Board of Commissioners

TOWN OF CAROLINA SHORES Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 17, 2025 10:30 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., Chairperson Ron Johnson called the September 17, 2025, Planning Board Meeting to order. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and there was a moment of silence. The following members attended: Ruth Ann Campbell, David Steele, Diane Baker, and Ashley McEntee. Also present: Alternate Town Member George Grant, Alternate ETJ Member Normand Neligon, Commissioner Watts, Board Liaison; Chad Hicks, Town Administrator and Nicole Hewett, Assistant Town Administrator/Town Clerk. Absent: None Approval of Minutes: MEMBER CAMPBELL MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 20, 2025, PLANNING BOARD MEETING. MEMBER BAKER SECONDED THE MOTION. CHAIRPERSON JOHNSON CALLED FOR A VOTE AND MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE. Administrative Reports: Mr. Hicks said in regard to the proposed golf course rezoning, our engineer is reviewing their developer’s stormwater plan. New Business: Work Session on the CAMA Land Use Plan Draft Chapter 4: Community Facilities: Wes Macleod from Anchorpoint Planning thanked the Planning Board for having him at the meeting. Mr. Macleod said we are on schedule and today we will be reviewing Chapter 4: Community Facilities. Mr. Macleod said in the next week, draft Chapters 5 and 6 will be emailed to you. Mr. Macleod said then you would have a complete initial draft of the CAMA Plan. Mr. Macleod said we had about 60 folks here last night for the public input meeting on the CAMA Plan and got a ton of great input. Mr. McLeod said there will be another public input meeting next Tuesday. Mr. Macleod said he would see the Planning Board in November. Mr. Macleod reviewed Chapter 4: Community Facilities with the Planning Board. During the review of Chapter 4 the following items were discussed: 1. Mission Statement for the town. 2. Pg 4-2 Wastewater System: Clarification needed on increasing capacity and a timeline added. 3. Pg 4-3 Stormwater Issues: Look back. Is there a mechanism put into place for the older communities that are not engineered? Maybe add a paragraph on that which highlights investments that the town has done on stormwater. Maybe add this sentence - We are continuously looking back as much as moving forward. 4. Pg 4-4 Second Paragraph: Explain in a little more detail what the Powell Bill is and what it’s used for. Also, explain where the money has been spent. 5. Pg 4-4 Carolina Bays Parkway: Depict most recent graphic with updated alternatives. 6. Pg 4-6 Second Paragraph: Update with new Fire Station #3.  7. Pg 4-7 Policy 4.1.B Stormwater Regulations: Balance the statement by removing the word “new” and add Policy 4.1.B.1 by adding a second recommendation or recommended guidance that would capture existing development as we can’t regulate existing home/s stormwater infrastructure. 8. Pg 4-8 Policy 4.2.F: Add particularly on state highways that come through the Town of Carolina Shores. 9. Pg 4-9 – Fix Page Break. 10. Pg 4-10 Policy 4.4.B: The town currently has a Parks and Recreation Master Plan that was adopted on April 4, 2019. Mr. Macleod said in November, we will review Chapters 5 and 6 and you will be given all the revisions through Chapter 4. Chapter 1 will include all of the community results and the results from the two public input meetings. Add the survey results as an appendix to the CAMA Plan. Mr. Macleod thanked the Planning Board. Public Comment: Lon Forehand, 19 Brassie Court – Mr. Forehand said the things he is going to say are his interpretation of the CAMA law. Mr. Forehand said he was talking last night at the CAMA public input meeting and there is some disagreement as to whether we have these areas of environmental concern as part of the CAMA Plan. Mr. Forehand said he has sent a message to the Division of Coastal Management, to their field office in Wilmington to address these issues. Mr. Forehand said what he is giving today is his interpretation. Mr. Forehand said he really wants to give his strong support to having a Conservation Recreation District. Mr. Forehand said he thinks the rezoning and getting rid of that district except for 5 acres is a mistake. Mr. Forehand said we really need that as part of the town. Mr. Forehand said the existing CRD as far as he can tell, was certified in 2018 the last time. Mr. Forehand said it provides flood protection for the communities, stormwater management, protection of fragile lands that are unsuitable for intense development and he really thinks that any changes to these will require the CRC approval so we can make sure that they are in line with the state rules and regulations. Mr. Forehand said he would like the board to consider some critical questions concerning this rezoning. Mr. Forehand said if we do eliminate 95% of the current CRD to rezoning, leaving 7 acres left of the CRD, it would be 149 acres gone for that designation. Mr. Forehand said he would think that the CRC would come back, and they are going to provide their opinion on whether this adequately protects these fragile lands and he feels this could jeopardize your next certification for this 2025 plan. Mr. Forehand said the question is, do we have areas of environmental concern? Mr. Forehand said from his reading, it looks like we do but we will get a reading from the field office. Mr. Forehand said what liability does the town face if we weaken the flood prone areas. Thank you. Julie Turner, 4 Egret Court – Ms. Turner said she is curious where a pedestrian/bike lane would go on the Parkway, and would it be roadside? Ms. Turner said her