BRUNSWICK COUNTY — A group of locals in Brunswick County are challenging the planning board’s spring decision to approve a 1,000-home development in Winnabow.
Seven individuals and the Brunswick County Conservation Partnership are asking the court to issue a stay in plans to allow the Cherrytree Planned Development to move forward while the higher court ensures the planning board did due diligence in approving plans. The request is a writ of certiorari, which is different from an official appeal and could be dismissed by a judge without explanation; an appeal requires judicial ruling.
Leland Estates LLC and Development Resource Group LLC applied to build 1,000 single-family units on 741 acres and a commercial component on 25 acres. It was approved by the Brunswick County Planning Board in March.
READ MORE: Infrastructure ‘already under pressure’: 1,340 homes denied in Winnabow
“Petitioners assert the decision may have been based upon errors of law, improper procedures, lack of competent substantial evidence, and failure to follow required quasi-judicial standards,” according to the complaint.
They want oversight on the traffic impact analysis, claiming it does not include numbers from nearby developments under construction that could impact roadways. The development is poised to bring 8,300 daily vehicle trips, with the developer required to make intersection and roadway improvements.
The complainants believe the 350-plus of acres of wetlands on the property threaten the area with more flooding, including the nearby Moses McKeithan cemetery where Confederate soldiers are buried. They expect unmarked graves could exist beyond the cemetery’s perimeter and don’t think the fencing or 20-foot buffers presented by the developers will stop flooding.
They also are asking for a protective measure to ensure no land is uprooted close by until it’s investigated appropriately with ground-penetrating technology or something similarly non-invasive in the area. Plus, they want the descendants — four of whom have signed the complaint — of those buried in the cemetery to have access during and after construction.
Developers said at planning board meeting in March it surveyed the graveyard and agreed to allow entry for visitors.
In late June, a motion was filed in the courts for extended time so Leland Estates and the county could answer the defendant’s complaint.
Port City Daily reached out to William Phipps, an attorney representing Leland Estates, to inquire if a response has been filed. Phipps did not answer by press.
The reasoning for the extension was to have “sufficient time to gather adequate information,” court documents indicate.
Brunswick County spokesperson Megean Kascasek said the county hadn’t been served any complaint yet.
“We have not made any filings into the case,” she said. “One of the other defendants retained an attorney who filed a notice of appearance and motion to extend time in June. As far as our staff are aware, that was the only activity in that case.”
The development project, to be located between Cherrytree and Bell Swamp roads, is zoned rural residential, limiting density to 2.9 dwelling units per acre; Cherrytree developers asked for a planned development though it still falls under the rural residential zoning capacity, at 1.35 dwelling units per acre.
It originally was denied by the Brunswick County Planning Board in September of 2025. They cited concerns over flooding, school capacity and traffic, as well as its proximity to nearby cemeteries.
Resident Christie Marek — who helped found the Brunswick County Conservation Partnership, with a central focus on environmental protection and responsible growth — told Port City Daily she thought the project would cause “more flooding than that area can handle.”
“And that’s a huge environmental concern from the conservation side,” Marek said.
The project was approved in March with site plan modifications, including:
- Improving road connectivity and increasing access points
- Donating 0.5 acreage for EMS staging along Cherrytree Road
- Relocating pond and increased buffering from cemetery
- Adding three community parks
- Increasing open space
Only former board member Jim Board dissented at March’s planning board meeting; he stated the improvements didn’t really “alleviate problems” the board brought up in September.
Another board member at the time, Jason Gaver, said the applicant met the rules of the county’s unified development ordinance and should be passed, else it could face a lawsuit from the applicant.
Legal proceedings filed currently come from nearby residents, some of whom spoke at the meeting against the development. One person who signed the complaint is Glenn Kye, a descendent of those buried in the graveyard.
Per North Carolina General Statute 14-149 it is a Class I felony to “knowingly and willfully” tamper with, deface or otherwise disturb a tombstone, grave marker, or any artifact in a cemetery meant to honor the memory of a person without permission from either the law or next of kin of the deceased.
Still, Kye worried about disturbances and spoke to the planning board about it in February, before the project was tabled to March.
“Some of these people don’t go to church and believe what respect for the dead is. And a lot of these developments will run right over it,” Kye said at the time.
The stall was decided upon because the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality paused wastewater permits in Brunswick County due to a new law. The planning board was weighing how to proceed, another issue taken up in the Cherrytree tract complaint. The petitioners claim the board approved it still, though there was no change in wastewater capacity one month after tabling it.
During the March meeting, Marek also spoke to capacity, stating the residential homes in consideration would add to the current infrastructure strain. Furthermore, she pointed to North Carolina General Statutes 160D-107: “local governments including our planning board have the authority to deny developments if our sewage system is at capacity.”
2023’s Senate Bill 673 changed the rules on Brunswick County, with NCDEQ now required to count every gallon promised to a future home as if it were already in the pipes. It pushed the county beyond its 110% legal threshold.
Marek told Port City Daily the residents have yet to receive more information from Leland Estates LLC about the appeal, since the continuation was requested.
“I was told by the clerk, they have never handled an appeal like this before,” she said. “They weren’t sure of the filings or process.”
She also believes the Cherrytree tract approval was allowed despite a conflict of interest existing from both the planning board and developer.
Chair Clif Cheek is listed in the complaint, with residents questioning his recent campaign donations. Cheek was running in the March primary election for a commissioner seat but lost. He accepted a $3,000 donation from Robert Wilfong Jr., who is part of Cherrytree tract’s Development Resource Group and presented the site plan to the board during its March meeting.
Also, the resident complaint questions then Vice Chair Gaver’s participation in the board vote. Gaver resigned from the planning board in March due to relocating to New Hanover County. Commissioner Pat Sykes questioned at a March 16 commissioner meeting if his March 9 vote, inclusive of Cherrytree tract, was legitimate, though was told Gaver didn’t move away from Brunswick County until after.
Should the courts uphold the planning board’s initial vote, the developer said infrastructure would be in place within 18 months, as long as all permits are granted, and the project would take a decade to build out.
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