Hampstead residents press Pender County commissioners to pause high‑density Piper Tract development over safety, infrastructure concerns

Dozens of Hampstead residents urged the Pender County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 20 to halt or rethink approval of the proposed Piper Tract subdivision, a planned development of roughly 350 homes that opponents say would overload local roads, schools and emergency services and pose a public‑safety risk because it relies on a single main access.

Residents from Hampstead and nearby neighborhoods used the board’s public‑comment period to describe traffic congestion on Country Club Road and Old Point Road, to question the development’s emergency access and water/sewer plans, and to press the commissioners for a temporary moratorium on high‑density subdivisions until county infrastructure and standards can be updated.

The concerns focused on three core issues: emergency access, road capacity and public services. Multiple speakers pointed to state fire code requirements and the county’s Unified Development Ordinance that the groups cited as supporting two access points for developments above certain sizes. “This project will build…