CAROLINA BEACH –– Deb LeCompte is vying for one of the open seats on the Carolina Beach Town Council.
Port City Daily has sent a questionnaire to every candidate running in municipal elections, which are nonpartisan, and has dropped its paywall on the profiles to help voters make informed decisions ahead of the 2021 election year. (Though, your support of local, independent journalism is appreciated through a monthly subscription. Also, consider signing up for Port City Daily’s free newsletter, Wilmington Wire, to get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.)
As a reminder, the early voting period begins Oct. 14, with the registration deadline on Oct. 8. Voters may partake in same-day registration throughout the two-week early voting period, which ends Oct. 30 (check if your registration is active at your current address).
Election Day is Nov. 2.
LeCompte’s stances on local issues are discussed below. Port City Daily has included all responses in full, and only edited responses for grammatical and spelling errors.
READ MORE: Catch up on all elections coverage
Deb LeCompte — Republican
- Education:
- 2021 Cape Fear Community College – Notary Public
- 2021 IAP Career College – Wedding Planner Certification
- 2014 Open Ministry – Ordained Minister/Wedding Officiant
- 2005 Real Estate Broker License (I do not actively work as a broker)
- 1995 Southern Career Institute – Paralegal Certification
- 1985-87 Attended Rowan Cabarrus Community College, Salisbury, NC – Criminal Justice
- 1981-82 Attended Kings College, Charlotte, NC – Accounting
- 1981 Mt. Pleasant High School, Mt. Pleasant, NC
- Job Title:
- 2014-Current, owner, A Wedding At The Beach, Carolina Beach
- 2004-Current, owner, Sunrise Express Super Laundry, Wilmington
- Experience:
- Town Committees
- Centennial Committee – 2021
- Instrumental in the re-establishment of the Business & Economic Development Committee, which now operates under the Chamber of Commerce – 2019
- Land Use Plan Steering Committee – Planning & Zoning Liaison 2018-2020
- Planning & Zoning Commissioner – 2017 – Current
- Current, Chair
- 2018-2020, Vice Chair
- Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan – 2016
- Police Advisory Committee – 2015 – Current
- Current Chair
- Created We Love Our CB Cops FB Page
- Instrumental in the implementation of CodeRed Alert System
- Bike Rodeo
- Citizens Academy
- Advocate of K-9 Unit
- Boardwalk Ad Hoc – Chair 2014-2018
- Plastic Bag Ad Hoc – 2014-2018
- Business Experience
- 2014 – Current owner A Wedding at the Beach, Carolina Beach, NC
- 2004 – Current owner Sunrise Express Super Laundry, Wilmington, NC
- 1996 – 2004 stay-at-home mom
- 1985 – 1996 real estate paralegal in Concord/Kannapolis, NC
- Williams, Boger, Grady, Davis & Tuttle, PA
- Critz, Black, Rogers & Ruth, PA
- Freelance
- Volunteer Work
- 2016 – Current – founding member – Pleasure Island Habitat
- Habitat For Harry
- Pleasure Island Disaster Relief Fund
- 2015 – Current – volunteer – Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce
- 2007 – 2014 Ashley Athletic Booster Club – Ashley High School – president
- 2007 – 2014 Student Services – parent volunteer – Ashley High School
- 2000 – 2003 Organizer – Hamilton Youth Basketball League – Menomonee Falls, WI
- 1990 – 1996 Treasurer – Mount Pleasant Youth Baseball/Softball League – Mt. Pleasant, NC
- 1980 – 2014 Youth Coach – T-ball, softball, basketball, lacrosse
- 2016 – Current – founding member – Pleasure Island Habitat
- Town Committees
- Family:
- Married 32 years to George “Butch” LeCompte
- 3 grown children, 2 son-in-laws
- 1 granddaughter
- 3 rescue pups, 4 grand pups
Port City Daily (PCD): What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Deb LeCompte (DL):
- Our infrastructure must remain our number one priority.
- Protection and Preservation of our natural resources
- Maintaining our family friendly/small town identity
- See my website www.debralecompte.com for more in-depth details.
PCD: Stormwater flooding and runoff present a persistent concern for the island. Is enough being done to address these issues? Why or why not?
DL: No, I do not think enough is not being done. I do believe we are heading in the right direction with our new hire for Stormwater. However, we need to require engineered stormwater plans for new development as well as punitive repercussions when stormwater plans are not properly followed and have a negative impact on adjoining property owners. I would also like to see the town encourage residents and businesses to incorporate rain gardens and rain barrels to contribute even in a small way to stormwater mitigation.
PCD: How will you influence the future of land use and development at Carolina Beach? As an elected official, what would be your guiding principles when it comes to deliberating on planning and zoning decisions?
DL: I was one of the Planning & Zoning Commission’s liaisons to the 2020 Land Use Plan and it will be my guide. We cannot nor should we stop development however, we should require deliberate and thoughtful planning for our future. Impacts on our infrastructure as well as citizens will be my guiding consideration.
PCD: Are there development practices you might have recently seen on the beach that you think should be discouraged and encouraged?
DL: Filling in wetlands is a concern of mine. Mitigating wetlands by relocating them to another area off the island and outside of New Hanover County does not solve the issue of filling and developing on wetlands in Carolina Beach. I think this practice should be discouraged and areas on the island should be utilized when the Army Corps of Engineers allows for the filling of wetlands.
PCD: Council is slated to review a new tree ordinance soon. How far should the ordinance go? What specific provisions do you want to see included?
Trees are directly tied to stormwater mitigation, and we should encourage and incentivize their preservation. The Planning & Zoning Commission recently voted on and sent a proposed ordinance change for tree preservation to Town Council for approval. This new language would require replanting or preservation of canopy/heritage trees outside the footprint of the proposed structure. Developers/Owners would have the option of saving trees of at least 6” caliper or replanting a yet to be determined number of 2” caliper. I believe we are too many decades too late to go as far as I would like to see us go to preserve our trees however, we are moving in the right direction for future preservation.
PCD: Are you comfortable with the town’s parking policy and setup? What, if anything, should change?
I have stated before that I am not a parking expert. We should utilize resources that are beneficial and low cost to our citizens. What I am proposing is that we engage two to three Public Administration Interns from UNCW or CFCC to perform an in-depth study of our current parking ordinances and practices compared with other east coast beach towns. Guide the interns to gather the following:
- Other Beach Town Parking Regulations
- Break down of their ordinances with comparison to ours
- Determine Best Practices
- Number of Private Spaces vs. Public Spaces
- Demographics & Population of High Season vs. Low Season
- Residents Needs vs. Visitor Needs
PCD: Freeman Park has been a source of legal controversy and natural erosion. Do you have any stance on the future of this access point as it pertains to the town’s control and maintenance of it?
DL: The future of Freeman Park is hard to address with too many variables because of outstanding lawsuits that I am not privy to currently. Moving forward should Carolina Beach maintain control of the public beach strand; I believe we should pursue the feasibility of renourishment. It is my understanding that placement of sand from Snow’s Cut dredge will be on Masonboro Island, and I believe Freeman Park should be considered for future dredges.
PCD: Are you comfortable with the current short-term rental ordinance and would you like to see these properties regulated further?
My understanding is municipalities are very limited by state legislation on what they can do to regulate short-term rentals. I would like to propose a registration system for STRs that would allow town staff to alert property owners in a timely manner of mandatory evacuations and emergency situations as well as chronic nuisance properties.
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