The vote secures a three-way collaboration between the City of Wilmington, New Hanover County, and The Endowment to purchase 25 acres on Greenville Loop Road to build an active park, constructed and managed by the city.
The Endowment is providing close to $8 million for the land purchase, alongside the $1 million from the City of Wilmington. The city is also on the hook for another $10 million to get the park up and running over the next five years. New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet said the $1 million is coming from their tree fund and praised the partnership with the city and The Endowment.
Republican commissioners Bill Rivenbark, LeAnn Pierce, and Dane Scalise voted in favor, and Democratic commissioners Stephanie Walker and Rob Zapple voted against.
While Zapple said he’s supportive of greenspace, he raised transparency concerns because the owner of the largest portion of the land, about 19 acres out of the 25, is concealed by an LLC. While some LLCs list managing partners on state paperwork, in this case, the company — formed in November after the city announced it was interested in an unnamed property for a park — does not. Zapple referenced the county's purchase of the Flossie Byran tract, where commissioners knew who they were cutting the check to.
“We knew who we were negotiating with, and the process was conducted in the open. To ask this question of ownership is not to infer anything unethical or illegal. And if this were a deal between two commercial real estate brokers or developers, there might be no reason to ask the question, but there is almost $10 million of public money involved in this transaction,” he added.
Republican commission chair Pierce said it was done transparently, and they would have to trust their staff on this investment.
Zapple also further questioned the appraised value of the property and suggested the public could be overpaying for the land. The tax value of the total property is around $2.5 million.
“I understand the commercial property appraisals can differ from tax appraisals, but the whole variance, and the wide variance in this case, deserves further review as does this question: Is it appropriate to appraise land destined to be a park at its full commercial value based on highest and best use?” he said.
Republican commissioner Scalise said that the overall $10 million price tag is correct.
“Two different appraisals by two different appraisers in this community give me confidence that the purchase price that has been negotiated is the correct one,” Scalise said.
The public has yet to review the documentation surrounding the appraisals from both the city and the county, but city manager Becky Hawke attested at a council meeting earlier this month that the city's appraisal came in at $10,060,000 — more than the $9.75 million sale price.
Scalise also said that the city council vote was unanimous and that council member Kevin Spears highlighted the importance of the county’s vote in favor.
“I'm grateful to The Endowment in the city for working these deal terms out, and ultimately, I think that we should feel confident, because the city has achieved an appraisal that was higher than the purchase price,” he said.
Zapple retorted that the public should be concerned about The Endowment’s influence over this deal.
“The city has specific responsibilities to taxpayers. The county also has legal obligations. The Endowment has no such legal responsibilities or obligations, and is free to purchase the land for the park at whatever cost. Why is The Endowment trying to influence how the city or county spends taxpayer money, and what kind of precedent does that set for the future of New Hanover County?” he said.
Zapple also asked Coudriet whether he’s seen any wetland or Phase I environment assessments before agreeing to this; Coudriet responded that he hadn’t.
Democrat Stephanie Walker joined Zapple in his dissent, saying, “Over the past year, I've supported both the 60-plus-acre green space purchase, and the western bank conservation acquisition because preserving land is it was one of the most important things in long term investments we can make for our coastal community, for this project, though, constituents and local reporting have raised questions about the timeline and process that I don't yet have clear answers to.”
Another point Zapple brought up during the meeting was this timeline: the sellers informed the public entities that there is another “offer on the table that expires February 28” if the county were to let the deal fall through. Zapple added that this was a decision for the “owners to make” and that it shouldn't influence the timing of the due diligence needed from the city and county.
Disclosure notice: Rob Zapple is on the WHQR Board of Directors, which has no say in editorial matters, and whose members we cover without fear or favor.
Prior reporting
- Ask a Journalist: What’s going on with Wilmington’s new park?
- Sunday Edition: Editor's Notes on the Parks and Rec Reveal
- The Endowment offers nearly $8 million to help city, county buy greenspace on Greenville Loop Road
- Eyeing an unnamed property, Wilmington proposes green space preservation partnership with county, Endowment
