The nonprofit group has now raised more than $6.5 million toward the $8 million purchase price for the 150 acres at the southern tip of Topsail Island
USA TODAY NETWORK
The N.C. Coastal Land Trust has secured another grant to help with the nonprofit group's push to protect a popular and much-loved piece of oceanfront land at the southern tip of Topsail Island.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has awarded the land trust $500,000 to help with the purchase of The Point, a chunk of oceanfront property that's one of the largest privately-owned, developable tracts left along the N.C. coast.
That brings the money raised toward the land trust's goal of buying the land to about $6.5 million, leaving roughly $1.5 million still needed to close the deal.
"We’re feeling really good about our progress so far," said Eric Vreeland, the land trust's director of strategic advancement. "There's certainly work that still needs to be done, but we're definitely feeling cautiously optimistic."
Along with the recent grant, the land trust also has secured a nearly $3 million grant from the N.C. Land and Water Fund.
Vreeland said there's another potential $1 million grant from the federal wildlife service that the land trust is waiting to hear about any day now, and together the success in securing the grants is helping fuel further interest from private and individual donors. So far nearly $1.3 million in private donations has been raised so far.
"The community support for this project has been amazing, but we still need just a little bit more to get us over the line," Vreeland said. "But with all this momentum, we think it's entirely possible we could wrap this up by the end of the calendar year, and that would be a real achievement for everyone involved."
MOVING FORWARD:Push to protect beloved Pender County coastal property takes big step forward
Long a favorite of residents and visitors to the Pender County resort island, the roughly 150-acre parcel is a mix of beach, dunes and wetlands and scrub forest that serves as vital habitat for a host of coastal flora and fauna, including nesting sea turtles and shorebirds.
Although privately owned, the Point has been perceived by many for decades as a quasi-public area
When a Raleigh family that owned the land announced plans to develop the site the public reaction to the development plan was swift and largely negative, and after several years of back-and-forth negotiations with local officials, the Olson family announced last fall that they were pulling their rezoning request.
Then in March the land trust announced it had reached a deal to purchase the land and turn it over to the N.C. Division of Coastal Management to be protected as a natural site, like Masonboro Island. But there was only one catch, and it was a big one: The nonprofit needed to raise roughly $8 million by March 2025.
According to 2023 Pender County tax records, the property has an assessed tax value of $2.96 million.
A local group, "Conserve the Point − Topsail," also continues to promote the conservation effort and highlight local fundraising events and activities. And Topsail Beach also has agreed to purchase 1 acre from the land trust, once it acquires the property, to improve parking access to the site.
"We're almost there," Vreeland said. "It's been a great community effort, and we can't wait to see it all come together, hopefully sooner rather than later."
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
Please support us by turning off your adblocker.
Get unlimited digital access, along with subscriber-exclusive content, and more.
Powered By