concern there would be with the new Walmart and Publix coming, there’s likely to be a lot more thru traffic on Country Club Drive. Ms. Turner said as a cyclist she does obey all the road rules for cycling. Ms. Turner said she has been off the road twice on Carolina Shores Drive. Ms. Turner said that’s 25mph, but people still run me off the road. Ms. Turner said her concern is that it would be quite dangerous if it is roadside. Ms. Turner said please take that under consideration for those that are out there. Thank you. Timothy Blatch, 44 Calabash Drive & Adjoining Lot 42 Calabash Drive – Mr. Blatch said his concern is his low-lying plot. Mr. Blatch said that Mr. Hicks came out and looked at the lot a few weeks ago because it is low-lying. Mr. Blatch said it has been low-lying since he bought it, and it is full of water most of the time. Mr. Blatch said the water comes from the golf course into this lot and that is where they are looking at building the houses. Mr. Blatch said the builders had an open meeting for the public on August 5th which we attended. Mr. Blatch said the respective builder said quite clearly that they are 2 not responsible for the areas that they don’t build on. Mr. Blatch said when Chad came out, he informed me the Town of Carolina Shores was not responsible because it is private property. Mr. Blatch said to himself, well then who is responsible in case this gets worse? Mr. Blatch said 18 inches, new Carolina Shores rule, his plot, which is underwater, is probably about 3 feet below already. Mr. Blatch said every time they resurface the road, it goes up. Mr. Blatch said so, it is something that needs to be delt with. Mr. Blatch said the CAMA Land Use Plan that was adopted in 2018 says quite clearly those areas are hydrate soil, saturated, swampy, always covered in water and does not drain including the areas where the new houses are. Mr. Blatch said somebody needs to look after it, who is it going to be, who is going to look at the conditions which may make this worse. Mr. Blatch said he is not the only one that has a low-lying area. Mr. Blatch said a lot of folks have mentioned to him they have flooding in their places, some up to their front windows. Mr. Blatch said who is going to look at this for the residents of Carolina Shores. Mr. Blatch said finally, at the end of this document, Appendix C, it says quite clearly, the Brunswick County and the Town of Carolina Shores should maintain a library of materials focused on educating citizens on any hazards that may develop in future development and they have to be studied, analyzed and reported back. Mr. Blatch said who is dealing with this and that is what he would like to know. Thank you. Diane Sbardelli, 35 Carolina Shores Drive – Mrs. Sbardelli said she is here to address the issues in the proposed golf course development in the belief that 17 retention ponds will prevent flooding in our community. Mrs. Sbardelli said she is not an engineer, but she is standing there as a concerned resident. Mrs. Sbardelli said she has done some research into areas like Carolina Shores with poor, very poor drainage during heavy rain. Mrs. Sbardelli said the Carolina Shores Subdivision sits on some of the worse drainage soils in North Carolina. Mrs. Sbardelli said our 2018 CAMA Plan documents poor and very poor drainage throughout the subdivision. Mrs. Sbardelli said retention ponds only work when water can soak into surrounding soil or drain away effectively. Mrs. Sbardelli said poorly drained areas like ours, ponds become water traps that fill quickly and empty slowly. Mrs. Sbardelli said she will explain two concepts that are negative for the pond strategy. Mrs. Sbardelli said it’s called the curve number problem. Mrs. Sbardelli said engineers measure how much rain becomes dangerous run-off by using curved numbers. Mrs. Sbardelli said poorly drained soils already have high curved numbers and most rain becomes run-off. Mrs. Sbardelli said add 120 homes with roofs, driveways and roads, the curve number jumps even higher. Mrs. Sbardelli said the results are ponds fill faster than engineering models predict. Mrs. Sbardelli said secondly, time and concentration, this measures how fast rainwater reaches the pond. Mrs. Sbardelli said natural areas with trees slow up water flow. Mrs. Sbardelli said paved developments with cleared land speed waterflow dramatically. Mrs. Sbardelli said result, all 17 ponds get hit with water surges simultaneously. Mrs. Sbardelli said what this means for the residents is if the golf course is approved, here’s what would likely happen. Mrs. Sbardelli said 17 ponds fill rapidly due to poor soil drainage, back-to-back storms overwhelm the system completely and ponds overflow simultaneously creating a cascade effect. Mrs. Sbardelli said water pushes onto the streets and potentially into homes. Mrs. Sbardelli said Carolina Shores already faces chronic flooding problems and we already experienced in 2016, when 36 residential homes flooded during Hurricane Matthew. Mrs. Sbardelli said this development could make it far worse and our recommendation is that the Planning Board condition any zoning approval on the developer for funding an independent stormwater analysis conducted by an engineer who is elected by the town, not the developer. Mrs. Sbardelli said and using worse case storm scenarios specific to our soil conditions and we expect this to be paid entirely by the developer. Mrs. Sbardelli said thank you. Ken Gifford, 15 Inlet Place – Mr. Gifford said he has a question about discussion that took place here. Mr. Gifford asked if there is a document of publication that discusses how Brunswick County interacts with North