On Monday, New Hanover County leaders approved amending the county’s Comprehensive Plan to include new development guidelines for the Cape Fear River’s western bank.

The proposed changes first came before the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners in early August, but the board tabled the proposal until Monday’s meeting to give staff time to make adjustments. The approved amendment creates a new Riverfront Conservation place type for the western bank and outlines specific implementation guidelines and infrastructure considerations for future development.

Among the many implementation strategies included in the amendment are exploring funding mechanisms to conserve land on the western bank, evaluating brownfields programs to reduce impacts of past industrial uses and setting up studies to monitor conditions in the area and trigger plan revisions.

Commissioner Dane Scalise advocated for county staff and leaders to continue to look into brownfield mitigation programs and grant funding to help the county purchase land on the western bank.

“For me, that remains the highest priority, and just because we pass this doesn’t mean we say, ‘We’re done. We did it,’” Scalise said. “We haven’t done it yet; we have to continue on to the finish line.”

Although adopting the amendment changes the county’s vision, it doesn’t change the zoning of western bank tracts, Planning Director Rebekah Roth told the Board of Commissioners. That means landowners on the western bank could still develop their land under its existing zoning designation.

“Nothing in this amendment would direct staff to make any zoning changes,” Roth said. “That would have to be a future decision, but it is not required to be a future decision.”

The Riverfront Conservation place type outlined in the latest amendment specifically applies to parcels located on the “western banks of the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear Rivers, located between the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and the Isabel Holmes Bridge, across from downtown Wilmington,” according to the amendment.

The designation aims to protect the natural environment, water quality, wildlife habitats, important cultural and archaeological resources and areas prone to natural hazards. It prohibits residential development and the extension of public water and sewer infrastructure to land outside New Hanover County. Low-impact public recreation uses like greenways and docks will be considered in the area on a case-by-case basis, according to the amendment.

“The vision for this place type is to maintain the area’s existing condition or reduce land use intensity through brownfield mitigation or land acquisition for conservation,” the amendment states.

The place type encourages conservation in environmentally critical habitats, protecting water quality and supply and promotes place-based economic development in the region tied to natural resources.

Commissioner Jonathan Barfield said creating a new place type without rezoning the land felt like putting a “Band-Aid on the problem.”

“A place type, in my opinion, doesn’t solve the problem,” he said. “It’s putting it out there that this is what our desire is, but it doesn’t change a whole lot.”

Redefining New Hanover County’s vision for the largely undeveloped riverbank began more than two years ago when developers submitted plans for two large-scale projects in the area. Both developments faced pushback from the public and environmental advocates, prompting New Hanover leaders to revisit the county’s development vision.

Since then, county staff have completed a study of the western bank and hosted a handful of work sessions with county leaders. In recent months, staff members finalized and released a draft of new development guidelines.