With UDO amendment, Leland looks to better use commercial areas

Leaders in Brunswick County’s fastest-growing town are looking to better utilize commercial land by restricting residential use and prioritizing businesses.

In March, Leland’s planning staff presented a proposed amendment to the town’s unified development ordinance to remove single-family residential units as a permitted use in four of its zoning districts: general commercial business, regional business, commercial trucking, and office and institutional.

Following pushback from some residents, the town council postponed the amendment hearing in March. The item came back before the board with more information in April, and ultimately passed unanimously.

Let’s breakdown what it means.

What parts of the town are impacted?

Of the 17,408 acres of land that make up the town, 872 acres – or around 5% – is zoned for commercial or office and institutional use. Of those 872 acres, 105 are labeled as “underutilized” as they are being used for non-commercial use.

These zoning districts are located along major roads and at intersections of major thoroughfares. Particularly along Village Road in the town, many of the spaces deemed underutilized are residential units located in commercial zoning districts.

Before the adopted changes, the town’s commercial zoning districts and its office and institutional zoning district allowed residential development in addition to commercial development.

What is changing?

Staff’s proposed text amendment removed single-family residential units as a permitted use for these districts, banning new residential development in commercially zoned areas in the town.

However, existing single-family lots will be permitted to remain in those areas as a legal nonconformity, staff said. According to the Brunswick County Tax Office, the legal nonconformity of the existing properties would not impact their tax value.

What’s behind the change?

Staff said the change would help the town maximize its commercially zoned land, like areas long Village Road and U.S. 17. Prioritizing business in these areas, a staff report said, would allow the town to “effectively utilize the finite amount of commercial and O&I zoned areas by allowing only commercial uses within such districts.”

“Residential units provide living facilities within the town, but do not contribute to the job creation and the additional revenue generation that commercial uses create,” a staff report reads.

More commercial development would also generate more tax revenue for the town.

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In the same effort to optimize the utilization of the town’s land, the proposed amendment also established minimum lot size requirements for duplexes, triplexes and quadruplexes in the town, which did not previously exist. Establishing such requirements allows the town to better control the density at which such developments can be built.

Both changes were approved together and unanimously by the Leland Town Council at its April 18 regular meeting.

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: Leland, NC looks to limit residential development