NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Plotting is underway for New Hanover County’s next comprehensive plan, which will likely determine the fate of the county’s remaining untouched land and plans for accommodating a growing population.
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NHC planning staff, including director Rebekah Roth, and Clarion Associates consultant Leigh Anne King provided an update on the plan’s development so far to county commissioners and planning board members Thursday. Roth and her team shared community feedback gathered from various interviews and surveys. Concerns largely revolve around housing development and the impact of residential growth on infrastructure, transportation and the environment.
Planning staff reported an expected population of 315,000 by 2050 whose demographics were weighted more toward older adults and seniors. The 2021 housing needs assessment projected a need of 4,100 rental units in Wilmington alone, another 4,000 in the unincorporated New Hanover County.
“One thing I’ve been thinking about a good bit is the fact that the housing needs assessment that we did two years ago in the number of units that are needed is in direct conflict with what most people want for the community in terms of growth,” Commissioner Jonathan Barfield said.
Both the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County have fielded several high-density — and hotly contested projects — in recent years. Commissioners shot down a 64-unit townhome development off Carolina Beach Road in July after receiving dozens of emails and public comments from frustrated neighbors.
Commissioners also disapproved of housing for the western bank of the Cape Fear River, despite a push from the real estate industry to allow it. Developers have had more success in front of city council, which just recently approved a 40-unit infill development that incensed its midtown neighbors.
A common refrain includes the acknowledgement of growth paired with a rejection of the particular development’s congruence with surrounding neighborhoods — what is often referred to as NIMBY-ism, or “not in my backyard.”
“Retaining what participants view as a sense of place for New Hanover County is extremely important to the people who are living here,” Roth said.
Not only did Barfield find the housing needs assessment incongruent with resident concerns, he also said meeting its goals was unattainable due to the available land in the county. Last year, Port City Daily reported there were 100 undeveloped or underdeveloped county parcels that could be used for housing.
“There’s no way, in my mind, we’ll be able to fulfill that in New Hanover County,” Barfield said. “I don’t think that should be a goal we should be trying to attain either, just recognizing that it’s impossible.”
He suggested commissioners have a regional conversation about growth with surrounding counties. Brunswick County is ranked number one for growth statewide, with Pender County coming in second.
LeAnn Pierce agreed with Barfield.
“I’m not sure that we can build our way out of that housing issue if folks continue to move here every year, the number of people continues to move here, and we can’t build those, those fast enough to have the affordable rents that people are looking for,” Pierce said.
Commissioner Dane Scalise said he wanted to shift focus away from new construction and explore investing in rehabbing and upfitting current properties to respond to housing needs. This is also in alignment with the New Hanover Community Endowment’s $19 million plan, of which $14 million was announced this week to help with current properties underway. Endowment leaders told the community earlier this spring the county could not “build its way out of this,” as 30,000 units need to come online in the next 10 years, an insurmountable task with little land left.
Commissioner Rob Zapple said the comprehensive plan should lay out a clear vision for “the last frontier” — the largely undeveloped southern and northern reaches of the county.
“I think what we’re seeing here is basically large developers — by large, I mean nationwide developers — are setting course for that area, and I believe there’s more that we can do as a community to put what we want to have happen up there, rather than just splitting it up in parcels of thousands of homes.”
Zapple, Pierce and Scalise said they would like to channel the remaining land into green space, a strong desire expressed in community feedback. Scalise said it would “demonstrate” leaders are listening.
Addressing concerns over infrastructure keeping pace with development and a changing environment, Chair Bill Rivenbark questioned why houses were being built under 25-year storm guidelines instead of 100-year storms, which are increasing in frequency. This comes only a few weeks after an unnamed storm dumped more than 20 inches in areas of the region, determined by the National Weather Service to be a once-in-a-millennium rain event.
“We’ve got to fix this,” Rivenbark said. “I mean, to keep doing this [going through storms with current infrastructure] over and over and over, it’s costing millions of dollars, people losing their houses or cars or jobs.”
As stormwater regulations are largely set by the state, Zapple agreed it was a worthy conversation to bring up with legislative leaders.
Roth took note of the commissioners priorities to further develop the plan alongside her team’s takeaways from community feedback, including analyzing major roadways, taking a look at tree canopy and preservation and master planning collaboration with owners of large parcels.
From now until spring 2025, planning staff will conduct further research and public engagements wrapped up with a final direction from commissioners on strategy. Staff will then develop comprehensive plan drafts for public hearings in fall 2025.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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