BRUNSWICK COUNTY — A House bill cutting Southport’s authority over planning and development in surrounding areas passed Thursday. Though some residents and officials support it, others do not, some even filing a petition against the move.
READ MORE: Brunswick residents argue planning board has too much authority
As of Monday, “No High Density Southport” garnered 500 signatures, with the petition asking Sen. Bill Rabon (R-District 8) and Rep. Charlie Miller (R-District 19) to withdraw the bill.
“This legislation would be devastating for the city and its outlying areas, resulting in unchecked development, clearcutting and environmental damage to one of the last remaining jewels in Brunswick County,” the petition states.
Brunswick County residents are concerned it will lead to rampant construction in a county where the planning board has the final say over development; development plans only go to commissioners in Brunswick County if appealed.
The petition is now closed since House Bill 911 — filed on May 8 as H.B. 1064 — passed 89 to 21 in its third reading Thursday. It was ratified Friday and goes to the governor for a signature.
The bill will take away Southport’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. An ETJ is the legal ability of a government or municipality to exercise authority beyond its corporate boundaries.
The passing of the bill will officially remove residences from Smithville Woods and Jabbertown Road, located beyond the city limits, from the rules and regulations of the Southport’s planning board.
Effective July 1, all development proposals within previous ETJ areas will now go to the Brunswick County planning board, instead of through both the Southport planning board and board of aldermen. Brunswick County’s single-approval process is intended to streamline the development process for the county, though some residents argue this process only benefits developer interests.
Brunswick is one of roughly a dozen counties statewide that allows its planning board final development decisions. By contrast, in New Hanover County, the planning board must get recommendations approved by commissioners before development can begin.
Though the nearly 2,000 acres of land and 809 properties surrounding Southport are largely nature, Southport residents and city officials fear not having control over the land will open the doors to unwanted development in areas many people see as necessary provisions for greenery and wildlife.
“The county is putting development before its citizens and it’s making a major negative impact to the quality of life in our area,” signer Melanie Carballo wrote in the “No High Density Southport” petition. “Southport is one of the last areas with beautiful trees and charm, but there is so much development going on it makes it hard to get to.”
Pat Sykes, Brunswick County commissioner and Smithville Woods resident, said the conversation about removing the ETJ began when clearcutting and tree ordinances were violated earlier this year in Southport. Two residents — who pay county taxes and cannot vote for city officials such as Southport aldermen — were fined $23,000 and $83,000 for cutting trees in violation of the city’s tree ordinance.
ETJ residents began to reach out to Miller about their issues, reported The State Port Pilot, and the representative suggested they concur their complaints in a petition; it received more than 300 signatures. Miller and Rabon did not respond to PCD’s request for an interview Thursday.
The Brunswick County Commissioners also wrote to Miller, requesting all eight Brunswick County ETJs be dissolved.
To Skyes, there was never any benefit to ETJ residents to be subjected to Southport’s planning regulations in the first place. She noted that Southport’s building permit fees cost roughly three times those of Brunswick County, and prior to the city and county’s water and sewer merger, ETJ residents had to pay twice the rates of Southport residents.
READ MORE: Southport considering 18% tax increase, driven by water and sewer merger with county
“They’re forcing these things on us. It’s time for change,” Sykes said.
Southport city officials also had conversations with Miller about the bill, though they were in an effort to stop H.B. 1064 instead of expressing support. Alderman Marc Spence told Port City Daily he and Mayor Rich Alt traveled to Raleigh on June 18 to a Local Government Committee meeting and spoke with both Miller and Rabon. He said the private conversation was mostly about ETJ residents’ representation in city government boards.
“It was really the idea that we were putting restrictions on people that didn’t have the ability to vote us out — and that’s fine, I understand that; but there was more to the story,” Spencer said.
He said ETJ residents held positions on various Southport boards, including the planning board, board of adjustment and parks and recreation board, though ETJ representatives will now not be able to serve on these boards.
Spencer said the ETJ used to serve as a zoning buffer for the city, with regulations that protected the “character” of Southport.
“Now city and former ETJ land will be too distinctly different,” he said. “We have been robbed of our ETJ. How can we all be Southport when we’ve been divided by this bill?”
One regulation now lifted off ETJ areas that concerned Spencer is the prohibition of Airbnbs, which within city borders are only allowed under limited circumstances. In 2021, Southport banned new short-term rentals, though if property owners already operated a rental unit they were allowed to keep it, but could not re-open if they chose to close it down.
Spencer, who lives next door to a three-bedroom Airbnb property, said the rental properties are a threat to Southport residents because they bring in large quantities of unknown visitors to the city. He has seen roughly 300 to 400 people attend events at the property next door, he said.
“They’ve had weddings, funerals, graduations, parties,” Spencer said. “Now I am a property rights person, but it is quite interesting to have a funeral next door to your house.”
Following July 1, Brunswick County will either adopt the regulations or they will automatically go into effect after 60 days have elapsed.
After press, the Brunswick County government and Southport city officials put out a joint release noting it will provide more information to residents as details become finalized per coordination between the two entities. It explained in part:
“Until otherwise directed, all approved projects or projects currently in the application phase within the Southport ETJ area should continue to contact the City of Southport concerning any planning or permitting needs. Brunswick County and the City of Southport are coordinating to identify impacted projects and plan steps to transfer these projects to the County’s jurisdiction as seamlessly as possible.”
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