These days, the town of Leland is growing by 40 to 50 homes a month, according to its residential building permit numbers.

And more homes, as well as commercial development, are expected in the coming months and years.

As a result, Leland officials are updating the town's Master Plan of 2009. Leland is holding a four-day workshop on the topic that begins Tuesday afternoon and continues through Friday.

“The most important thing we want to accomplish next week is to hear from the community. We want to ensure that people understand that this is not town council's vision, this is not staff's vision alone. This is the community's vision, and that's what a master plan is all about,” Gary Vidmar, economic and community development director for the Town of Leland, said on Friday.

The workshop begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday with a session on land use, for which the key question, according to town releases, is, “What land use policies work best to align Leland's long-range goals with future development and redevelopment?”

The workshop includes six public meetings total, and all of them take place at the Leland Town Hall and Police Complex, 102 Town Hall Drive. The last meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday, includes a review of the week's work and additional community discussion. The full schedule is available on the town's website.​

Because the master plan helps guide future development that goes along with growth, the town is taking other steps to ensure they get feedback from as many interested parties as possible, in addition to inviting all residents, business owners and other interested community members to attend the workshop.

“We're also meeting personally with a number of developers that own land and are currently developing land in the community to ensure that we're hearing their needs and desires as well,” Vidmar said.

They include the developers of Brunswick Forest and representatives of a separate entity that wants to develop more than 60 acres of commercial land off U.S. 17 in Leland.

While the master plan update would not represent new town ordinances or be legally binding, it does provide the town with an important tool, Vidmar said.

“It's important that we're following some type of guideline," Vidmar said, "so that 10 years from now we can look back and be happy with what has occurred as a result of this growth."