Historic cemetery relocated as planned Brunswick development approved for expansion
A planned development in Brunswick County is looking to expand and graves from a historic cemetery on the property have been relocated in the process.
Last year, the Brunswick County Planning Board approved plans for a development looking to build 252 single-family homes on 105 acres of land on Old Lennon Road near N.C. 211. At the time, the development was called Old Lennon Tract.
The developer – Norris & Tunstall Engineering – requested a modification to those approved plans to reduce the number of single-family home lots to 178 and add 108 townhome units and eight semi-attached units on nearly 108 acres of land.
The expansion request was approved unanimously by the Brunswick County Planning Board at its Nov. 13 meeting. The expansion increases the project’s projected density from 2.39 dwelling units per acre to 2.72 dwelling units per acre.
Following the project’s initial approval, residents became increasingly concerned about what could happen to a small cemetery on the property: Lennon Cemetery.
The graves there mark births and deaths from as far back as the 1870s. The most recently deceased person buried in the cemetery died in 1962. According to the Brunswick County Cemetery Map, Lennon Cemetery is maintained, not abandoned.
Headstones there indicated the burial of at least 10 people in the small cemetery.
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Initial plans for the project showed lots surrounding the cemetery but indicated access to the cemetery would be maintained. Site plans submitted to the county as part of the expansion request indicate the “former cemetery location” will be utilized as an amenity area. The site plans say the “graves have been relocated to offsite property.”
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: Lennon Cemetery moved so Brunswick development can expand
