SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — As we wind down 2025, Port City Daily is counting down the top 10 stories most read this year, as assessed by analytics and how many times readers clicked the page.
The ninth most read piece came in the summer after Charlie Fossen reported on a well-known developer in town getting fined for docking his watercraft in Wrightsville Beach against town code.
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Wade Miller founded Copper Builders — behind the controversial Hilton Bluffs development in Sledge Forest — and owns AquaVita. Though the state recognizes it as a “pleasure craft,” Wrightsville Beach considered the watercraft to be a floating home, which is illegal to dock in the town. Miller racked up $500 in fines last July — $50 a day — before eventually moving the vessel to Carolina Beach.
Not the first instance in which Miller faced violations from local authorities, he was issued a notice of violation in April in New Hanover County for putting an unapproved, unpermitted, 160-square-foot structure on the Sledge Forest property in a high-risk flooding area. Miller wants to develop the large track — known for its old-growth forest and wetlands — into a multi-thousand home project.
Some people who have pushed back against Sledge Forest were concerned it showed a pattern of Miller going against the rules and further eroded trust in the developer.
Catch up on the full piece below.
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