The Week in Review

....your Wilmington Connection

November 17, 2007

What a beautiful week in Wilmington, cool air, sunny skys and that feel of the holidays in the air. The real estate market continues to move with with 21% of the current listings under contract. Look here for more detailed info.

 

Builders Think Green

That new home smell that lingers from freshly painted walls, new tiles and carpets won't have the same allure for homeowners in several decades as it does today.

They'll be used to green homes that use eco-friendly paints and materials that don't emit those fumes, said Michael Strong, vice president of GreenHaus Builders.

Green building refers to construction techniques that produce less waste, use environmentally friendly materials and appliances and make the final product more energy-efficient.

Demand for green housing has grown - 46 percent of buyers would like a green home, according to an August report by the National Association of Realtors on home buyers' preferences. Yet only 2% of existing American homes contain green features such as energy-efficient windows, according to an October report by the McGraw-Hill Construction Information Group.

WILMINGTON

Traffic at ILM soared in October

October was a big month at Wilmington International Airport.

The airport handled 73,024 commercial passengers last month, up 27 percent from the 57,426 passengers handled in October 2006, according to airport statistics.

Through October, the airport handled 672,912 passengers, just 27,515 short of setting a record for the most commercial passengers in one year at ILM. The best year on record is 2005, when the airport handled 700,427 passengers.

Airport officials have attributed the higher numbers to regional population growth, better fares and more seats on flights.

To put the October numbers into perspective, the airport handled 40,756 passengers in October 2003.

 

Pender County planned use of overlay Districts

Overlay districts are used to impose development restrictions, such as requirements regarding aesthetics, transportation and landscaping, on new residential and commercial development.

Q: Why is an overlay district needed?

A: There has been a push for years by many people in eastern Pender County for a set of regulations to help manage the growth in the area. There are a lot of residential and commercial

developments popping up along the corridor and on nearby land, and residents want the county to control the growth before it's unmanageable.

Q: What will the overlay district address?

A: The overlay district will look at transportation issues, architectural style, landscaping and land use.

q: Will regulations established for the U.S. 17 overlay district apply to current developments?

a: An overlay district isn't retroactive. It will apply only to any new residential or commercial developments coming into the corridor.

q: After today's community meeting, what will be the next step before the overlay district is in place?

A: We will assimilate the data brought forth in the community public forum.

The intent of the county is to have a citizen task force, which may be formed in January or February, to oversee the project.

Q: When would the overlay district be implemented?

A: The N.C. Department of Transportation may be partnering with us on this project and we're hoping we could work through this by the end of the fiscal year (June 30).

Leland mayor targets town code
'Ambiguous' development rules need to be rewritten

 

Ten days after his re-election, Leland Mayor Walter Futch says his first priority is to fix what's on paper.

The town needs better ordinances to govern development, Futch said Friday. It's already the biggest town in Brunswick County, with some 10,000 residents and about 16,000 more to come between Brunswick Forest and developments already approved along N.C. 133.

Long-range plan

Futch said some of the town's development ordinances contradict each other and practically the entire code will have to be rewritten.

"Our ordinances are pretty much ambiguous," he said.

These ordinances need to be adequate to support a long-range plan to be drafted based on recommendations from the town's consultants, The Lawrence Group, Futch said. He said he will be involved in going through the more than 100 pages of recommendations and seeing what is feasible for the town to adopt.

......until next week in The Week in Review

Tina