LELAND — After plans for a minor-league baseball stadium were abandoned in 2024, Leland Town Council got the ball rolling again for a large mixed-use development on the same tract of land.
READ MORE: 12,500-home community proposed for Brunswick County
During an agenda review meeting on Sept. 15, Leland Town Council voted unanimously on a sufficiency agreement to begin the process of annexing over 1,200 acres of land into the town. Dubbed Jackey’s Creek, the 1,400-acre mixed-use development is named for the developer and landowner, Jackey’s Creek Investors LLC.
Planning and Inspections Director Benjamin Andrea explained the town is required by state statute to have a sufficiency agreement whenever a parcel is proposed to be annexed into the town.
The sufficiency agreement between the town and the developer is not an approval of the annexation itself. Instead, council’s approval means they have formally accepted the developer’s petition as legally complete, allowing the developer to take the next steps in annexing the land into Leland. The developer wants to annex the property in order to connect to and use Leland utilities.
Jackey’s Creek Investors, in partnership with sports entertainment company REV Entertainment, initially proposed a 9,950-unit mixed-use development centered around a minor-league baseball stadium on the 1,400-acre site.
The stadium proposal was ultimately canceled due to concerns over its cost — projected to be around $182 million — and a lack of a financing plan after Brunswick County opted out of the deal.
After the baseball stadium plans were scrapped, the developer revised the master plan to focus on a mixed-use community and continued to pursue the original annexation petition. The annexation petition was filed just before a state moratorium on annexations in Leland began in March of 2023.
The developer’s petition was submitted in February of 2023, just before the new law took effect. The law included a “grandfather clause” that exempted any voluntary annexation petitions that were filed on or before March 1, 2023, from the moratorium. This is why the Jackey’s Creek petition is still active and able to be considered by the town.
The council’s ability to reject the annexation is tied to the developer’s paperwork; if the petition is legally sound, the council cannot deny it. This is different from the rezoning request, where the council has much more discretion to deny the application or impose conditions based on broader concerns like public safety, traffic, or the planned uses for the development.
Based on the site plans, the Jackey’s Creek development is set to include 4,582 units over 950 acres with an average density of 6 units per-acre.
Council members had limited discussion on the rezoning and annexation requests during their Sept. 15 agenda briefing
Council member Bill McHugh said he has been receiving questions from constituents wondering about where the school purchased by the county would be located on the property.
The county bought the land for the school for $5.5 million in September of 2024. It is intended to work in conjunction with the Jackey’s Creek development to provide an elementary school for the future residents within the community. The school is slated to have space for up to 750 students with construction set to be completed in 2028.
Veronica Carter also requested the school be clearly labeled and shown on a map, and Mayor Pro Tem Bob Campbell added he would like the applicant to present any information on the school at next week’s public hearing.
The Leland planning board also discussed the mixed-use development at a meeting on Aug. 26, unanimously recommending the rezoning request. The board found the property to be in line with the town’s future land use plan, which designates it as high and medium development potential, indicating the town’s intent for it to be developed eventually.
The developers application includes rezoning the properties into two sections, one as a flexcode zone and the other as a planned unit development (PUD).
Approximately 928 acres of the site would be zoned as a PUD. This would be the primary area for single-family homes, apartments, day care centers, and senior living.
The other 512 acres would be zoned as a flexcode zone. Flexcode allows for a variety of uses with an emphasis on a walkable design, including single-family and multi-family homes, retail, restaurants, and offices. The primary goal of this zoning is to create a more integrated and pedestrian-friendly environment, similar to a traditional town center or village. Instead of separating residential, commercial, and retail areas, it encourages them to be built close together. This allows people to walk to a restaurant, a shop, or a park from their home.
During the public comment period, several residents spoke in opposition to the project. They raised concerns about the potential for a significant increase in traffic and congestion, as well as the environmental impact on wetlands and flood zones within the 1,400-acre tract.
In response, the developer’s attorney Joe Taylor provided clarifications to address these issues. He noted the project will be a multi-phase development, with infrastructure like stormwater built in tandem to support each phase. Taylor also confirmed the project would adhere to modern stormwater regulations, which are more stringent than those of older developments. A traffic study has been completed and is under review by the town.
The conversation on the Jackey’s Creek development will continue with a public hearing and consideration of the rezoning and annexation requests. The public hearing is scheduled for the town council’s next meeting, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.
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