Eastern Commercial Lot Purchase
BBWC is looking to purchase 4 lots in the eastern commercial zone within Emerald Isle, located at 3101 and 3103 Emerald Dr, and 3104 and 3106 Ocean Dr. These 4 lots are already zoned commercial and located adjacent to existing businesses Dollar General and Emerald Isle Mini Mart. CenturyLink has a utility building in the same commercail zone and just 700ft down the street Carteret-Craven Electric Co-op has a substation behind the Emerald Isle Fire Station. The 4 lots we intend to purchase have hosted other commercial businesses in the past as well. BBWC does not currently have any plans for the site but wishes to secure it for future needs. The properties could be used for anything from a well site, water treatment facility, water tower, or combination of multiple items. BBWC needs land that is a minimum of 200' by 200' to meet setbacks required for new drinking water wells. Sites of that size are all but non-existent in our service area with the amount of development on the island. On top of size restrictions, we must consider geographic location along the island as well and this is roughly in the middle of our service area. The combination of size, location, and existing business, utilities, and public services make this an ideal location for future water utility needs.
There are currently restrictive covenants on the 4 lots BBWC wishes to purchase, and need to have removed to ensure the property can be used as needed in the future. Our local NC House Representative, Celeste Cairns, has agreed to sponsor a bill that would give BBWC the ability to condemn the restrictive covenants on those specific 4 lots. This would be for only the covenants, only on those 4 lots and only after we have purchased the lots from the owner. For Cairns to proceed, she has requested the town of Emerald Isle to pass a resolution supporting our pursuit of the property and removal of the covenants. BBWC presented the proposal at the Emerald Isle February 13th, 2024, Commissioners meeting, and will again at the March 12th,2024, Commissioners meeting. The town and commissioners will be taking public comments prior to that meeting. Please feel free to reach out to BBWC's Executive Director, Seola Hill (shill@boguebankswater.com) for more information as well.
