Brunswick County approves more homes on land owned by Ocean Isle Beach mayor
A planned development looking to bring nearly 200 homes to mainland Holden Beach was approved to expand in number of units, but its footprint will remain the same.
At its April meeting, the Brunswick County Planning Board approved the revision, in which the development will add 109 additional single-family units. The planned development was originally approved in March 2022 to bring 186 single-family units to 109 acres of land off Holden Beach Road.
The land where Holden Beach Landing is planned is owned by a limited liability company managed by Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Sloan Smith. Following the granted expansion, the planned development will now bring 295 total single-family units to the same 109 acres of land off Holden Beach Road and Stanbury Road, across from the Holden Beach Driving Range.
The land is zoned for site build high-density residential and commercial low-density use, which allow densities of 7.3 and 13.6 dwelling units per acre, respectively. The development, as revised, will create a density of 2.7 units per acre. Before the revision, the development would have created a density of 1.7 dwelling units per acre.
More: Brunswick County adds new wrinkle in development approval process. Here's how it'll work.
Lennar Carolinas, LLC, is a national homebuilder founded in Florida in 1954 and the developer of this project. Nathan Pound, representing Lennar, said six of the proposed units are located within a flood hazard zone. The developer, he said, is working to obtain a letter of map revision from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to remove the lots from the flood zone.
Water and sewer services for the development will be provided by Brunswick County, and the roads within the community will be private.
The development, as revised, is expected to generate some 2,823 vehicle trips per weekday. A traffic impact analysis will be required prior to lot recording. The county recently changed the order in which projects that require traffic impact analyses will be submitted. Currently, a traffic impact analysis is conducted after a development application is approved by the planning board, when required. A traffic impact analysis will be required to be completed ahead of planning board consideration.
Brunswick County Planning Director Kirstie Dixon said the development applications that have already been submitted to the county will go before the board without a traffic impact analysis, as they had previously. Dixon said the board can expect a six- to nine-month “lull” in development applications once the new procedure is fully implemented later this year.
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The planning board unanimously approved the revision request at its April meeting. The approval of the planning board is not an authorization to construct. The project must obtain all necessary federal, state and county approvals and permits prior to construction.
Jamey Cross covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at jbcross@gannett.com or message her on Twitter/X @jameybcross.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Holden Beach Landing development approved to add even more homes
