It is official: a Walmart Supercenter will be built on 27 acres in the Carolina Shores extraterritorial jurisdiction off U.S. Highway 17 West, across from Emerson Bay Road and near the town’s Medical Center Parkway and the Goodwill.
The Carolina Shores Board of Commissioners during its June 10 meeting voted to follow the planning board’s recommendation of site plan approval, giving the project the greenlight.
Town Administrator Chad Hicks said Atwell Group, LLC, the Walmart’s project engineers, will have to submit all necessary permits before building but the company will not have to come back to the town for more plan approvals.
The new store will be roughly 171,000 square-feet. Several residents, including Ruth Ann Campbell, expressed concerns the spacious store will create more traffic and congestion along U.S. Highway 17.
Campbell was the only planning board member who during the Carolina Shores Planning and Zoning Board May 15 meeting voted to oppose recommending approval.
“I don’t feel like we need a Super Walmart here … We don’t need a lot more traffic here… There’s going to be so much congestion just even trying to get out on U.S. Highway 17,” Campbell told The Brunswick Beacon in May.
Local residents’ responses to the plan have varied since it was first submitted in April. Some residents think the facility is unnecessary and too big for the area, while other residents see it as an opportunity and benefit for the town’s future.
The entire board welcomed Atwell and Walmart during the June 10 meeting, unanimously voting to approve the site plan. The board noted that the facility could positively impact the community and bring more jobs to the area.
“Welcome, Walmart,” Mayor Dan Conte said.
The site plan includes a 10-fuel bay gas station, drive-thru pharmacy, a parking lot with 690 spaces, three vehicle entrances and one stormwater pond. Five additional lots for other commercial businesses are also included.
The plans include provisions for preserving the existing cemetery on the property.
Town Attorney James Eldridge on May 15 said that the major site plan is administrative and nonnegotiable. He said a project cannot be given conditions if it is a permitted use and meets all code and ordinance requirements.
The project is allowed “by right,” he noted. “Just like if you buy a residential lot, you have the right to build a residential structure there,” he explained in May. “They have the right, based on the table of uses, to build this commercial retail establishment.”
“Everything is in order” with Atwell’s site plan for Walmart, Hicks said on June 10.
Cemetery, traffic and drainage concernsThere is currently a small cemetery on the site and Matt Drake, Civil Engineer with Atwell, during the May 15 meeting said that the cemetery will remain undisturbed.
Once the entire property is fully constructed with the additional commercial businesses, Drake noted, the existing cemetery would be on a commercial lot. On June 10, he said the lot with the cemetery will be built lower than surrounding lots to keep the cemetery undisturbed.
Several residents, like Beacon Townes residents Bill Steuernagel and Barbara Heffernan, on May 15 voiced their concerns about potential drainage and noise issues that could come with the project.
Drake said they are in the process of completing the site’s stormwater permit, noting the permit will include the additional commercial lots.
There are traffic improvements to U.S. Highway 17 in the proposed plan but Hicks said the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) must review and approve all traffic improvements for the site.
Drake on June 10 said that a preliminary traffic study has been completed and that it calculated an estimate of 200 to 300 additional vehicle trips per day from the main intersection.
Both Hicks and Drake said the NCDOT traffic impact analysis might take a while to complete but noted NCDOT will likely require the installation of a signal light.
The two closest Walmart Supercenters to Calabash-Carolina Shores-area residents are in Shallotte and North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Both stores are approximately 15 to 20 minutes away — without traffic. In total, there are currently three Walmart Supercenters in Brunswick County: Shallotte, Southport and Leland.
On May 15, Drake said they hope to have the Carolina Shores Walmart open by 2026.
Publix update: plans submitted to the townCarolina Shores residents have been expecting a new Publix since plans for a new location was announced last year. The town has finally received plans from Publix.
Last April, Publix announced its plans for a Carolina Shores store to be located on the northwest corner of Calabash Road and U.S. Highway 17.
Hicks told commissioners on June 10 that the town has received a subdivision plan from Publix. “I expect that project to continue,” he said.
The plan is a minor subdivision plan and will be handled through town administration and staff, Hicks told The Brunswick Beacon. He said plans will not go to the board of commissioners for approval.
The Publix, if constructed, will sit adjacent to CVS Pharmacy on the other side of Calabash Road.
The Publix store is expected to be part of a larger commercial space. Last year’s press release stated the new store will be approximately 45,000 square feet.
Carolina QuickCare coming, tooCarolina Quickcare has also approached the Town of Carolina Shores with site plans, hoping to build and open a facility by 2026.
If constructed, the approximately 3,600 square-foot urgent care will be located next to Walmart and across from Persimmon Road, also near the town’s Medical Center Parkway and the Goodwill.
The facility is still in the designing phase, Construction Manager Mark Zelnik told The Brunswick Beacon in May. He said they hope to start construction before the end of the year and open by March 2025.
The urgent care is a separate property and project and is not part of Walmart’s plans.
The Walmart site plan, as well as all meeting agendas and minutes, can be accessed on the Town of Carolina Shores website at https://www.carolinashoresnc.com/.
Savanna Tenenoff is the staff writer at The Brunswick Beacon. Feel free to reach out with comments, questions and tips at stenenoff@brunswickbeacon.
