BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Community outcry and the effects of last week’s unnamed storm led one commissioner to propose a halt to all residential development in the county.
READ MORE: 1,500 acres approved for development off Highway 211 in Brunswick County
During Monday’s commissioner meeting in Brunswick County, Chair Randy Thompson introduced a non-agenda item: a motion directing staff to conduct an updated flood study, evaluate the current evacuation plan, and look into staffing concerns for fire and safety services. His intention was determining whether a nine, 12-, or 18-month moratorium on residential development should be implemented until other concerns were resolved.
“Whatever it takes to address these issues and get us information back that leads us to being able to support our current residents and any future residents that are added,” he told staff.
Twenty-two residents signed up to speak at the meeting regarding rapid development, each expressing concerns about flooding caused by last week’s storm, potential tropical cyclone #8. Brunswick County is the 10th fastest-growing in the nation and first in North Carolina.
Josh Cook lives in the Fords Branch area of Bolivia, next to a recently cleared parcel for a 63.54-acre subdivision on Gilbert and Benton roads. He told commissioners the recent flash flooding he experienced was unprecedented compared to previous floods, including Hurricane Florence.
“I had 27 minutes to get myself and my wife off that property,” he said, his voice quivering with emotion. “Seven minutes before, my driveway had 3 foot of water. That didn’t happen before Florence, it didn’t happen during Florence. I don’t care if it’s a 2,000-year flood or a 100-million-year flood; that development has changed the alluvial plain of Ford’s Branch.”
[Alluvial plain refers to a flat area of land formed by sediment and material. This happens when water flows and slows down, leaving behind sand, silt, and clay.]
Discussions about a moratorium are not new for Brunswick County residents.
Last month, members of the local nonprofit Brunswick County Conservation Partnership and the Facebook group “Stop Over Developing in Brunswick County,” which has over 2,700 members, began advocating to stop new development. At the commissioners’ Aug. 12 meeting, Christie Marek, representing the group, presented commissioners with a report highlighting the release of 900,000 gallons of untreated wastewater this year, linking the surge in development to capacity issues.
Chairman Thompson emphasized the PTC #8 underscored the urgent need to address flooding and safety concerns in the county, as it left more than 130 roads impaired, some of which collapsed, and severely flooded neighborhoods in several regions countywide.
Thompson also spoke on a shortage of first responders to handle emergencies. He recounted an incident from earlier this year when understaffed firefighters took more than 15 minutes to reach a trapped citizen during a house fire after their arrival. According to Thompson, they couldn’t implement the “two-in, two-out” method, a safety rule in firefighting that requires at least two firefighters to enter a dangerous situation together, while two others stay outside to monitor and provide support.
“It cut their ability to activate and go in and do a rescue,” he said. “Unfortunately, we had a victim upstairs on the phone with our 911 center at the time.”
Commissioner Pat Sykes raised concerns about water pressure throughout the county, questioning how firefighters could effectively perform their duties without adequate supply.
Marek told Port City Daily she believes the growth will equate to more people and cars on the road.
“Then you have to think about tourist,” she added.
Thompson, who served as the county’s Director of Emergency Management and Director of Emergency services for ten years, told Port City Daily he worked with municipalities within the county to establish evacuation plans that worked in tandem with each other.
“We worked on plans that assisted the entire county and not just a single population,” he said on a phone call Friday.
At the meeting he pointed out smaller municipalities have been developing their own evacuation plans over the last few years.
“To learn that they had been working independently on their own evacuation needs, including the use of state roadways into the county that our Emergency Management Department was not aware of, was mind-boggling to me,” he said. “I just couldn’t believe they needed to go out on their own.”
Representative of the town of Leland, Jessica Jewell confirmed the town relies on the county’s plan.
Town of Belville’s Town Manager Athina Williams said the town follows its own hurricane plan and incorporates recommendations from Brunswick County and the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization. Port City Daily also contacted the City of Southport for information about its evacuation plan. Representative ChyAnn Ketchum said the town of Southport has its own emergency evacuation plan that is currently in the process of being updated.
Thompson’s initial staff request included pausing all submissions of residential development applications until Oct. 21. Applications already filed would be permitted by staff, however, Thompson worried that an influx of development proposals would infiltrate the system before the deadline.
While other board members and staff supported his suggestion, they pointed out such a move was not legally feasible without certain measures being taken first. According to North Carolina State Statute 160D-107, a public hearing must be held before any moratorium can be implemented, except in cases of imminent and substantial threats to public health or safety.
However, municipalities are permitted to adopt temporary moratoriums on development. State Statute 160D-601 indicates:, “Local governments may adopt temporary moratoria on any development approval required by law, except for the purpose of developing and adopting new or amended plans or development regulations governing residential uses.”
“Mr. Chairman, I recognize that may be a really good approach, and I’m not discounting it, but as I understand it, state law provides little mobility for local governments to issue temporary moratoriums on development projects within their jurisdiction,” Commissioner Marty Cooke said to Thompson. He worried that the board was overstepping its legal boundaries by halting applications.
In order to enact a moratorium, the county will have to hold a public hearing.
While Brunswick County has never enacted a development moratorium, one was previously issued related to wastewater and sewer. In June 2019, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality implemented a three-month sewer line moratorium at Brunswick’s northern wastewater treatment plant after it was found to be operating at 110% of its state-permitted capacity, which was limited to treating 2.475 million gallons of wastewater per day.
Currently, the county is working on amending its unified development ordinances. The amendments aim to enhance tree and greenspace preservation by adjusting requirements for tree quantities, open space distribution, recreation area sizes, and buffer overlay zones. Staff at the meeting informed commissioners they are about three months into the UDO amendment process, with a projected completion timeline of nine months.
“We just can’t wait nine months; we need to move forward,” Thompson urged.
Cooke worried over the wording of Thompson’s motion, believing the inclusion of the term “moratorium” implied a predetermined outcome to staff’s information gathering. Cooke noted the results of the updated flood map survey and evacuation plan might not necessarily warrant the measure.
“Although it politically sounds great to everybody, the reality is that it is a black field when you do that because that engages the legal perspective, which we’re trying to avoid,” he said. “If we say to them, to simply figure out if we do or don’t do a moratorium, that is where we put the cart before the horse.”
Commissioner Frank Williams shared similar thoughts, emphasizing his support for evaluating the updated flood map and evacuation plan. However, he stressed the importance of ensuring staff conduct an “unbiased” assessment, free from any preconceived notions of pursuing a moratorium.
“Don’t feel like you’re being directed to develop information that supports a specific conclusion. I want to hear your genuine feedback, and it should be independent and autonomous, not influenced by the expectation of leading us to this specific point,” he said.
While no motion on a moratorium was made, staff agreed to bring back a recommendation regarding the updated flood map, evacuation plan, and staffing concerns to the board at its Oct. 21 meeting.
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