Carolina State and Brunswick County local township in planning and the maintenance of the stormwater drainage system, that is his question. Mr. Gifford said the question comes up because in the Brunswick Beacon issue of September 11th, there was an article in there about the flooding that took place in Bolivia last year. Mr. Gifford said during Hurricane Debbie, it basically saturated the soil and 3 then after that, Tropical Depression 8 came through and dumped a lot of rain in the area. Mr. Gifford said the article goes on to discuss how the Brunswick County Commissioners were basically pointing the finger at North Carolina Department of Transportation saying they were not maintaining the ditches along roadways. Mr. Gifford said also, there is apparently no inspection from the drain water system to where it empties into the streams, following the streams into the woodland areas to make sure there are no blockages of the streams. Mr. Gifford said his estimation of that is that we got a problem here. Mr. Gifford said it encompasses the entire county. Mr. Gifford said that is his comment on that and the other comment he wants to make is that we call this a stormwater drainage system, not a stormwater retention system. Joe Dowling, 1 Mashie Court – Mr. Dowling said he has a serious concern. Mr. Dowling said we are proposing to build homes on a 50-year-old golf course. Mr. Dowling said he has been playing that course with his brother since 1990. Mr. Dowling said it’s beyond him why the citizens of Carolina Shores cannot have a level 2 environmental study assessment of 50 years of chemicals saturating into a course. Mr. Dowling said he has spoken to some people and the half-year life of some of the chemicals used are 100 years. Mr. Dowling said many of these chemicals turn into arsenic and other types of poisons. Mr. Dowling said before we disturb that soil, can we have the next level? Mr. Dowling said his understanding is that we did a level 1 environmental assessment which is not a physical assessment. Mr. Dowling said it is a site assessment. Mr. Dowling said if that site assessment took place prior to June of this year, the grass was waist high, how are you going to do an assessment of the golf course with waist high grass. Mr. Dowling said so it’s very concerning to me and probably a whole bunch of other residents. Mr. Dowling said before we move any soil, can we insist on that next level just to be sure, groundwater and soil samples? Mr. Dowling said thank you. Maria Blatch, 44 and 42 Calabash Drive – Mrs. Blatch said there are a lot of concerns that the public and residents have with the golf course. Mrs. Blatch said she saw an ad back in October of 2019 by the Brunswick Beacon in regard to Philip Bureau and his developers. Mrs. Blatch said at that time, he said he doesn’t forsee the golf course being closed. Mrs. Blatch said in September of 2012, the town designated the course as a Conservation Recreation District, CRD, and intended to preserve Carolina Shores as open space area. Mrs. Blatch said according to the town’s CAMA it is a conservatory but yet he asks to get a rezoning for the place. Mrs. Blatch said it is up to the Planning Board to make sure the city of Carolina Shores would like to keep the golf course as is or do whatever it is but rezoning it for housing. Mrs. Blatch said that’s it, that’s all she has to say. Thank you. Lauren Nigro, 40 Swamp Fox – Ms. Nigro said it concerns her that the rezoning issue, she feels like it’s being talked about how do we get this done, how do we get the rezoning done, it’s a done deal, we just have to work it out how to get it through. Ms. Nigro said for speaking sake, let’s just say there are 1,000 homes over there, there’s more. Ms. Nigro said let’s just say they are worth $300,000.00 a piece, a lot of them are worth more, that’s 3 billion dollars in investment that people have made in the Carolina Shores Golf Course community. Ms. Nigro said a builder wants to come and he wants to make some money selling the golf course because it’s not in good shape. Ms. Nigro said he wants to put in 100 houses, it’s more than that. Ms. Nigro said he’s saying $450,000 - $650,000, let’s pick $550,000, that’s 55 million dollars that he wants to invest in there vs. 3 billion that we have already committed to this community and live there. Ms. Nigro said then we have that his houses are all going to be 18 inches higher. Ms. Nigro said that water is coming down, not to mention what it will do to the entrance of the community that we have all made a commitment in and we call it home. Ms. Nigro said it upsets her to think what it is going to look like and what happens if it doesn’t go through. Ms. Nigro said like if he starts to build and clears everything and something happens; we are left with an eyesore. Ms. Nigro said so she thinks discussing how all of this would work, it shouldn’t work at all, and we shouldn’t be having a rezoning of that property. Ms. Nigro said there is too much investment that would be affected by it. Ms. Nigro said she thinks we deserve a vote, not a vote but do you know what we mean, a consideration of our 4 investment vs. this change of zoning and who benefits in his investment. Ms. Nigro said she doesn’t think it’s balanced. Ms. Nigro said thank you. Adjourn: MEMBER STEELE MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN THE SEPTEMBER 17, 2025, PLANNING BOARD MEETING AT 11:26 AM. CHAIRPERSON JOHNSON SECONDED THE MOTION. CHAIRPERSON JOHNSON CALLED FOR A VOTE AND MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE. _____________________________ Chairperson Submitted by: Nicole L. Hewett, Assistant Town Administrator/Town Clerk 5