The Dive: Sour in Southport

An otherwise routine set of meetings has rekindled rancor over development in the quaint, coastal city of Southport.

Back in 2020, Bald Head Island Limited and East West Partners unveiled plans to develop Project Indigo, which could double Southport’s population. As originally designed, it aimed to create more than $700 million in new taxable value and add more than 1,500 housing units in Southport. 

Planned on mostly undeveloped land west of the city’s historic downtown, the project has, predictably, elicited strong community interest. That interest came with heaps of backlash from residents concerned about density and preserving the city’s character. 

Southport’s planning board rejected the proposal in 2022, and developers later withdrew their original application.

In the interim, developers have been eager to receive explicit guidance from city leaders so they can put forth a plan the community can live with. Meanwhile, city leaders see the ball in the developers’ court, as the team has some complex land rights issues to sort out.

Last month, Bald Head Island Limited CEO Chad Paul and other members of the development team met with a handful of city leaders to discuss progress on the project. Paul said he didn’t anticipate the onslaught of vitriol that would follow. 

The meetings inspired editorials and front-page coverage in The State Port Pilot, records requests, and uproar. 

“You have a vocal minority that really doesn’t understand the facts or understand the law or how it works,” Paul told The Dive. “And it becomes all emotion.”

Aldermen Robert Carroll and Karen Mosteller accused two other aldermen of acting unethically by attending the two meetings last month with the developers. Carroll and Mosteller say they should have been informed in advance of the meetings, and ultimately, that they shouldn’t have happened without full board approval. 

The meetings included the city’s new mayor, Rich Alt, and freshman alderman, Rebecca Kelley. Developers said they wanted to get acquainted with the new leadership and discuss details about the zoning status of a small portion of the project. The city manager also attended the meetings, and attorneys for both sides were present at the second. 

The sharp reaction has struck some onlookers as bizarre: It’s normal for municipal leaders to meet with developers and it’s often encouraged. So long as there isn’t a quorum–or a majority of elected officials present–meeting with stakeholders outside the formalities of public meetings is fairly common.

“There was nothing nefarious. There’s nothing malicious,” Paul said. “This is standard operating procedure.”

The meetings inspired a four-page legal review from the city’s attorney, who concluded they were above board. He counseled the board that aldermen should consider regularly meeting and communicating with the development team just as they do with residents who oppose the project, and that it’s good practice to keep fellow board members abreast of such meetings.

A public debate ensued, and a nearly five-hour city meeting seemed part-deposition, part-therapy session. 

Carroll was adamant his fellow board members had withheld information for weeks. Kelley said she briefed Carroll the day after the second meeting. 

“For me, there’s a question of ethics,” Mosteller said. Mayor Alt wasn’t having it.

“The storyline that this is the crime of the century is almost comical,” Alt said. “This has severely harmed the reputation of the entire city government.”

Southport has seen administrative turnover in recent years, and is currently looking for a new permanent manager. Alt worried that the debacle would hurt the city’s chances at attracting a good candidate, and said Carroll’s accusations were “outlandish.” 

“There’s a big difference between having a difference of opinion on process and calling someone unethical,” Alt said. “You may think that I should have done something, but just because I don’t do what you want me to do doesn’t make me unethical.”

–Johanna F. Still

Read this newsletter online or contact The Dive team with tips and feedback at wilmington@theassemblync.com.

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Roll Up I-40

On February 3, WHQR held a public forum on housing in New Hanover County with a panel of experts, including an officer from the New Hanover Community Endowment. At the time, none of us knew that CEO William Buster would abruptly resign two days later.

Blissfully ignorant, the housing community was in a convivial mood. Although they had been left out of the endowment’s first major grant round, its leadership, including Buster, had promised a major move on the housing front in early months of the year–thus the timing and theme of our forum.

Housing is a tough issue, and levity was welcome, including from Wilmington Planning Commission member and housing advocate J.C. Lyle, who acknowledged leaders are often asked to “roll up I-40 and not let anyone else move here.” 

And East West Partner’s McKay Siegel quipped, “the best thing that we could do for the environment would be to take all 250,000 residents, clear 10 acres of land, and build a 5,000-story skyscraper and put us all there and then return the rest of the thing to the woods.”

The event was held at Waterline Brewing on a Saturday afternoon, so the jokes landed pretty well.

But a lot of truth is said in jest–like acknowledging the anti-development hypocrisy in southeastern North Carolina, as wave after wave of people move into a dense, expensive market and demand the door be shut behind them. (An unscientific poll revealed just 10 percent of attendees were originally from here.)

And Siegel’s exaggerated example is pointing to an obvious frustration for urban planners: cities need tall residential buildings to limit suburban sprawl, make public transportation feasible, and spare surrounding greenspace. Though it’s growing, Wilmington is still holding on to its modestly low-rise skyline.

Flash forward a couple of weeks, and Buster’s departure has deflated some of the buzz. The endowment tells us its network officer Terri Burhans “hasn’t stopped working on a housing strategy,” although a timeline is still TBD.

While we wait for that, there were some more serious suggestions worth taking note of, like Lyle’s call for a joint working space for housing advocates and providers, former Wilmington city planner Glenn Harbeck’s call to focus on building communities rather than just developments, and pastor Robert Campbell’s call for the “political courage” to stand up to NIMBY objections to affordable housing.

–Benjamin Schachtman

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Around the Region

Dessert for the Desert: In a surprise move, the New Hanover Community Endowment announced Wednesday that it is giving the Northside Food Cooperative nearly $7 million to build a long-awaited grocery store downtown, WHQR reports.

Choppy Waves: Wave Transit is once again facing a budget shortfall, WHQR reports. The county manager told WHQR he intends to recommend the county absorb most or all of the funding gap. 

Save Ferris: The company behind the seasonal Carolina Beach amusement park is suing the town over land rights issues, Port City Daily reports. The business recently removed its landmark ferris wheel before its lease with the town expired.

Preservation (Might) Prevail: In other Southport news, the city is preparing to sell about 400 undeveloped acres to the state for preservation, Coastal Review reports. The county may want to negotiate using some of the property for utilities.

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Around the State

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