PENDER COUNTY — A rezoning decision for a privately owned wastewater treatment plant servicing the Hampstead area was pushed back by one month. Questions about capacity and community need arose from the Pender County Planning Board regarding a previous special use permit.
On Tuesday, July 7, the board heard a proposal to rezone a 32-acre plot of land off of Hoover Road in Topsail Township for a roughly 5,000-square-foot wastewater treatment plant. To be owned and operated by Pluris Hampstead, LLC, the plant would serve the Hampstead and Scotts Hill areas.
Currently, the vacant parcel Pluris wants to build on is zoned rural agricultural; because the plant is not allowed in the zoning, Pluris has applied for a conditional rezoning.
The intent of the Hoover Road facility is to relieve pressure on Pluris’ current plant off of Blake Farm Boulevard in Scotts Hill.
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Pluris received a special use permit in 2015 to produce a maximum of 3 million gallons per day at Blake Farm, but the current facility is only built to process 1 million gallons. Pluris said it’s operating at 60% of its built capacity; the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality requires design for added capacity to begin once a plant hits the 80% mark. Construction must start at 90%.
Pluris plans to add capacity at Blake Farm, but it wants to spread out production across two facilities rather than one. Although approved for 3 million gallons per day, Pluris says there is not enough space to build Blake Farm to that capacity. The company also claims two sites would lessen hydraulic strain on the current facility while providing the opportunity for future development.
In its rezoning request for the Hoover Road facility, Pluris suggests building out the Blake Farm facility to process 2 million gallons per day instead of 3 million, and shifting the remaining 1 million gallons allowed under their permit to the Hoover Road facility. Pluris said the shift would not impact current service areas. The utility also estimates, if its new plant is approved, construction would begin in 2028 and the utility would begin service in 2029.
Planning board member Brett Keeler was skeptical about supporting the wastewater expansion when the county’s “other infrastructure has not caught up,” such as schools and healthcare.
“Right now, I mean, it’s chicken and egg type of thing,” Keeler said. “If the other infrastructure isn’t here. Why should we be breaking the blank check pretty much for wastewater?”
Maurice Gallarda, representative for Pluris said building a second facility is reactive to county growth. Hampstead has an annual growth rate of 3.92%, with a population increase of 48.31% since the last census according to the world population review.
The special use permit was largely the biggest point of contention due to the legal limitations it placed on conditional changes.
The planning board expressed concerns Pluris would discharge the maximum allowed for both sites.
“The issue is you’re permitted 3 million gallons on your current site and if you get this approval made by the county commissioners then you have the equivalent of another million gallons,” vice chair Ron Satterfield said. “There’s nothing in this process that relieves or reduces the other from three million to two million.”
Pluris said it would only discharge 2 million gallons a day at the Blake Farm site. The board took issue with a gentlemen’s agreement, noting since the special use permit approved a decade allows 3 million gallons discharged, Pluris could maximize both sites at 4 million.
“The applicant has the option to consider to amend the special use permit that is associated with Blake Farm,” Keeler said, indicating Pluris would have to come back to tackle that singularly.
To assuage the board’s concerns, Pluris’ representative, Gallarda, suggested a compromise — 1.5 million gallons per day at both sites. The planning board said legally they could not approve a condition changing Blake Farm as part of the rezoning request since it’s separate.
The board suggested pushing back its vote for the rezoning for a month, with board member Delva Jordan saying “it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
“I’m sure they’ve been in this process for quite some time. I’m sure they’re ready to move forward, but you know getting all of our ducks in a row, to say, would be the best possibility,” Jordan said.
Gallarda was frustrated that even if he amended the special use permit and capacity for Blake Farm, there would be no guarantee the planning board would recommend approval.
“We can’t give those assurances, and as much as we consider your feelings on this, we can either make a decision, which my recommendation right now would be recommend to deny, or we can table it,” Keeler said.
Gallarda replied he would rather have the board recommend denial and proceed to the board of commissioners, which makes the final decision on rezonings.
During public comment, Castle Bay resident Robert Griffin opposed the request.
“This community will receive no benefits from this wastewater treatment plant,” Griffin said. “Castle Bay has their own wastewater treatment plant so they will not be served by the Pluris plant.”
Griffin was concerned about possible impacts to the Holly Shelter Game Lands, the impact of potential odors on a large retirement community, having two wastewater plants bookending the community, and property value impact due to fears of groundwater infiltration.
He also fretted over negative traffic impacts on Castle Bay. A traffic impact analysis was not conducted, as it had been estimated there would only be six daily trips. A TIA is only required when there is estimated to be 100 trips during a peak hour or 1,000 trips per day.
Griffin then requested Pluris provide a report highlighting a summary of company efforts to find a different property for its plant and PFAS and PFOS ground water testing, as the plant uses high-rate infiltration basins for treated effluent. Neither are a requirement for building a wastewater plant.
Pluris does not have a documented history of violating environmental conditions. A 2024 water treatment and collection service annual report given to customers by Pluris Hamstead, LLC cites the plant had no violations or issues that year.
Not all speakers were against the build-out. Jay Hopper, a Wilmington resident, spoke for the Collins family who owns property on the south side of Wolf Pond Road, which is an access road to the plant. While the property owners were concerned about the access road to the plant, they were overall supportive.
“They feel like it’s a win for the property owners who might have some future development ideas or wishes,” Hopper said.
Ultimately, Keeler put forth a motion to table a vote on whether the board would recommend approval of rezoning to the board of commissioners until August. This would give Gallarda time to address conflicts with maximum capacity limits with his current site’s special use permit. The motion passed unanimously.
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