Bolivia residents concerned about potential development on flood-prone land

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — During hurricanes, roadways have a way of turning into waterways in the Cape Fear area. This is one reason residents of a Brunswick County community are speaking out against a proposed development in Bolivia.

When Hurricane Florence hit in 2018, Gilbert Road in Bolivia was flooded so severely that residents would put their boats in the water to rescue others living along the road and in the area.

Josh Crook and his wife, Lisa, bought a home on Green Ridge Trail just off of Gilbert Road in 2014. He says it was not disclosed to him that during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the property took on 8-feet of water.

“We learned in 2015 during a heavier downpour of about 11-inches that our property was prone to flooding. During [Hurricane] Matthew, the Lockwood Folly and the Ford’s Branch converged and it was covering three of our four acres,” Crook said.

The catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Florence in 2018 caused the Crooks to lose everything.

“Our foundation is six-foot off the ground and our house was probably 24-25 feet off the ground. There was 13-foot of water where my house sat,” he said.

Even though the area is apparently prone to flooding, a developer is proposing to build 217 single-family homes at the corner of Gilbert and Benton Roads on 64-acres of land.

“What we don’t want to see happen here is people buying their first time homes and having to deal with what we dealt with,” Crook said. “We don’t have a baby picture, we don’t have baby shoes, we don’t have clothes, we don’t have any furniture we had in the duration of our marriage prior to Florence.”

A group of residents gathered on Monday night to share their concerns after the developer, The Dominion Group, held a community meeting last week. According to some of the residents, The Dominion Group was surprised to learn of the history of flooding in the area.

During Florence, Benton Road resident Terry Boldt had 10 adults and 12 children who lived in the area staying with him because there was no way to their homes except by boat.

“This was entirely underwater and currently right now we have lots of trees that will absorb that water, but if you put 217 houses in there that waters all going to flow down hill into the Ford Branch and it’s going to continue to go down to Lockwood Folly River,” Boldt said.

In addition to the flooding, other environmental factors top the list of concerns for the residents. Boldt says a bald eagle nests in the woods on the property that would be the development site.

“We’re concerned about the runoff of this development,” Boldt said. “The Lockwood Folly River, at one time, was one of the greatest oyster beds on the east coast and that’s been destroyed over the years because of overdevelopment.”

The residents are also worried about the overcrowding in the area schools and hospitals. Their fear is the schools, hospitals, and other emergency services are not able to sustain an additional 400+ new residents.

The 400+ new residents would also bring cars into the new development, creating more traffic. Boldt says traffic is already an issue in the area because there are constant accidents at the intersection of Benton and Gilbert Roads. He says the entryway to his home has been destroyed at least four times by drivers who don’t make the sharp curve near his driveway.

The group does want to make it clear they are not against development. They would just like to see more responsible development in the county.

“We’re trying to preserve this pristine area and have it for our children and our grandchildren,” Boldt said. “Sometimes investors come here, they don’t care about Brunswick County. We’re here to represent our kids and our grandchildren.”

WWAY did reach out to The Dominion Group after business hours on Monday and have not yet heard back.

The Brunswick County Planning Board is set to take a vote on this development at its August 8.