🚰 How Much Sewer Capacity Does Brunswick County Really Need?

🚰 HOW MUCH SEWER CAPACITY DOES BRUNSWICK COUNTY REALLY NEED? That question dominated a special county workshop Monday — and the answer could potentially cost close to $1 billion.

Here’s the situation. The county’s sewer system has been running close to capacity on actual usage. Plans have been written for some additional capacity. But then the state changed the rules: capacity is now measured not just by what’s actually flowing, but by everything that’s been permitted and planned — and under that new math, Brunswick County’s allocated flow blows well past 100%. We’re effectively the first county going through this new measurement and planning process.

At today’s 2 PM work session, the commissioners wrestled with the big decision: how much more capacity do we build? Numbers discussed ran as high as close to $1 billion for the maximum-capacity scenario, including land purchases. Big decisions are coming in the near future — and they’ll hit both developers and ratepayers.

One of the thorniest issues: land banking. There are projects sitting on approved sewer allocations for decades without a shovel hitting the dirt. The board discussed sunsetting some of those approvals and building real timelines into the process — from planning to actual development. The idea: if you’re not building, the county takes the capacity back, and the numbers change completely.

Also on the table: setting aside dedicated capacity for commercial development, so businesses aren’t locked out by residential approvals.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Nothing was decided today — this was discussion only.
• Ratepayer fees will almost certainly be affected at some point. We’ll stay close on this one as the decisions get made.
• Making this work will take coordination across several county departments — that’s still to be figured out.

All of these meetings are open to the public — in person, live-streamed, or as recorded video on the county’s website.