WILMINGTON — The Leland Town Council made several decisions Thursday that would impact development within its bounds, including approving a change to major development.
READ MORE: ‘I think we’re being short sighted’: Councilors debate altering Brunswick Forest commercial acreage
Council members heard from Jeff Arp, the developer behind the 4,698-acre Brunswick Forest planned unit development.
Arp has requested to rezone 111.9 acres of the development from commercial to residential, but council continued the item from their last meeting due to concerns over losing the PUD’s promised commercial option.
However, Arp informed council no commercial space would be lost — in fact, 52 acres were added to the development — but instead reallocated across the property. Brunswick Forest is planned to have 12,642 at completion, with almost half built so far; Arp’s rezoning request would not change the development’s overall density.
“Thank you for being creative and putting it in places where it just makes more sense,” council member Veronica Carter said.
Leland’s leaders have been concerned with an imbalance between residential and commercial offerings in the town. Of Leland’s 17,408 acres, only 5% — or around 872 acres — is zoned for commercial, office, and industrial purposes. Brunswick Forest’s commercial property would make up over 10% of the city’s commercially zoned areas when built out.
Arp explained the 111.9 acres — located deep in a corner of Brunswick Forest unconnected to nearby major thoroughfares — was planned to be a part of the now-defunct Cape Fear Skyway project. The unfunded project proposed a 9.5-mile toll road from the U.S. 17 Bypass in Brunswick County to U.S. 421 near Wilmington and included a new high-rise bridge over the Cape Fear River.
“That project has been shelved and canceled, therefore really making that area not conducive or reasonable to put commercial in,” Arp said.
The developer said his team was putting forth effort into buying the property next door, which would then allow for direct access to U.S. Highway 133 but could not report the details of that progress.
Leland council members said the Brunswick Forest changes were a good move.
“This is focused on neighborhood commercial and there’s a really good chance we might see some of it grow in that sense a lot quicker than we would waiting for a connection,” council member Bill McHugh said.
The rezoning request received unanimous approval.
Though with no discussion, another large property got the approval its developers sought.
A resolution allowing the exploration of an annexation petition from Jackey’s Creek Investors LLC was approved as part of the council’s consent agenda Thursday. More than 1,100 acres is proposed to move under Leland’s jurisdiction after a baseball stadium proposal on the 1,400-acre tract fell through.
REV Entertainment — behind the Texas Rangers — approached Leland at the end of 2022 about bringing a mixed-use development, complete with the stadium complex, restaurants, retail, residences, hotels, and more, to the Jackey’s Creek area.
The original plan was for Brunswick County to carry the debt — with REV saying it would match development “dollar for dollar” — Brunswick commissioners backed out of the deal last spring. It was proposed to cost $105 million.
In January, the town announced it was not moving forward with the stadium after a feasibility study revealed the price tag to be around $182 million, but noted “there was hope” the conversation could continue in the future.
Amid the baseball dialogue, Jackey’s Creek Investors LLC submitted an annexation petition — just in time, as it would turn out. On Feb. 8, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly indefinitely suspended all annexations, unless the petition was submitted before March 1.
The move was at the behest of Brunswick County’s state representative, Sen. Bill Rabon after Leland expanded its limits by 27% in 2022 alone. In the ranks of senators with the most political leverage, Rabon had pushed through a bill in 2022 limiting Leland’s annexation range, but not stripping the authority in its entirety. Neighbors had complained to Rabon on the town’s sprawl, and the senator disagreed with Leland gatekeeping H2GO water and sewer lines from outsiders.
The annexation petition is not tied to a development proposal. If the petition moves forward, next steps include a zoning recommendation and public hearings.
Planning for the future
Aside from individual land requests, Leland Town Council approved amendments to the land development ordinance, or FlexCode. The major change to the latter is the introduction of “transect classifications” to go along with the town’s current transect zones.
Transect zones are directed at infill development, which involves developing vacant or underused parcels within existing urban areas. According to the town, the zones operate as typical zoning districts and “provide more control over changes within these areas, ensuring that new developments integrate seamlessly with the existing urban fabric.”
Transect classifications refer to new community plans or greenfield development, which refers to developing previously undeveloped land. These do not operate as typical zoning districts, but hold the same spatial and development requirements as their transect zone counterparts. The classification is intended to ensure new developments can meet evolving market demands and community needs while adhering to overall planning objectives and enabling a balanced mix of uses and densities.
The FlexCode changes come with the addition of the T-5O transect classification and T-5O transect zone. These new offerings are similar the the town’s current T-5 zone, but have increased lot width and a height allowance of seven stories.
These new additions are intended to offer a “heightened level of practical density and mixed-use development” — tall buildings set close to sidewalks within a tightly networked street grid.
Council member Carter asked staff to confirm the high-rise allowance would not hinder firefighting efforts. Leland Fire Chief Fire Chris Langlois said the change shouldn’t be too large an impact.
“We would probably call for additional help, but utilize that through automatic and mutual aid from the City of Wilmington and Brunswick County,” Planning Manager Ashli Barefoot said. “But all in all, this does not present any major challenges to our fire department.”
Council member Bob Campbell said he was “stuck” on seven stories and questioned where the transect zones and classifications would be allowed. Barefoot clarified they would be directed toward major and minor arterial state roads.
“It’s going to be in areas that are appropriate for context, where urban development should go,” she said.
The FlexCode also removes density restrictions in their current form; planning staff will no longer use numbers, in the form of lots per acre, to limit density.
“It enhances the urban form and character, but it allows that flexibility for developers to be more creative in their design, within reason,” Barefoot said.
Staff say density can be limited by other restrictions — building height, required parking, lot coverage, setbacks, civic space requirements — but the ability to build upward will satisfy developer’s needs and population growth in a sustainable way.
Carter said she was initially skeptical of some of FlexCode changes.
“As I learned more about it and listened more and read up a little bit more, one of the articles I found says that this is a way for local elected officials and advocates from around the country to move their communities onto the high road of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability and efficient government,” she said.
She said she particularly liked the FlexCode’s updated civic space types, including the addition of greenways, pocket parks and plazas designed to accommodate nature in various parts of the town. Carter said this flexibility to put green space in more areas will allow more Leland residents access to nature.
There was one person who criticized the FlexCode changes — Charlie Rivenbark, Wilmington City Council member. However, Rivenbark showed up Thursday in his capacity as Senior Vice President of Cape Fear Commercial.
Rivenbark said he was representing the concerns of residents along Village Road, a rapidly developing area in the town, particularly the Hall family. He claimed the Halls were not given the chance to speak on what he described as a “down-zoning” of their property, proposed for a drive-thru, under the new transect classification.
“This is not a taking, but a real down-zoning of the availability of tenants for their properties,” Rivenbark said. “They’ve now missed out on two that didn’t meet the criteria for the T-5 and now the T-5O.”
Staff said they met with the now-deceased Dale Hall several times prior to the 2011 adoption of the FlexCode and gateway infill plan, but once the FlexCode came into affect drive-thrus were not allowed in the T-5. The changes recommended Thursday would not change that.
The FlexCode changes passed unanimously.
“There has been several changes through the years we’ve been here, so just because we voted on it doesn’t mean there can’t be a future change,” Mayor Brenda Bozeman said.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com
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