According to the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, the deal would preserve one of the largest remaining undeveloped areas of land in New Hanover County.
Coastal Land Trust executive director Harrison Marsk noted it was larger than Carolina Beach State Park. It includes over eight miles of waterfront along the Northeast Cape Fear River and extensive wetlands.
The deal has two parts, according to the Coastal Land Trust. First, Copper Builders is donating a 1,200-acre parcel to the Coastal Land Trust at no cost, reportedly part of the subdivision’s requirements. Then, the Coastal Land Trust said it will “purchase approximately 2,000 additional acres through a bargain sale, with the developer contributing a substantial share of the land value.”
Coastal Land Trust said Copper Builders has agreed to a multi-million-dollar endowment to support conservation and infrastructure as part of its stewardship of the property.
Below: Map of the property, including conservation and development areas.
The deal is contingent on the existing proposal — for around 1,800 units on 600 acres on the upland, buildable portion of the property — being approved.
The application for that development is currently facing potential legal challenges. In April, the county’s Board of Adjustment issued a stay, freezing the development process until a full hearing can take place in July.
The Coastal Land Trust said it “has not taken a position on the merits of those proceedings and will not do so,” adding that its “role is conservation, not land use determination, which is the domain of the County.
The land, known as Sledge Forest, has been the site of intense debate between Copper Builders and conservation advocates.
Copper Builders’ founder and attorney have repeatedly argued that their subdivision plans avoid the old-growth forest in the area. They’ve also noted that, thanks to a density bonus built into the current zoning that allows them to use the total property size to establish the number of units their project is ‘by right,’ meaning no approval from the Board of Commissioners or Planning Board is required, only technical approval from county staff.
Advocates, including the Save Sledge Forest group, have argued that the county should not have issued the density bonus, which they call a ‘loophole.’ They’ve also pointed to a host of concerns, from school overcrowding to road infrastructure capacity to environmental impacts.
Copper Builders initially proposed a golf course and around 4,000 units, based on the one unit per acre allowed by the zoning for the roughly 4,000-acre property. They later offered a 3,000-unit compromise plan without the course. A more recent proposal scaled that back to around 1,800 units on a smaller portion of the land.
Some advocates were appeased, but many, including Save Sledge Forest, have said their ideal outcome would be no development at all.
WHQR reached out to Copper Builders’ attorney Sam Franck and Save Sledge Forest co-founder Kayne Darrell for comment; this article will be updated with any response.
