Pender County Commissioners narrowly approved a new 32-acre wastewater treatment facility for Hampstead in a 3-2 split vote.
For nearby residents that opposed the plant, it was a conversation about environmental impacts. But for several county officials, the sewer expansion became a proxy for how the county could navigate future growth.
The new wastewater treatment plant is now set to be built off Hoover Road near the Castle Bay Golf Course in Hampstead.Some residents of the Castle Bay community had concerns about the plant.
"Castle Bay is worried about odors. They're worried about the environment. And not just the environment or just their drinking water… They're worried about Holly Shelter Game Lands," said Stanley Green, an attorney speaking
on behalf of the community during the meeting.
But the plant’s environmental impacts made up only part of the conversation. Much of the discussion was about growth.
Sewer and growth
According to Pender County interim planning director Justin Brantley, planning staff recommended approval of the plant. He said the additional sewer capacity would allow the county to facilitate the appropriate density in the parts of the county expected to see the most growth.
"The key thing here is it will let us grow in every way imaginable. More schools, more emergency services, more businesses, more residences, more community gathering spaces,” Brantley said.
Commissioner Brent Springer agreed, saying he didn’t want the county to be in the same position as Surf City, where sewer capacity is already full and approved projects have to go on a waiting list.
Process concerns
Green argued residents were only notified about a proposal for a facility capable of treating 1 million gallons of wastewater per day. When the proposal was later increased to 1.5 million gallons per day, he said residents and outside agencies, including the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, were not given adequate notice.
“The opposition really is we're concerned about the amount of review that was put into the discharge point (and) where it's going,” Green said.
According to Brantley, planning staff found the remoteness of the proposed facility suitable. The wastewater plant would be over 3,000 feet from the nearby Castle Bay neighborhood.
A convoluted proposal
Pluris had two items before the board on Oct. 6. The first sought approval to build the new wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 1.5 million gallons a day.
But there was a separate proposal to reduce the capacity of the existing Hampstead treatment plant from 3 million gallons to 1.5 million gallons per day -- effectively keeping the overall sewage capacity for the area the same.
The first proposal came and went, approved 3-2 with Commissioners Jimmy Tate and Beth Burns voting against.
The second proposal never received discussion. After the first was approved, Pender County Manager Colby Sawyer addressed the board, saying he found it “shortsighted” for Pluris to reduce capacity at their existing plant.
“As our east side continues to grow, we want to be able to drive growth in a smart way,” Sawyer said. “That requires density, that requires thoughtful planning. All of those things require sewer capacity, and we don't want to find ourselves running out of sewer.”
As of Oct. 6, Pluris was serving less than one million gallons per day. But demand is expected to sharply increase as more projects in the Hampstead area reach completion.
Following a five-minute recess, the representative for Pluris withdrew the request to reduce capacity at the existing plant.
Charlie Kingree is the Pender County and trending topics reporter for the StarNews. He can be reached at ckingree@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Sewer plant approved in Hampstead amid discussions of future growth
