TOPSAIL ISLAND — Pender County is growing fast, expecting as many as 20,000 new residents over the next 10 years. Unlike New Hanover County, most of Pender is rural – with just a fraction of the population density – leaving plenty of room to expand. Except, that is, on Topsail Island.
The island is home to the municipalities of Surf City and Topsail Beach – as well as North Topsail Beach, in Onslow County. And while the island’s communities have rely to some extent on tourism, there’s naturally a limit on room.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the average daily traffic over the new bridge in Surf City is expected over the next 20 years to carry nearly double the traffic of the current swing bridge. According to Brian Rick, communications officer for the NCDOT, the average number of daily trips across the bridge is predicted to rise from around 17,000 to at least 30,000.
Some of this traffic will be island residents heading to the mainland, but — given the island’s relatively small population — a considerable amount will tourists and mainland residences visiting the island.
So what do the island towns think about the influx over the coming years, and how are they preparing?
Larry Bergman, city manager for Surf City, said much of the island portion of the municipality is already developed and built on. However, the city has been focusing on the mainland portion of the town to help accommodate growth.
“In general, Pender and Surf City are growing and for us much of that growth is on the mainland with year round residential neighborhood growth, growing commercial and retail development and expansion of the town through voluntary annexations,” Bergman said. “We as a town are trying to stay ahead of that growth and demand, including current work toward expansion of water and wastewater capacity and also trying to encourage good quality development with our planning and zoning processes.”
Across the intracoastal, Bergman said the main issues were parking and traffic.
“On the island, we are also looking at how the new bridge will change traffic patterns and also give us an opportunity to create a new, more walkable central business area including improvements around Soundside Park,” Bergman said.
Bergman added that, while Surf City lost some available parking due to NCDOT work on the bridge, the town expects to get the space back when construction is complete. The town has also developed new parking spaces.
Bergman said the town’s ability to straddle the island and the mainland make it able to handle the population increase.
“I think increased numbers of people is overall a good thing for the town in terms of growth in its tax base and sales tax revenues,” Bergman said. “And for residents and others near the community the growth has brought a wider variety of commercial growth to support our residents and visitors without having to travel to Jacksonville or Wilmington.”
Then there’s the threat to the “small town feel,” as Bergman put it.
“For some, growth threatens the ‘small town’ feel, but we are fortunate to have the benefit of the island with its unique, lower impact kind of development (residential and commercial) and a mainland that is more suited to larger neighborhoods and larger shopping and commercial development and each is where it makes most sense,” Bergman said.
Michael Rose, town manager of Topsail Beach, said the town was preparing for the impact on municipal services, public safety, street and public beach access maintenance, sanitation and recreation.
“Town officials are cognizant of these impacts and are working to identifying and plan for the future needs of our community,” Rose said.
Rose cited the town’s Land Use Plan, which guides development in Topsail Beach in an effort to accomodate both current residents and future visitors.
“Our approach continues to be to support low density residential development that encourages small town charm and preserve the natural beauty of the island. Certainly the number of daily visitors is expected to increase as the area around us continues to grow, and our planning efforts look to provide recreational opportunities without creating a negative impact on our natural resources or the peaceful living of our residents,” Rose said.
When it comes to the “small town” feel of Topsail, Rose said “Quality of Life and Place are extremely important to our town. Town officials have worked hard to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere that everyone can enjoy.”
Rose again cited the town’s hope to balance the quality of life of current Topsail Beach residents with the expected influx of visitors.
“As the area around us grows, it will place more pressure on the Town to maintain our Quality of Place, but we will continue to address these issues in an effort to keep Topsail Beach a very special place,” Rose said.
Send comments and tips to Benjamin Schachtman at [email protected], @pcdben on Twitter, and (910) 538-2001.
