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Wrightsville Beach
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Wrightsville receives bid on landfill site

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Wrightsville Beach has a potential buyer for a parcel of land in Wilmington that it used to bury debris from hurricane damage. A Charlotte-based developer has placed a bid on the property in the Mayfaire area.

DPJ Residential placed a $1.3 million bid on the 5.17 acres of property at 910 Old McCumber Station Road on Thursday, Dec. 8. The property was valued at $912,000 in 2016 by New Hanover County. The town must wait 10 days before the bid becomes official, as other bidders will have until Dec. 27 to register a bid that is approximately 5 percent higher.

On Thursday, the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to move forward with the process, pending any other bidders.

The property currently has limited accessibility to the nearest road, Sir Tyler Drive, and is zoned for residential use. While there is a utility easement that allows some vehicular access, the land would likely need access through the nearby property, 1818 Sir Tyler Drive, a 1-acre lot valued at $379,000 by New Hanover County.

DPJ Residential is currently building and marketing a new residential property across the street at 1813 Sir Tyler Drive, called Mayfaire Flats.

The purchase would help bring to close the ongoing question of what to do with the land, Wrightsville Beach Mayor Bill Blair said. The town has owned the land for more than five decades, as it was first used to bury debris from 1954’s Hurricane Hazel and later was used for debris from Hurricane Fran in 1996.

The board had recently approved studies on the land to determine its utility for development, as the buried debris could pose some environmental hazard. Blair said the town needed to determine if the site would be listed as a “brownfield” by environmental regulators, meaning it would need more cleanup before it could be marketed. In December 2015, engineers for Catlin Engineering reported to the board that the site had normal levels of contamination that would be expected from a landfill site, though the two studies authorized by the board are not yet complete.

“It’s not a clean bill of health,” a Catlin Engineering representative said in December 2015, “but it’s about as close as I can expect to get.”

If the sale goes through, Blair said he believes the proceeds should be placed in a restricted fund that could only have limited purpose, such as future debt reduction for the fire station or to fund the building of a second sewer line to the mainland.

Board approves permit extension at pier lot

The board voted to extend the conditional use permit for the lot by Johnnie Mercer’s Pier at the request of the property owners, who recently unsuccessfully petitioned the board to rezone the property to allow for taller buildings at the location. Representatives of Coastal N.C. Real Estate asked for a two-year renewal of the permit for a project called “The Helm,” a proposed mixed-use development that would combine residential and commercial uses.

Representatives for the developers told the board the conditional use permit was needed from the town in order to help renew the property’s CAMA permit. Town officials told the board the permit allowed for only slight changes to the original plan. Developers have said The Helm, which conformed to the 40-foot height limit, wasn’t economically viable, and asked the board in October to approve a new zoning district that would accommodate up to 50 feet of development. The board voted 3-1 against the zoning district.

Board balks at Sunday triathlon

Without taking a vote, the board indicated to Katie Ryan, the town’s parks and recreation director, that it would not be in favor of moving the Ironman triathlon race from Saturday to Sunday. Ryan said the race directors wanted to ask the board if they would be in favor before making a formal request and had a preliminary date of Oct. 22, 2017, scheduled. Board members said they were concerned about the impact the event would have on travel for church attendance, noting that several churches draw attendance from off the island, including the popular sunrise beach services, which stood to be particularly impacted from the traffic.

In November, the Ironman organization announced it wouldn’t hold the full-distance 140.6-mile triathlon in 2017, though it would still run the half-triathlon race, which includes a swim through Wrightsville Beach’s channels and a transition to bicycle at the Wrightsville Beach Park, before a finish at the Battleship North Carolina. The event was formerly known as the PPD Beach 2 Battleship.

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