For over two years, Copper Builders has been sparring with advocates opposing their plans to develop a part of the Sledge Forest region of northwestern New Hanover County.
The developer has scaled back its proposal, dropping a planned golf course and scaling back the project from 4,000 units to 1,800. Copper Builders also offered a deal to preserve 3,200 acres of the 4,000-acre property – but only if their project is approved as currently proposed. However, neighboring residents and environmental conservationists have pressed ahead with technical and legal challenges. The Save Sledge Forest group, a local nonprofit created to oppose the project, has said they’d prefer to see zero development – and the region preserved as a nature reserve or park.
One challenge was resolved in July, while another was postponed to the fall — and is still scheduled for next week.
Copper Builders also apparently resolved concerns from the county Fire Marshall over the limited road access to the property. In an effort to appease neighbors, concerned about road traffic, the developer removed a secondary road access from its technical plans.
Now, County Manager Chris Coudriet has rejected those plans, citing safety concerns.
In a September 16 letter to Copper Builders’ founder Wade Mileler, Chris Coudriet wrote, “This change to a single point of ingress and egress raises significant public safety concerns. Therefore, I am administratively denying the updated plans for the Hilton Bluffs development on public safety grounds. The TRC shall not move forward with any type of further review or determination as it relates to the most recent submitted plan.”
[Note: You can find Coudriet's letter, below.]
Copper Builders previously planned to have secondary access points onto Tall Oaks Drive and Dekker Road, but after neighbors objected to the plan that would bring extra traffic through their neighborhoods, the developers were left with only one access road to Castle Hayne Road. With 1800 units on the line, a singular access point could cause issues for evacuation and emergency responders, presenting “unacceptable operational and life safety risks,” according to Coudriet.
Coudriet continued, “These risks would ultimately be borne by the county, its public safety agencies, and the future residents of the development.” Two weeks ago, the fire marshal responded to safety concerns, saying he didn’t have the right to force a second access road, but required that adequate water supply, sprinklers in every home, wider roads, and more hydrants be included in the plan. Coudriet’s letter says, “However, even the requirement of fire sprinklers does not overcome the public safety concerns associated with one ingress and egress.”
North Carolina Fire Code D107.1 states, “Developments of one- or two-family dwellings where the number of dwelling units exceeds 100 shall be provided with two separate approved fire apparatus access roads.” With eighteen times that number of homes, two access roads seem necessary, at least under the fire code.
Coudriet also mentioned concerns with flooding given the site’s closeness to Prince George Creek and the Northeast Cape Fear River, stating, “having just one ingress and egress point is a concern if there is a significant rain event that causes flooding and impacts to the road. Accessibility for emergency responders and residents could be severely compromised.”
Responses
Kayne Darrell, founder of Save Sledge Forest, a community organization that has been fighting against the Hilton Bluffs development, says, “This development is located in Sledge Forest—75% of the 4000 acres are wetlands. The proposed development would be crammed together on the 25% of upland area, surrounded by swampland. This is a flood-prone area with portions of Sledge Forest in the FEMA floodplain. The property is surrounded on three sides by tidal waters.” Add to that, “We live in a hurricane-prone coastal community.” Evacuation during hurricanes is key to human safety.
The county manager’s decision “does not prevent the applicant from submitting new plans to the TRC that address these public safety concerns,” but they plans must include at least one more access road. It also doesn’t prevent Copper Builders “from pursuing any other review processes available under applicable law.” Coudriet added, “Any subsequent, revised plan submitted to the TRC will be reviewed and analyzed as a new application.”
The county confirmed that a legal appeal of the current plans, filed by a group of Castle Hayne residents based on environmental concerns, is still pending. The residents, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), will have have their appeal heard by the Board of Adjustment meeting on Tuesday Sept. 22, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. at 230 Government Center Drive.”
Save Sledge Forest co-founder Kayne Darrell told WHQR, “Now that [Copper Builders’ revised plan] is denied, we will wait to see what Copper Builders plans to do.” Darrell states that the only acceptable resolution is for Copper Builders to reduce the number of homes in Hilton Bluffs from 1800 to 99 since that is the maximum allowable number with one access road. Darrell adds, “We should all be incredibly grateful that Chris Coudriet and the county are putting public safety first.”
Save Sledge Forest also issued a statement, reading, “At some point, we have to stop asking how this development can be made to fit at almost any cost and start asking whether it should be forced to fit at all…the safety and well-being of our community and the protection of this nationally significant forest must come before the effort to make a development work where the land and its limitations keep telling us it does not belong.”
WHQR reached out to Copper Builders’ legal counsel for comment, and will update this article with any additional information.
WHQR News Director Benjamin Schachtman contributed to this reporting.
Click below for Coudriet's letter to Copper Builders:
