Leland development has town officials playing catch up

Leland has had developments pop up along Highway 17 for the last seven years bringing more homes and businesses along the way.

One development offering both is the 4,500 acre community is Brunswick Forest. Sales director Jerry Helms said, “It has a commercial element as well as a residential element, and it really is an opportunity for us at Brunswick Forest to provide a lot of service not only to our property owners but to the Leland community at large.”

More than 400 families call Brunswick Forest home and construction continues. Soon, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Lowe’s Foods, and a new movie theatre will open their doors within the walls of Brunswick Forest.

Leland Mayor Walter Futch said growth in the area happened fast; so fast, the town had a difficult time catching up. “Six months ago one of the challenges was to be sure we had enough sewer to handle the growth, but the growth has slowed to a point where we think we are going to be OK there.”

Town officials are busy planning for road improvements and building a new town hall. It may take 15 years to complete.

The pace at which Leland has grown has made it difficult for town officials to really sit down and make a master plan for the future. Mayor Futch said the town has basically been playing catch with the growth instead of planning for more.