A look at the area town leaders are looking to develop in Belville.
The preliminary plans.BELVILLE,
NC (WECT) – Leaders in Belville are in the early stages of trying to convert
undeveloped land into trails, a boardwalk and an area to shop and eat. But, the
project is still a long way off and there are still lots of hurdles to go over.
At
its commissioners meeting earlier this week, town leaders gave the okay for
Commissioner Joe Breault to explore the project until he gets to a stage where
the town has to make a financial commitment.
He
said a business he's talked to is interested in opening up a restaurant on the
site. He said getting private entities involved would help to reduce or
eliminate the cost for the town. A developer he said is excited about the
project and has volunteered to draw up blueprints for the area at no cost to
the town.
"There
are so many things that could be done with the property in terms of being a
benefit to the public as well as the state and county of course," Breault said.
The
site is right across the street from Belville Elementary and Breault said the
area would be used to teach kids about nature.
The
next step is talking to the Brunswick County Commissioners to see if they would
go along with the project because the area is on county land.
"Now
that we think it's viable, we're going to approach the county commissioners and
at least request that they're aware that we're investigating this opportunity
and once we have it defined, we'll come back before them," Breault said.
He said
once several other projects in Belville and neighboring Leland are complete, it
would create a 2.5 mile stretch of waterfront area.
"The main benefit that you'll have is you'll have one
contiguous public accessible waterfront all the way from Leland down here to
the park," he said.
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