LELAND — Planning board members unanimously recommended approval of a land use amendment to aid the expansion of Leland’s largest residential development.
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Brunswick Forest is an approximately 4,698-acre master planned development along Highway 17 currently with around 5,993 units. According to the development’s environmental consultant Davey Resource Group, the project plans to ultimately contain 10,000 units and several hundred feet of commercial shopping space.
Planner Ben Watts presented a request to amend Brunswick Forest’s master land use plan to shift a 111.9 acre parcel near Mallory Creek and North Carolina 133 from commercial to residential zoning at the Tuesday meeting.
Staff recommended approval after reviewing the proposal submitted by Forestar Real Estate Group, one of the largest single family community developers in the country. The applicant argued the amendment would be consistent with the master plan and help preserve extensive wetlands in the area by placing residential areas on high ground.
McKim & Creed senior project engineer Robin Austin said her firm is the designer for Brunswick Forest’s Parcel I, which consists of 621 acres that contain the 111.9 acre area in question. She said the developer plans to build at least 1,000 units in Parcel I, an area that does not currently have any approved units. While project designs haven’t been submitted to the Technical Review Committee yet, Austin indicated the new units would be a mix of single-family and townhomes.
Leland planning board members voted 3-0 in favor of the proposal after member Christopher Berlin raised concerns about reducing commercial space in the municipality; he estimated only around 3% of Leland is currently zoned commercial.
“Is that not really a concern here?” he asked.
Planning board staff said they did not believe the Brunswick Forest parcel was an optimal location for commercial activity due to limited visibility from external roadways, but were carrying out a review throughout the municipality to consider additional commercial spaces.
Applicant Forestar Real Estate Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of DR Horton, the biggest home builder by volume in the United States. DR Horton received a $400,000 civil penalty from the Environmental Protection Agency in April that cited stormwater discharges at properties in North Carolina and other southeastern states.
The planning board voted 5-2 to deny a previous request for D.R. Horton to build 232 townhouse units in Brunswick Forest in August 2022. Staff and opposed board members expressed concern about limited street connectivity within the project.
The two planning board members who voted in favor of the 2022 proposal — Alan Kerry and Stephen Whitney — disclosed business connections to the applicant at the meeting.
Kerry is the former president of the real estate division of Lord Baltimore Capital, which partnered with developer Jeff Earp and invested more than $200 million to Brunswick Forest in its early stages of development. Lord Baltimore Capital remains manager of the two companies behind the project, Brunswick Forest LLC and Funston Land and Timber LLC, according to Secretary of State records.
Kerry said he was still working with the firm as a consultant on Brunswick Forest at the 2022 meeting, but was not involved in the sale of the parcel in question at the time.
He voluntarily requested to recuse himself from the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting after consulting with the town attorney.
“There is potential of concern that could come because of a business association I have,” he said.
Whitney is a real estate specialist with Conifer Realty, a property management and construction firm focused on affordable housing. Whitney said he consulted for the developer of an adjacent property at the 2022 meeting but did not have a financial interest in the decision.
Whitney didn’t mention any potential associations with the applicant at the Tuesday meeting, but raised concerns about the lack of affordable housing in Brunswick Forest and requested it be a consideration during council review.
Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at peter@localdailymedia.com.
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