineers typically takes about 10 to 11 months for a decision,” Butler wrote in an email to PCD. “Until that time, we don’t have any further information to share.”
Residents like Natalie Evans, who spoke at the Feb. 13 meeting and before council on May 13, have said they can live with nine lots under construction but have to draw the line somewhere.
“Our push is ‘fine with the nine,’” Evans said to PCD. “It’s been approved. We’re not fighting it. It looks like hell. It looks like a war zone. They have clear cut it. The Town of Carolina Beach cannot allow them to do those 10 more homes and backfill those wetlands.”
After Evans spoke at the May 13 council meeting, Councilmember Joe Benson requested the wetlands permit process be discussed at an upcoming meeting, pointing out the developer doesn’t have to keep his mitigation efforts within Carolina Beach. Councilmember Deb LeCompte called that allowance “ridiculous.” PCD reached out to each council member for comment; only Mayor Lynn Barbee responded, saying he has not seen the application and would not comment on it even if he had.
Echoing similar comments she made at the Feb. 13 planning meeting, Evans recounted a conversation with Butler where she said he described the wetlands onsite as “irrelevant.”
“For what, for the town?” Evans, whose property abuts the subdivision land, posited. “They’re irrelevant to wildlife? What are they irrelevant for?”
Butler clarified his remarks at the Feb. 13 meeting.
“What I was saying when we talked about it — when you were asking me for a portion of my property for your driveway — is that wetlands are wet, they take on only a certain amount of water, and that it all slopes back to the rear; that’s what we were discussing,” Butler said. “Of course, wetlands used to be tidal and tied in; we have a lot of wetlands now that are isolated.”
The public does have the option to request USACE conduct a public hearing on the permit, which Evans did via email on May 14.
“Generally, public hearings are reserved for large scale projects such as beach renourishment projects, large scale flood abatement projects, or other large scale community projects,” USACE project manager Brad Shaver replied. “Personally, I am aware of the Corps holding around 4 public hearings out of this office for the 21 years I have been here.”
Ultimately, the Wilmington District engineer would make the call, Shaver said.
Ben Venesland, homeowner’s association president of nearby neighborhood Forest by the Sea, suggested the town does not have to leave decisions solely in USACE’s hands.
“We live on an island and we know we need to protect our environment by planning and building structures that address the potential for flooding and stormwater runoff,” Venesland said at the Feb. 13 meeting. “The town can make its own decisions to control structures or to require water-pervious materials, etc, to be more stringent to the Corps of Engineers.”
For comparison, the Town of Wrightsville Beach has designated conservation zones and shore zones aimed at protecting natural resources, including wetlands. Both zones prohibit almost all clearing, disturbance, or vegetation removal and limit development in these zones to water-related uses, like docks.
The Town of Carolina Beach does not have similar protections, but does offer incentives for developments that meet its “conservation design option.” Both towns have to follow state and federal regulations.
Because the wetlands were not part of the first phase approval, the planning commission largely set the topic aside for another time, though commissioners agreed the town council should take a look at improving its stormwater regulations to accommodate the increase in flooding the town has been experiencing.
Sunny day flooding, or flooding without the presence of heavy rainfall, has been a major nuisance for the town for years, the most notorious example being Canal Drive. Data from 2023 shows the road was flooded 12% of days in 2022. The issue has been under study by N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill researchers, who are expected to present their findings to the Carolina Beach Town Council in July.
“We all live here, we all deal with the stormwater issues,” Planning Commissioner Todd Piper said on Feb. 13. “I’ve lived here for some time and my house has flooded more in the last 18 months than in the last 20 years. So I don’t have a good answer. However, what the applicant has done is he’s gone far and above what he’s required to do.”
Other planning commissioners agreed with Piper’s assessment of Butler, noting the lot sizes, required to be 7,000 square feet minimum, go beyond the mandate. He also voluntarily conducted and submitted a tree survey. The commissioners also thanked Butler for submitting the project as a subdivision plat, which allows for more requirements to be placed on the developer benefitting surrounding neighbors, as opposed to building each house one by one.
“It could be worse,” Commissioner Melanie Boswell said.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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