With so much growth transforming Leland, the town's identity is evolving

The town of Leland is seeing a major transformation, one that's been happening over several years.

Amid so much growth, development and change, the young town’s identity could be lost. Longtime residents and town officials are working to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Rapid change

Leland was founded in 1989 with just over 1,000 residents. Today, the town has grown exponentially in both population and land size.

In the last 20 years, Leland has grown by approximately 20 square miles, largely thanks to voluntary annexations of land. According to U.S. Census Bureau, the town’s population grew – even through the COVID-19 pandemic – to nearly 26,000 by 2021.

Thousands of new residents are flocking to Leland, and developers are following them. In the last decade, the young town has seen a massive increase in population, thousands of new homes and apartments, and the addition of copious new businesses.

More: As the population booms in Brunswick County, what places are needed to keep up?

Discovering – or creating – a sense of identity

The biggest selling points for Leland seem to have little to do with the town’s character and more to do with the convenience of its location. New residents say the town’s proximity to downtown Wilmington, about a 10-minute drive to the east, and Brunswick County’s beaches are what drew them to the town.

Gary Vidmar, the town’s first economic and community development director, said that’s what brought him and his wife to the town less than a decade ago. Ahead of his retirement from the town last month, Vidmar told the StarNews town officials are working to determine the town’s identity or brand amid all the change.

“I think the town’s sense of place is yet to be defined clearly,” Vidmar said.

Vidmar said town officials often discuss the “Leland brand,” and ponder the question of whether brand is something that can be established or if it naturally occurs.

“We all have reasons for being here, but I can't say there's a brand for Leland,” he said.

Vidmar added the town’s age could also be contributing to its lack of identity. The town was incorporated less than 35 years ago, more than 200 years after nearby Wilmington. Vidmar is hopeful, though, that the town will find its uniqueness in the coming years.

‘New era’

Hiten Jethwa, Leland native and owner/manager at Shirley’s Diner, said the change isn’t so bad – an opinion not often expressed among the town’s longest residents, many of whom are frustrated by the increase in people and traffic in their once unknown town.

“It’s grown exponentially,” Jethwa said. “But it’s going in the right direction.”

Shirley’s Diner is the town’s oldest family-owned restaurant, serving seafood, sandwiches and Southern favorites for over 40 years. The diner is located in the town’s Gateway District, or what the locals refer to as “downtown Leland,” away from the endless development occurring along U.S. 17 just farther west.

More: How these Leland places are using TikTok to reach residents and visitors

Jethwa said locals and new residents alike enjoy the diner’s menu, which has hardly changed in four decades. Whether you’re a regular coming by for lunch at the same time every day or a new resident who just moved to a newly built home in Brunswick Forest, you’re treated like family, he said.

Jethwa likened Leland to a person entering a new chapter of their life.

“Identity-wise, it’s like Leland is becoming a new person,” he said. “Through stages of your life, you become different. You go through different seasons and you find your identity. That’s exactly what Leland is doing right now, entering kind of a new era.”

While there’s a massive amount of change, Jethwa said, there are things that stay the same in Leland, such as Shirley’s and the welcoming, honest nature of the community.

“It’s still the same Leland,” he said. “We’ve been here and we’re going to be here through it all.”

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Jamey Cross covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at jbcross@gannett.com or message her on Twitter @jameybcross.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Leland growth changing its identity