BRUNSWICK COUNTY — The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners made appointments to multiple committees and boards on Tuesday. Among them are new planning board members.
Travis Cruse was voted on for District 4, as appointed by Commissioner Mike Forte. Commissioner Frank Williams appointed Robert “Bud” Needham to District 5.
READ MORE: 2 members exit Brunswick County Planning Board
ALSO: State bills propose shake-up in Brunswick development process, some commissioners agree
The assignments came with little discussion and were unanimously voted upon. Cruse is taking over from Jason Gaver, who resigned from the planning board in April due to relocating from Brunswick County.
Port City Daily reached out to Forte about his decision to appoint Cruse but did not hear back by press.
Current planning board member Richard Leary is serving out his term in District 5 and will be replaced by Needham in June this year. Williams expressed gratitude for Leary’s five-year service while announcing Needham as a replacement.
Needham is a retired environmental consultant, who worked as an enforcement coordinator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and later founded a wetland consulting firm. Having grown up in New Hanover County, Needham has lived in neighboring Brunswick County since 1989. He earned degrees in biology and marine biology, with an emphasis in ecology and wetlands, and has done post-graduate courses in these areas of study and hydric soils.
Williams said out of the seven applications received, Needham’s stood out.
“I was looking for an applicant who understands our ordinances and the law, has an expertise that will add value, and will make decisions based on the facts and the law, not their personal opinions,” Williams told Port City Daily. “When I spoke with him about the role, I learned that he already has our current development ordinance bookmarked on his personal computer.”
In the past, residents of Brunswick County have spoken out against planning board members being tied to development or real estate rather than having other varied areas of expertise on the board.
“There is no environmental or science-based representation on the planning board,” Ash Ramos told Port City Daily in 2024.
Needham’s knowledge will change that and was another factor Williams considered.
“Based upon my conversations with other planning board members, I believe he brings an expertise that is not currently present on the planning board,” Williams said.
Next month, the commissioners will vote on a new District 3 planning board member, as former member Jim Board resigned due to what he believed was a narrowing of the board’s discretionary power. Board told Port City Daily in March he thought the planning board was irrelevant if it only followed a checklist of items to ensure developers met technical “competent, material, and substantial evidence” requirements listed in the county’s UDO. While the UDO technically allows the board to deny a project if it poses a risk to public safety, Board argued the threshold for proving such problems has become functionally unreachable.
To take over Jim Board’s former seat, Commissioner Pat Sykes will make the appointment to be voted on next month.
Port City Daily asked the county who is being considered and how many applications it received for the other district openings. An answer was not received by press; this will be updated upon response.
The Brunswick County Planning Board is also at the center of legislation in Raleigh currently with Senate Bill 1079 and House Bill 1222, presented by Sen. Bill Rabon and Rep. Charlie Miller respectively. The companion legislation was voted in favor unanimously in the North Carolina House last week. It would give Brunswick County commissioners final approval over development authority rather than the planning board. Brunswick’s planning board otherwise signs off on developments unless they’re appealed to commissioners or the Supreme Court.
Two developers have sued the county over denials in the last eight months — one neighborhood, Sailor’s Haven, has been approved since, rendering the lawsuit settled, whereas another was filed earlier this month over the Green Hill Planned Development. Developers claimed they were within their rights of approval and warranted as much from the county’s own planning staff in their appeal to the Brunswick County Supreme Court.
Should the companion legislation pass the Senate and receive the governor’s signature, Brunswick’s process will mimic surrounding areas like New Hanover and Pender counties. Their planning boards only make recommendations for elected officials to take into consideration when making the final call.
Sykes and Commissioner Randy Thompson spoke with Port City Daily earlier this month, both in support of the bills.
“It’s the commissioners responsibility to remain accountable and responsive to the citizens of Brunswick County,” Sykes said at the time.
There are more than 43,000 units in the pipeline countywide, some dating back to 2017, according to the county’s GIS development tracker.
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