SOUTHPORT, N.C. (WECT) – Neighbors in the land surrounding Southport are confused about what’s about to happen to their community.
About a month ago, HB 911 passed in the general assembly which gave Southport’s Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) over to the county.
Before that, while the land was outside of Southport’s corporate limits, it still complied with the city’s planning and zoning laws. Now, it will have to comply with Brunswick County’s planning and zoning laws.
At a meeting Thursday night, planning staff from Brunswick County presented their recommendation for how to rezone the area to current property owners.
When asked what the major difference would be between what the land currently looks like and what it would look like after the county’s rezoning, Brunswick County Planner II Jeff Walton said “density allowances in the county are higher than the city.”
Higher density essentially means more people are allowed to live in a smaller plot of land.
Cecil Rhodes has owned a home in the ETJ area since 1987. He says he still has a lot of questions about the rezoning, but he hopes it won’t disrupt the quiet community he’s lived in for so long.
“Obviously we’d hate to see high density come in which would challenge our roads and things of that nature,” Rhodes said. “What we don’t want is this place to go plastic. We want to maintain the culture. There’s a strong culture here.”
Besides changing the entire culture, Rhodes says going from city to county property and zoning rules has raised even the smallest of questions.
“I have a couple of trees, they’re diseased. I need to take them down,” Rhodes said. “When I told the city, there wasn’t going to be an issue, but what are the rules with the county? That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
In the meantime, planning staff are trying to get to know the property owners and help them through the transition period.
“Our main goal is to get out in the community and introduce ourselves and become more familiar with the people and the area,” Brunswick County’s planning director Kirstie Dixon said. “We did a lot of drive-bys and looked at existing structures, so a lot of the zoning will look very similar to what Southport has. There will be slight differences, but a lot of it will be very similar.”
The planning staff will be recommending their plan to Brunswick County’s planning commission on August 15. After that, there will be a 15-day appeal period. If there is an appeal the plan will have to go in front of county commissioners, who will have the final say.
Rhodes said if it’s not what he or other neighbors want, they’re not afraid to fight against it.
“If there are tweaks that need to be made, our neighborhood isn’t bashful, so we’ll be part of that process,” Rhodes said.
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