BRUNSWICK COUNTY – Despite public opposition over traffic and overdevelopment, the Brunswick County Planning Board approved this week three developments to cumulatively bring 1,405 new units to the county.
READ MORE: Townhomes to replace apartments, density decreased in CB Road development
But not included in the total is another 1,722 single-family units on approximately 594 acres on Hooper Road. The applicant, Colliers Engineering and Design, asked to table the proposal at the planning board’s meeting on Monday, June 9, due to concerns from board members regarding traffic congestion, its single-entrance access point and two emergency exits. The board feared the development may negatively impact homes needing support from emergency services.
“I’m putting logic to it,” planning board member Jim Board said. “Logic says that’s not enough entrances into this huge development. If there was some sort of a disaster or a fire that they had to evacuate this, all coming out of just a couple of small emergency exits, it would be a nightmare, an absolute nightmare.”
With an estimated 14,492 vehicle trips per 24-hour weekday volume, the plan includes several road upgrades to ease congestion. These include new right turn lanes in both directions on Mount Misery Road and a traffic signal at that intersection. Improvements would also be made to the I-140 and U.S. 74/76 ramps.
On Hooper Road, a northbound right turn lane will be added at one entrance, along with a roundabout at the main entrance of the property to help keep traffic moving smoothly. Additionally, driveways along the main entrance road will be limited to help manage traffic flow.
Community members also spoke out at the meeting, worried the development would disrupt the natural landscape of Brunswick County.
“If you want to build with the beauty of Brunswick County or you want to leave Brunswick County beautiful, don’t develop it,” Steve Conrad said. “One of the things I loved about coming here to live was the fact it wasn’t overdeveloped. It wasn’t a concrete jungle.”
Plans call for a 30-foot buffer around the site using existing vegetation, along with a 20-foot-wide street buffer along Hooper Road. The project goes beyond the required 89.12 acres of open space, with the developer proposing 135 acres and 15 acres for recreation.
Homes will be built outside the 100-year flood zone, and additional buffers are planned next to most wetlands; stormwater ponds will be constructed to handle a 100-year storm.
If approved, Conrad said he was fearful the size of the development would result in a property tax hike for current residents as well. The current property tax rate in Brunswick County is 34.20 cents per $100 value.
Sam Franck, the applicant’s legal representative from Ward and Smith, P.A., told the board the development would take at least a decade to be complete if approved and the contribution to tax revenue for the county would likely be huge.
“The county’s primary source of revenue to build and expand schools is ad valorem taxes and by subdividing this land and building homes on each of those lots, that ad valorem tax base will increase substantially,” he said.
It will be brought forth again at the planning board’s meeting on Monday, July 14, with revisions that Andy Kemp with Colliers Engineering and Design said will remedy the board’s concerns.
Sunset Harbor Tract Development
Public feedback was garnered most from a 409-unit development from Dream Finders Homes at Monday’s meeting. The developer asked to expand a previously approved development from 2004 on Sunset Harbor Road. It currently includes 183 single-family units and 81 multi-family units on the same 88-acre site, but Dream Homes wants to construct 145 additional single-family units.
While the development was approved with three board members in favor and one opposed, several members of the public took issue with the project. Residents were concerned the plan would “overdevelop” the neighborhood and increase traffic congestion.
“The impact of growth is not theoretical. This is visible and it’s immediate. Additional housing residents, combined with clear cutting of trees, have already led to increased flooding, traffic congestion and a strain on our emergency services,” Lynn Leask said. “Stormwater flooding is real. Road collapses are real. Traffic congestion is real. Please build for those realities in mind.”
With the expansion, the proposal will generate approximately 3,010 vehicle trips per 24-hour weekday. The traffic impact analysis included road improvements such as a full movement driveway off of Sunset Harbor Road with one ingress and one egress lane.
Nearby resident Jason Morris added the small-town feel of the community is why he chose to live in the neighborhood.
“People come down to Sunset Harbor to get away from all the overdevelopment, not to have it follow us,” Morris said. “This cookie cutter, copy-paste corporate office development is unwanted by many residents in Sunset Harbor and does not fit or correlate within the culture and setting of the small-knit community.”
The plan would bring 3.72 dwelling units per acre under the medium-density residential zoning. The development would go over the required 17.65 acres of open space and 2.64 acres of recreation space, offering 23.64 acres and 3.14 acres respectively. Stormwater ponds for a 100-year storm event and sidewalks on one side of all internal roads are also in the plan.
Design flexibility elements include a reduction in lot dimensions and setbacks, with no portions of the site in the AE flood zone. However, the lot is in a wooded area which would require clear-cutting prior to construction.
“We are looking to preserve the vegetation along the perimeter of the property as much as possible, and then supplement that with additional plantings,” vice president of Cape Fear Engineering Matt Haley said.
The planning board vice chair, Jason Gaver, told residents while the board shared many of their fears, Dream Finders Homes’ proposal met all legal parameters and therefore had to be approved.
“Our purview and our responsibility is to follow what the letter of the law is,” he said. “As long as they follow the requirement set forth, in this case by the unified development ordinance, they can do that. We don’t have the authority to say, ‘I don’t like what you’re doing, therefore, we’re going to tell you no.’”
Viridian Reserve Development
Additionally, the board unanimously approved an expansion proposed by Norris and Tunstall Engineering for an additional 151 single-family units on an additional 45 acres on Mill Creek Road.
With the expansion, the total development would feature 446 single-family units on 197 acres. What was granted during the meeting was a land use approval, meaning that the developers will also need to get design and permitting approval in the future. Water and sewer lines will be installed and operational before any building permits are issued.
Once constructed, the development is expected to generate approximately 1,635 vehicle trips per 24-hour weekday. Following assessments, road improvements will include a side access on Mill Creek Road, as well as interconnectivity and emergency service access enhancements.
The developers proposed nearly 77 acres of open space, exceeding the required 39 acres, and 18 acres of recreation space, exceeding the almost 6 acres required. The property will have a 30-foot street buffer along Mill Creek Road and supplemental landscaping.
The property is outside of any flood zones and will have a stormwater system designed to meet a 100-year storm event.
Mclamb Farm Development
Also without much fanfare from the public. Norris and Tunstall put forth another expansion for the Mclamb Farm development. Also unanimously approved to move forward with a plan on Number 5 School Road in Ash, the development has ballooned to 631 total units on approximately 155 acres, consisting of 447 single-family homes and 184 of duplex units. Before it only included 319 single-family units.
The site plan has added 73.26 acres, with approximately 40.66 of open space and 11.57 acres of recreation space. It will also have a 30-foot wide street buffer along Number Five School Road and a 50-foot buffer in the adjacent voluntary agricultural district will be maintained.
The property will generate approximately 5,520 total vehicle trips per 24-hour weekday. Following the traffic impact report, proposed road improvements include a southbound right turn lane on P Landing Road, a northbound left turn ramp lane on P Landing Road, a westbound and eastbound turn lane on Number Five School Road and extensions to existing left turn lanes on Ash Little River Road and Hickman Road.
All lots that were proposed are located outside the 100-year flood zone and a stormwater system designed to meet the 100-year storm event will be constructed on the property.
[Ed. Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the Hooper Road development was in Leland. It is in unincorporated Brunswick County. PCD regrets the error.]
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