South Brunswick and West
Brunswick butted heads in
Tuesday night action — 1C
OU I

County
growth
Every town
reports gain
in population
By terry Pope
County Editor
It was another record year for
growth in Brunswick County.
The number of building permits is
sued in the county for single-family
homes in 1996 increased 45 percent
over 1995 figures, reported Don
Eggert, planner II with the Brunswick
County Planning Department.
According to Eggert’s year-end re
port, permits for 371 new homes val
ued at $34.4 million were issued com
pared to 256 permits for homes in
1995.
Also, permits for eight multi-fam
ily buildings including 57 units were
issued in 1996 for another $2.02 mil
lion in construction. The total num
ber of residential units permitted —
including mobile homes for which no
value is listed — jumped 20 percent
in 1996, from 1,187 to 1,428 units.
Still, Brunswick remains the third
fastest-growing county in the State of
North Carolina, according to informa
tion reported earlier this month in
population estimates released by the
N. C. Office of State Planning.
According to the state figures, the
fastest-growing counties from 1990
to 1995 are Wake, Pender, Brunswick,
New Hanover, Currituck and
Franklin, in that order.
“Fourteen counties have gained
more actual people than Brunswick
from 1990 to 1995,” stated Eggert.
“Wake County led the state with an
increase of 91,970. We had an in
crease of 9,754 people.”
By percentage, Brunswick regis
tered a 19.1-percent increase in popu
lation compared to New Hanover’s 16
percent. Wake tallied a 21.6-percent
jump and Pender increased 20.2 per
cent. Brunswick County jumped from
50,985 residents to 60,739 during the
five-year period.
The state study also compares in
creases in municipal populations for
the 18 towns in Brunswick County.
All reported increases. It shows the
following permanent population data,
comparing 1990 to 1995:
■ Bald Head Island, from 78 to 87,
11.5 percent.
■ Belville, from 66 to 93,40.9 per
cent.
■ Boiling Spring Lakes, from
1,650 to 1,976, 19.8 percent.
■ Bolivia, from 228 to 251, 10.1
percent.
See Growth, page 6
*r_ikM ■ . . . Photo by Jim Harper
Nancy Maguire, who engineered the “campaign that defied all fund-raising wisdom” for the Smith Island
Land Trust, was one of those explaining on Saturday what the options now are in the movement to preserve
developable portions of Cape Fear, and what direction SILT must take to that goal. (Story, page 2.)
Virginia slaying
Teen murder suspects
caught in Long Beach
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Four Virginia Beach, VA, teenag
ers, wanted for first-degree murder,
were arrested without incident by
Long Beach police Sunday afternoon
after officers evacuated the area sur
rounding a 55th Street NE home they
occupied.
At least one weapon, possibly that
used to kill 17-year-old Timothy
Wheaton, a Virginia Beach high
school scholastic and athletic
standout, was recovered from the
small home at 215-55th Street NE,
major Johnny Freeman said. Virginia
Beach officials have asked that infor
mation about the weapon be withheld.
Long Beach police early Sunday
See Murder, page 6
Occupancy
tax to face
opposition
Municipalities
say they need
all they can get
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Southport-Oak Island municipal
leaders this week said they want to
see the greater justification for an ad
ditional one-percent occupancy tax
before one is enacted.
Last week, representatives of the
two county chambers of commerce
and Tfavel Pack — a joint marketing
venture of the chambers — unveiled a
proposal to reap an estimated
$450,000 annually by imposition of
a countywide one-percent tax on
short-term rentals. Traditionally, the
occupancy tax has been a significant
funding source for municipalities
only.
In a series of local bills several
years ago, the state’s General Assem
bly authorized many of the county’s
beach communities to levy accommo
dations taxes, but set a cap of six per
cent on all accommodations taxes. At
The one percent is
not sacred. A budget
is sacred.’
Bill Boyd
Caswell Beach
a meeting with state Rep. E. David
Redwine last week, it was disclosed
the six-percent cap would allow mu
nicipalities to raise accommodations
taxes to only five percent if the
countywide one-percent tax were au
thorized.
Southport and the three Oak Island
municipalities currently impose a
three-percent accommodations tax.
Bald Head Island currently levies a
six-percent accommodations tax and
would have to cut its municipal tax
by one percent if the countywide tax
were enacted.
Commissioner Bill Boyd, finance
officer for Caswell Beach, says it is
critical to the long-term challenges
See Opposition, page 6
Land use plans
attracting more
public attention
By terry rope
County Editor
Land use planning issues haven't
attracted much interest from county
residents in the past.
But a packed auditorium on the
Brunswick Community College cam
pus Monday shows a closer eye may
be kept by the public this time on the
county’s updated five-year plan for
future growth and development.
“Any of us that has any smarts at
all can see the pressures that are on
our county today,” said Eugene
Tomlinson of Southport, who is also
chairman of the N. C. Coastal Re
See Attention, page 7
‘If you want to live
there, you have to
do a lot of planning
in order to live in
harmony with these
natural systems.’
Dr. Mike Mallin
Forecast
The extended forecast calls for a
chance of showers on Thursday &
Friday with highs mid 50's to mid
60's. Saturday will be fair and cooler
with highs in the 40's to mid 50's.
INSIDE
Police report ... 9
District Court .. 12
Business ...... .14
Obituaries ..... 15
Church. *.... * • SB
TV schedule .... 6B
Calendar ...... 8JB
Classifieds ....... ID
Pilot wins 11 statewide press awards
General excellence honor
among seven first places
The State Port Pilot news staff received 11 statewide press awards Thursday
night — the most of any newspaper in its division — including first place in general
excellence and six other categories.
The awards were presented by the North Carolina Press Association at its annual
Winter Institute, held at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill. The Pilot was entered in
the community newspaper division, circulation 3,500 to 10,000, with judging by
the Georgia and West Virginia press associations.
In addition to the general excellence award, the newspaper won first place in
editorial page and sports coverage and third place in use of photographs. Holly
Edwards won first-place awards in the literacy feature and investigative reporting
categories; Terry Pope won first place in sports reporting; Jim Harper won first and
second places in feature photography and third place in sports photography; Rich
ard Nubel earned a third-place award in news enterprise reporting.
“It is gratifying to receive this recognition,” said Pilot editor Ed Harper, and
especially the general excellence award — our seventh in the past eight years. I hat
particular award reflects credit on the entire newspaper, from advertising effective
ness to the talent of our writers and photographers. Combined with the most recent
/ See Awards, page 6
Gov. James B. Hunt joined the editorial staff of The State Port Pilot Thursday night at the North
Carolina Press Association’s annual awards ceremony. Pictured are (from left) editor Ed Harper, Gov.
Hunt, staff writer and photographer Jim Harper, county editor Terry Pope, publisher Margaret
Harper, municipal editor Richard Nubel and feature editor Holly Edwards.
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