Editor’s note: When we found the listing for the massive parcel of land on the southern tip of Topsail Island, we had a lot of questions. We weren’t alone — soon, town officials, environmental groups, and residents were weighing in on what should (and could) be done with the land, and how to preserve it.
TOPSAIL BEACH — Several social media groups voiced concerns over a 110-acre lot of open land on the southern tip of Topsail Island that was listed for sale at more than $7.9 million.
The lot, located next to the Serenity Point subdivision in Topsail Beach, is owned by McLeod Family LLC out of Wake Forest, according to Pender County’s GIS data. Its taxable land value is more than $2.9 million.
Online real estate website Realtor.com advertised the property either Thursday or Friday, according to the website. It was listed by Cape Fear Commercial Real Estate.
On Saturday, members of one Topsail Island-focused Facebook group posted a wide range of complaints of the listing and urged public protection of one of the island’s last plots of open land. Criticism centered around profit-driven development overriding the need to conserve scarce open land on the island, how susceptible the land — located on the tip of a barrier island — is to erosion during big storms like Hurricane Florence, and the potential effects of such development to the communities of Topsail Beach.
Several members urged either The Nature Conservancy or Coastal Federation to purchase the land in order to protect it.
There was also some confusion as to whether the town would allow development on the land (the lot’s zoning classification is not listed on its GIS profile).
According to the listing, the offering “presents a very unique opportunity to purchase one of the last remaining large oceanfront tracts in the region … [the lot] benefits from well over one mile of water frontage along the Atlantic Ocean, New Topsail Inlet and Bank’s Channel, with the latter providing convenient access to the Intracoastal Waterway.”
