Plans for a mixed-use development are moving forward as part of the town of Leland.

Town leaders unanimously approved on Thursday the voluntary annexation and rezoning of just over an acre of land near the intersection of Lanvale and King roads. The Leland Town Council also greenlighted a $10,000 economic development agreement with the property owner.

Landowner SDW, Inc. submitted a petition in February to voluntarily annex the land into Leland’s town limits. Because the petition was submitted before March 1, Leland’s annexation moratorium does not apply. The measure, which was approved by the North Carolina General Assembly this summer, suspended the town’s annexation authority.

The site was subdivided in November and in December the Leland Town Council accepted the certificate of sufficiency needed to annex the land. The annexation became official on Thursday, following the council’s unanimous approval.

 As part of the annexation, town leaders also approved rezonings for the site. A parcel along King Road that makes up about two-thirds of the site will be rezoned for commercial uses while the rest of the site will be zoned for low-density residential development. 

The new zoning designations have similar standards to the land’s previous zoning, said Ben Andrea, Leland’s director of planning and inspections. An "office flex space" currently occupies a portion of the site while the rest is undeveloped, Andrea said.

The town also approved entering into an economic development agreement with SDW, Inc. Sandy Wood, a managing partner with Leland-based Trusst Builder Group, serves as the corporation’s registered agent, according to records from the N.C. Secretary of State.

The planned development is set to include both residential and commercial units, according to Barnes Sutton, Leland’s economic and community development director. The town's 2045 Comprehensive Land Use Plan classifies the land as an area with "high development potential."

As part of the agreement, the developer will pay for and construct all on-site water and sewer infrastructure needed for the project. That infrastructure will then be dedicated to the Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer H2GO and will become a town asset.

In return for these investments, the town will pay the developer a lump sum of $10,000 after the water and sewer lines of dedicated. That amount will be applied to the cost of the utility improvements, Sutton told the town council Thursday.