Leland council votes in favor of ordinance meant to reduce traffic

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — The Leland Town Council is moving forward with a plan to ease future traffic congestion. Thursday night the council voted 4 to 1 in favor of an ordinance that will require new developments to get a traffic impact analysis if the area exceeds a certain amount of traffic.

Ashli Barefoot, a senior planner, said this will manage congestion and determine what needs to be done to mitigate congestion.

Heather Jarman, a representative with the Business Alliance for A Sound Economy, says traffic impact analysis can be pricey.

“The impact analysis could be anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000, that gets passed on to the home buyer and you lose out on the affordability of a home when you’re having to pass along all these extra costs,” said Jarman.

Barefoot said Leland did not have a requirement for traffic impact analyses as many towns do.