Work is underway to develop land with hundreds of acres off County Line Road in Eastern North Carolina.
Construction is underway on the Bluewater Rise and Magnolia Reserve planned unit developments and the Brices Creek Nature Park off County Line Road — a gravel road that runs through the Croatan National Forest.
Bluewater Rise
The New Bern Planning and Zoning Board accepted the final plats for Olympic Harbour phase one – common area and Monitor Cape phase two at Bluewater Rise during the July 18, 2024, meeting in New Bern, NC, as reported here.
Major subdivision approval process
In May 2025, the New Bern Board of Aldermen approved changes to the land use ordinance that gave the director of Development Services or their designee the authority to approve major subdivision plans without going a public review by the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, as reported here.
Magnolia Reserve
The city of New Bern Development Review Committee considered the general plan for Magnolia Reserve, a 311.86-acre planned unit development on June 18, 2025. Upon request, the city told NewBernNow.com that the zoning administrator approved the general plans for Magnolia Reserve in July 2025. The plan showed 712 single-family lots with approximately 59-acres of total wetland acreage. The development is adjacent to residential properties in Carolina Colours and Craven County; Carolina Colours Golf Course, Craven County government and Brices Creek, as reported here.
Brices Creek Nature Preserve
Two new restrooms and a gravel parking lot have recently been constructed at the County Line Road entrance to Brices Creek Nature Preserve in Craven County, NC. County Manager Jack Veit told NewBernNow.com that “the new Craven County Nature Park is projected to open in Early Fall 2026.” He noted a “Docking/Kayak Launch to create a 7-mile paddle trail between Creekside Park and this location along Brice’s Creek; Concrete work — accessibility to restroom, etc. — and trail construction — at least 3 miles of hiking trails and 2 miles of biking trails” — are still under construction, as reported here.
Related news
City staff and elected officials talked about a City of New Bern talks about the possibility of extending electric service down County Line Road to Catfish Lake Road; and up into the Perrytown and Hunters Ridge areas on June 16, 2026. Mayor Jeffrey Odham (of Ward 6) told aldermen Trey Ferguson (Ward 1), Sharon Bryant (Ward 2), “Bobby” Aster (Ward 3), Lainy White (Ward 4), Barbara Best (Ward 5), and Dana Outlaw (Ward 6) that he wanted them to talk about a negotiating a contract worth millions of dollars with a vendor in closed session at the July meeting, as reported here.
The city purchased land for a new substation off County Line Road in July 2023 and the aldermen adopted a resolution to authorize the mayor to executive a letter of agreement with Weyerhauser for easement rights “which are necessary to connect the substation to the Duke (Energy Progress) transmission system as well as provide new interconnects to the electric distribution system,” according to meeting minutes.
The board of aldermen will meet on July 14, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the second-floor courtroom at City Hall located at 300 Pollock St. in New Bern, NC, according to the website. The meeting agenda and packet items are usually posted here before meetings.
Most videos are available on City 3 TV, the city’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.