LELAND — Between two incoming projects, the Town of Leland is reviewing plans for nearly 500 additional townhomes. About half are proposed for the expanding Seabrooke community, and the others are planned for the rapidly developing Westgate area.
On Tuesday the Leland Planning Board will approve or deny the subdivisions.
Leland is the largest municipality in the state’s second-fastest growing county. The latest census numbers from 2020 reported the population at 22,908, a near 70% increase since 2010, and likely an understatement of the town’s actual growth to date.
Westgate
Three parcels could soon become the sites of 254 townhomes if a preliminary subdivision plat application submitted by land surveyor Gary Keyes is approved. The plans feature common areas — including a pool and clubhouse — and 1.57 acres of active open space, 6% of the site’s total acreage.
Two parcels are owned by WGTRACT9B and WG MM TRACT 9B. The LLCs are registered under Nathan Sanders, according to the North Carolina Secretary of State.
In 2019, entities managed by Sanders took civil action against the town over a property rights dispute. According to the suit, the town would not grant approval for a 101 single-family subdivision unless land was reserved for the West Gate Drive Extension. As part of the settlement, the town agreed to nix that requirement.
A third parcel is owned by SD WEST II LLC, an entity controlled by Mark Maynard Sr., president and CEO of Tribute Companies. The agency owns 14 communities in Wilmington (South Front Apartments, Arboretum West) and a number of others across the Carolinas.
The parcels — totaling 26.16 acres — are zoned for multifamily, allowing up to 16 dwelling units per acre. However, the proposed density of the project is only 9.7 units per acre.
The streets of the townhome community will connect to the adjacent Exchange at Westgate apartments and Shoreline at Westgate townhomes. There will be a dead end to the east into the Westgate Nature Park.
The area along Westgate Drive, near Walmart, is rapidly growing with at least seven multifamily developments proposed in recent years.
Seabrooke
A few miles west, another development on the docket would introduce 212 new townhouses as part of Seabrooke, a massive collection of single-family dwellings west of Magnolia Greens.
Coastal Land Design submitted an application to subdivide a 32.22-acre parcel for the Townes at Seabrooke. Plans set aside 6.93 acres for passive open space — above the 1.69 acres required — and 1.73 acres of active open space.
Owned by Seabrooke Development LLC, the property sits along Buckeye Road Northeast, west of U.S. 17, abutting the existing Seabrooke and across from the Hearthstone neighborhood. Since a Sunny Point Railroad easement is west of the site, the applicant is asking that the city reduce its required number of road connections from four to three. Two of those connections would link to Buckeye Road Northeast right of ways to the south and west. The third would be a stub to the north, a dead-end road with the possibility of an extension if that land was developed in the future.
The land was annexed into the town in February with a unanimous vote by the town council and zoned for medium-density residential, which allows up to 7 dwelling units per acre. The proposed density of the project is just under that at a density of 6.58.
Leland’s planning board meets at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 102 Town Hall Dr.
Reach journalist Alexandria Sands at alexandria@localdailymedia.com or @alexsands_
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