Two lawsuits brought against the Town of Elizabethtown

ELIZABETHTOWN – And they lived unhappily ever after.

Things need to change is the sentiment of the concerned citizens of Elizabethtown. The sentiments of this newspaper appear on the opinion page. In print and to remain unbiased in the actual articles, we have printed side-by-side – in their own words articles, observations from outsiders and again today – an article to show that very little has changed since the first published story appeared in the Border Belt last December.

As of this week, things are pretty much still at a standstill and there are two lawsuits that have been filed against the Town of Elizabethtown. One filed from Bladen County and the other from Bladen’s Blooming Agri-Industrial, Inc.

Chuck Heustess, president of Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial said that the first lawsuit deals with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in October. It was for information pertaining to the “Live, Work, Play” development and the corporate airpark development. That was the request. The response that we got was the day of the deadline that we gave them. They sent us FOIA information, but it was nowhere near what the request we put in was. So we filed the lawsuit trying to compel them to send us all the information. I have not heard anything yet.”

That lawsuit, according to Heustess was filed approximately three weeks ago. The second lawsuit claiming a misuse of $100K was filed April 15.

“It appears that there could be in the range of two-three more (lawsuits) after this, basically depending on how the attorneys divide it up,” Heustess said. “But we are waiting on the FOIA information to be able to finish out the facts of those complaints.”

According to Heustess, Bill Horner III from the Magazine – Business North Carolina was doing a follow up on his article published March 28. He heard that the building in question has been under construction since January and Bill went out to the site and knew that there was nothing there. He followed up yesterday with a request trying to ask us if we could verify if it was under construction. We did tell him that we would call building inspections and after we checked with Matt Chadwick at building inspections, there has been no request of any kind for a building permit.”

To this date, Heustess said very little has changed and he “for the life of me can’t understand this.”

“I can not make sense of people I’ve known and people that we’ve known our entire lives, not being willing to look at anything or even talk to you,” Heustess said. “Because of a town administrator.”

“The suit, filed April 15, is the second one the town is facing related to the project,” WECT.com reported. “Another lawsuit, filed March 24 by Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial (BBAI) – a nonprofit that promotes economic development in the county – was related to the town not fulfilling records requests related to projects at the industrial park. Elizabethtown’s Town Manager, Dane Rideout, declined to comment. A comment request from Mayor Sylvia Campbell wasn’t returned. A March 28 press release from the town said “divergent viewpoints” have led to “misinformation, competition for funding, and threats of litigation,” putting over $21 million in project-related funds in jeopardy.”

The posting from wect.com can be read in its at https://www.wect.com/2025/04/17/bladen-county-sues-town-elizabethtown-feud-over-industrial-park-project-escalates/

They have also printed a copy of the second lawsuit that was filed last week.

According to the author, Ben Rappaport, it was a “very messy situation.” Rappaport is a a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC-Chapel Hill, and he previously worked for the Chatham News + Record.

Bladen County and Elizabethtown have worked together for years to spur economic development with help from a local nonprofit aimed at bringing jobs and increasing the local tax base.

But new plans for a mixed-use development of homes and businesses have strained the three-way partnership, raising questions about the project and future collaborations at the Elizabethtown Industrial Park.

Bladen County gave Elizabethtown $100,000 toward the design of a 30-acre “live, work, play” project that initially called for about 20 single-family homes for sale, seven commercial facilities and an amphitheater to accommodate 5,000 people.

Elizabethtown officials, however, decided to go in a different direction, according to Chuck Heustess, director of the Bladen County Economic Development Commission. He said the town hired a Raleigh-based developer and quadrupled the project’s proposed footprint, nixing the homes for sale and adding 300 to 500 rental homes instead.

“No longer will these homes be available for Bladen County residents to purchase and own a part of the American Dream,” Bladen County officials said in a press release on Oct. 16. “Instead, they will be for rent, ultimately filling the coffers of a landlord.”

Heustess said the new plans fractured communication between the county, town and nonprofit, Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial, Inc. that formed in 2002.

“The town eventually blocked Bladen’s Bloomin’ and the county from being able to do anything in the (industrial) park,” Heustess said. “You can’t move forward or fix anything if you can’t even communicate.”

Elizabethtown Mayor Sylvia Campbell and Town Manager Dane Rideout did not respond to requests for comment for this story; neither did city council members or Bladen County commissioners.

The county and Bladen’s Bloomin’ have hired Johnson Law Group to help resolve the matter. Attorneys from the firm declined to comment.

