An island with a year-round population of roughly 300 residents that swells to thousands during the vacation season is planning its next chapter of growth through a commercial area master plan.

Officials with Bald Head Island, an island reached by a roughly two-mile ferry ride across the Cape Fear River from Southport, began discussions with local planning consultants ColeJenest & Stone in 2022 for a master plan looking at future commercial development opportunities under the village’s current land use code.

Driven by results from a public engagement survey completed by 224 of the island’s full-time residents, the plan showed that major priorities included landscaping, the preservation of the island’s natural environment, along with more food options, green space and plaza areas. The island was originally developed by the Mitchell family.

The latest master plan also includes detailed maps and schematics and addresses the three island locales authorized for commercial development – the harbor, mid-island and east beach. To establish a framework for any potential development, an initial moratorium on all commercial construction was implemented by the village council in June 2022 and was extended multiple times, until it was lifted in November 2023.

“This was not developed as a true master plan outlining a direction to be implemented. Instead, it became a cautionary tale of where the island could go given the platting (or dividing land into individual lots or parcels) by the developer and related zoning,” said Peter Quinn, mayor of the village of Bald Head Island. “It became a great tool for discussion of, ‘What is the nature of the island, what expectations and what dreams do we hold?’ It is the village’s responsibility to introduce a framework to protect those expectations.”

Quinn said the 2023 “master plan” – which based on survey results proposed a potential “golf cart barn,” welcome center and variety of mixed-use buildings – has since been renamed “existing commercial area site plan analysis” to better reflect the original intent of the document, which he says has resulted in some confusion.

“What we were doing was looking at the zoning, and saying, ‘OK, based on the zoning and the ordinances, what could be built if we build this thing out to the max?’” said Quinn. “And so we started looking at it, and the reaction was, ‘We like it the way it is, and we don’t want this place to be developed to that level.’”

Quinn said what happened next “was a whole, different kind of conversation about what residents want using more intelligent, informed planning.”

“The conversation has become an underlying guardrail to decisions,” he said. “One direct impact was the development of commercial design guidelines to ensure new construction is compatible with the scale and character of our island architecture. The guidelines also establish the community context that needs to be enhanced with new construction.”

Quinn said he, the village and other stakeholders continue to discuss the study’s results, but “nothing is on hold.”

As to what commercial structures might ultimately be built, Quinn said that depends on the investor buying the commercial property and the decisions they make based on the design guidelines. “Beforehand, people could come in and as entrepreneurs just build, and we didn’t have control. We didn’t have the guidelines set up to make sure that it was in keeping with the village,” he said.

Working in tandem with the island’s existing condition study to guide future development is the overall Bald Head Island master plan, created by Bald Head Island Limited (BHI Ltd.), the island’s private developer.

“The island comprises approximately 14,000 acres,” said Chad Paul, CEO of BHI Ltd. “Approximately 2,000 of the 14,000 acres is allowed to be developed. The Mitchell family’s vision for this island has always been to conserve and live in harmony with nature, and that continues to be our mission.”

According to the January 2024 Bald Head Association Island Report, more than 1,200 developed residential units existed at that time on the island, with about 675 lots yet to be developed. BHI is also home to the Bald Head Island Conservancy (BHIC), a nonprofit organization established by the Mitchell family in 1983 dedicated to the conservation, preservation and education of the island.

BHI Ltd., the master developer of the island since 1983, continues to be guided by the Mitchell vision as it divests itself of its remaining Bald Head Island assets and businesses, Paul said.

“What we will continue to do is transition the Mitchells’ legacy assets to good stewards that are going to exemplify the stewardship philosophy that the Mitchells established 40 years ago,” Paul said.

One of those stewards is one-time Wilmington mayor and BHI resident Harper Peterson who, along with his wife, Plunkett, purchased the former BHI police station and converted it into an outdoor and indoor coffee house, bar and restaurant called Jailhouse Provisions.

“We transitioned that property to Harper, and he established the Jailhouse, which is probably one of the best restaurants on the island,” said Paul.

To date, Paul said BHI Ltd. “has transitioned and sold off 27 island businesses.”

“In a way, it’s kind of indicative of what’s to come for the island in terms of not just throwing up X, Y or Z …” he said. “Nothing’s changed” in BHI Ltd.’s commitment to keep the island as natural and protected as possible, he said.

Katie Guthrie, owner of Island Retreat Spa and Salon next to BHI’s Maritime Market, said the future of the island’s commercial community has been a topic of much concern and debate among business owners.

“You know, there’s so many different opinions on the way things are being developed on the island as far as the business side of it,” Guthrie said. “You have all of these independent owners, and that’s great because it allows you to have that small business mindset and creativity and dynamic operations, but sometimes that dissolves the unity amongst the business owners.”

Guthrie said the absence of a village chamber of commerce, for example, makes her worry. “It sort of dissolved and evaporated. I’ve had some conversations with some of the other business owners about reigniting it.”

One thing most island business owners seem unified on, however, is the cost of getting workers on and off the island using the island’s transportation system.

Guthrie said she spends “close to $100,000 annually just getting my staff to and from work, and I eat that as a business owner. I always ask, ‘What can we do to tighten up and streamline our expenses?’ … because nobody’s subsidizing that,” she said.

A round-trip ferry ticket to BHI is currently $23 for adults, $12 for children ages 3 to 12 and no charge for children ages 2 and younger.

The ferry system includes the ferries, barge, parking and tram system and has been the subject of litigation over the past few years. The lawsuits involve the sale of the ferry system and transportation assets by BHI Ltd. to SharpVue LLC. (Read more about the ferry system sale on here)

Overall, a priority for residents and officials is keeping the delicate tissue that is Bald Head Island alive and well, said Quinn.

“This place is growing fast, and we need to take a look at what we’re doing,” he said. “You look at a community like ours and start adding bits and pieces, and all of a sudden you begin to destroy it with a whole series of paper cuts.”