Burgaw Board of Commissioners denies plat for Weldon Villages, approves permit for Burgaw Townhomes

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Two large and contentious housing developments were looked at by the Burgaw Board of Commissioners Tuesday evening.

One of them, Weldon Village, would see the construction of 191 units on 285 acres west of the town, while the 135-unit Burgaw Townhomes would be built along US Highway 117 leading into Burgaw.

D.R. Horton, the developer of Weldon Village, was looking to get a preliminary plat approved, which would show how the land the subdivision would be built on would be distributed. Meanwhile, the developer of Burgaw Townhome was looking to get a special use permit approved.

Before the meeting, residents had voiced concerns about the developments affecting Burgaw’s small-town atmosphere, something Town Manager James Gantt said the Board still wants to try to preserve, even as the town continues to grow.

“People talk about the Hallmark movie feel that we have for downtown Burgaw,” Gantt said. “We want to continue to have that feel. Our goal and our board’s goal has been and will continue to be to have strategic planned growth and not just to have complete takeover of growth.”

More than a dozen residents spoke out against both developments during the meeting, with some, like Richard Thomas, citing concerns about traffic safety as a reason for both developments not to be approved.

“And I challenge them, come by during school, when school gets out, or 5 o’clock when everyone gets off and see what the traffic is like there and try to get on the road at that place,” Thomas said.

Several commissioners, like William Rivenbark, also voiced concerns, particularly about Weldon Village’s location.

“It’s a bad place for a development,” Rivenbark said. “I see major issues if DOT doesn’t come in and redo something in that road. The culvert under that road is not large enough.”

While some residents were concerned, others were in favor of both developments.

John Westbrook owns Burgaw Antiqueplace and said more people moving in would help both him and other business owners.

“Other than the fact that there’s that many less people that live here to shop in my store,” Westbrook said. “Because we don’t have enough people to come spend their money in downtown”

In a 3-2 vote, the Board denied the plat for Weldon Villages and in a separate vote, approved the permit for Burgaw Townhomes.