A Familiar Hampstead Fixture is Being Cleared for Another Car Wash

For years, Cedar on the Green was one of those Hampstead places people recognized even if they did not know its name.

A small cluster of cottage-style shops sat just off US 17, near the Hampstead library, with gravel parking, modest signs, and the kind of homegrown feel that has become harder to find along the corridor.

Now, signs at the property point to what many locals have already noticed: another car wash is coming.

That word, “another,” is doing a lot of work here.

Hampstead and the surrounding Topsail area have seen steady growth, and with it has come a familiar mix of roadside development: car washes, self-storage, vape shops, national gas stations, convenience stores, and other high-traffic commercial uses that make sense on paper.

The numbers probably work. The traffic is there. The rooftops are coming. The bypass and US 17 improvements are changing how this stretch of Hampstead functions.

But that does not mean people are wrong to feel the loss.

What Was Cedar on the Green?

Cedar on the Green was never a polished shopping center. That was part of its appeal.

It was a small collection of local storefronts and cottage-style buildings that helped give this stretch of Hampstead some visual character. For small businesses and entrepreneurs, spaces like this matter. They are often more approachable than large retail centers, more flexible than national-chain storefronts, and more rooted in the community around them.

Public records and local business listings connect Cedar on the Green to this area for years, with Cedar on the Green Rentals, LLC tied to property records along US 17. For many residents, it has simply been part of the local landscape for as long as they can remember.

That is why the reaction online has been sharp.

People are not just reacting to one car wash sign. They are reacting to the feeling that familiar local places keep disappearing, one parcel at a time.

What Public Records Show

This change did not come out of nowhere.

Pender County records show that in 2024, a rezoning case known as REZONE 2024-64 involved multiple parcels near Jenkins Road and N. St. Johns Church Road, just north of the US 17 and Jenkins Road intersection.

The application requested a change from Residential Performance zoning to General Business zoning. Cedar on the Green Rentals, LLC was listed among the property owners.

According to county records, the Planning Board unanimously recommended denial. The Board of County Commissioners later approved the zoning map amendment by a 3-1 vote.

More recently, Pender County’s pending major site-development plans have included nearby projects labeled Jenkins Road, RipTide Car Wash, and a 7-Eleven Convenience Store.

So while the sign may feel sudden to people driving by, the redevelopment path has been moving through public channels for some time.

Why This Location Makes Sense

This is also where the story gets more complicated.

The area around US 17, Jenkins Road, and N. St. Johns Church Road sits in the path of major change. The Hampstead Bypass and related US 17 corridor improvements are reshaping traffic patterns, access, and commercial visibility through this part of Pender County.

From a development standpoint, that makes the land more attractive.

More traffic. More residents. More demand for quick-service businesses. More reason for developers to look at older properties and see what could be built next.

That does not make every project beloved. It does explain why these uses keep showing up.

Why It Still Stings

Hampstead does need services. Growth is real, and pretending the area can stay frozen in place is not realistic.

But growth also has a look and feel.

When older local spaces are replaced by the same kinds of businesses showing up in fast-growing communities everywhere, something changes beyond the property line. The corridor becomes more convenient, perhaps, but also more generic.

That is the tension residents are reacting to.

It is not simply anti-business. It is not even necessarily anti-car wash.

It is a question of identity.

How many small, familiar, local-looking places can disappear before Hampstead starts to feel less like Hampstead?

The Bigger Question for Hampstead

Cedar on the Green may not have been historic in the formal sense. It may not have been flashy. It may not have been a destination for visitors.

But it looked local.

It gave small businesses a place to exist outside the usual strip-center template. It gave this part of US 17 a little texture.

And now, it appears to be giving way to another use that reflects where the market sees opportunity.

That is the story of Hampstead right now. Growth is coming, roadwork is changing the map, and commercial development is following the math.

The question is whether anything distinctly local can keep a foothold along the way.