“The Town has worked diligently to promote economic development in our Industrial Park as well as residential development to provide affordable housing,” H. Goldston Womble, the attorney for Elizabethtown, said in a statement. “We will continue to prioritize the best interests of our citizens and businesses in all of our actions and decisions.”

The Elizabethtown industrial park near the Curtis L. Brown, Jr. airport has become a hub for commercial growth in Bladen County, home to about 30,000 people in southeastern North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper announced in February that Sovereign Airspace, an aviation management company, would invest more than $4 million and bring 33 jobs to the site.

Because Elizabethtown owns the land and the water and sewer systems leading into the industrial park. Heustess said the county and Bladen’s Bloomin’ can’t move forward with their plans for the“live, work, play” project if discussions continue to stall. The opening of a day care facility is already delayed, along with the construction of other commercial properties.

“We can’t open them because the roads aren’t built around them,” Heustess said. “Elizabethtown was supposed to build the roads, but they haven’t. So we have commercial projects that are going to be ready to go, but we can’t open them.”

Heustess said Bladen’s Bloomin’ can’t respond to prospective business occupants because it no longer has access to the property.

“Not having Bladen County’s financial backing and BBAI’s expertise will no doubt result in a huge loss to the current and future citizens of Bladen County and Elizabethtown,” county officials said in the press release.

Heustess said if this industrial park continues to stall, the county is considering moving the project elsewhere in the county. But that would take years of planning and millions of dollars, and negate years of progress.

“We have been concentrating all our efforts here (in Elizabethtown) because we’ve been successful here,” Heustess said. “If we’re not working together, then growth is completely stunted.”

“There is $15 million there that the county and the Town of Elizabethtown lobbied for,” Bladen County Commissioner Chairman District 2 Charles Ray Peterson said. “This was supposed to be for Live, Work and Play housing. So, the county put in the first $100k to start the project. And then, what they presented to us and what they’re trying to do now is not even anywhere close.”

This feud has changed the way business is going to be conducted in Bladen County.

“The way it’s always worked in the past was, it was a word of mouth and a handshake,” Peterson said. “But that word of mouth and handshake no longer works with the town of Elizabethtown. Going forward with anybody, it will be written down and will not be verbal. It won’t be a handshake no more. Everything we do is going to be through a contract. So, we’ve learned our lesson.”

The lack of transparency and communication has derailed what could have been one of the most lucrative building plans that this area has seen.

“It’s sickening to your stomach to think about,” Peterson said. “We’ve been dead in the water for almost a year and a half or so… maybe two years. And we have not been able to grow Bladen County one bit because of the town of Elizabethtown.”

The county has decided that this stagnation has gone on long enough and a new plan is already hatching that will benefit another community in Bladen County.

“Bladen’s Bloomin’ has bought 70 acres over in White Lake,” he said. “We’re going to build houses over there through a private for-profit organization. Also, Chemours is letting us show their property up there. We had a $70 million company come up that wanted to look at the best of Bladen County. North Carolina is the premiere state and Bladen County is the premiere site for this industry to come. That doesn’t mean we’re going to get it, but they aren’t looking anywhere else in the State of North Carolina. So, hopefully we will be able to have a selective development in the northern part of the county.”

As for the project in Elizabethtown, there are not a lot of people who know where that is headed.

“I have no idea (of what is going to happen with the Elizabethtown Industrial Park,” he said. “They basically told us to stay the “F” out of it. I do know that the county manager of Robison County and the economic developer who are on the committee with Rusty Worley. The two other than Worley refused to sign the agreement so it’s holding it off.”

The county, according to Peterson offered to buy the Industrial Park from the town of Elizabethtown at a profit.

“The rumor was that one of the commissioners said that they aren’t selling any more land and are not selling it to Bladen County,” he said. “They turned around at the same meeting and leased it to Robbie Ferris for $1 a year for 90 years with a 90-year renewable lease. We’re not making this stuff up.”

And they are not talking about anything they can not back up with documentation.

“When we went to mediation, we tried to meet with them and they wouldn’t meet with us,” Peterson said. “The first thing that happened was their lawyer came to us after meeting with them and he said, ‘The town is busted and they have no money and they’re going to do their own economic development and they were not doing business with Bladen County or Bladen’s Bloomin’ again. That came straight from them and through their lawyer’s mouth.”

This story is not going to end without some kind of action from both sides. There will be much more to tell.