NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A rezoning request for a large residential development in a high-traffic area was slated for commissioners approval Dec. 11, but due to resident pushback, the applicant requested an extension.
READ MORE: Divided NHC planning board recommends 348 Porters Neck townhome development
Allison Engrebetson of Paramounte Engineering represented the applicant — Ronald Carlock with CIP Construction Company — to request the continuance at the meeting. She cited recent resident comments, among more than 50 public statements opposing the proposal’s maximum 348 townhome development, as her reason for the requested delay.
Commissioner Jonathan Barfield questioned Engrebetson why she didn’t request the continuance earlier to give notice to the public. He said many residents came to the Dec. 11 meeting because they believed the rezoning would be up for vote, and some may be unable to attend the next session.
“What I don’t like,” he said, “is for people to waste their time to come to a meeting and then have the applicant request an extension.”
Engrebetson responded she was recently given information from some of the proposed site’s neighbors and wanted more time to respond to them. PCD reached out to Engrebetson and Paramounte Engineering for more details but didn’t receive an answer by press.
Commissioner LeAnn Pierce assured residents who attended the meeting the board received many emails and read all of them even if they did not respond.
“We are looking at ways to work with you guys to make it all possible to see what will move forward with this project — or not,” she said.
The planning board received 36 public comments — all of which expressed opposition to the proposal — before recommending the rezoning 4-2 on Nov. 2. Leading to the Dec. 11 commissioner meeting, the county received an additional 16 public comments, 14 of which were opposed, one neutral, and one in favor.
Residents raised concerns the development would cause negative effects on their community, citing traffic concerns, safety, school overcapacity, and excessive density.
Commissioner Dane Scalise urged the applicant to address the issues prior to the next meeting.
The 33.5 acre site is located near the intersection of Market Street and Porters Neck Road. It is currently zoned R-15 residential, B-2 highway commercial, and l-1 light industrial. CIP Construction Company is requesting a change to RMF-M, residential multi-family moderate high density.
The concept plan contains 348 residential units spread across 30 buildings. The overall density in the area would be 10.94 dwelling units per acre.
Increased traffic was one of the most commonly expressed concerns, as the section of Market Street providing access to the proposed site is already above planning capacity; annual average daily traffic is 42,500 while capacity is only 41,369.
“I can barely make a left turn out of my neighborhood at peak hours without taking risks,” Shackleford Drive resident Heidi Schmidt wrote in an email to commissioners Dec. 10.
Staff expects the recently opened Military Cutoff Extension to improve traffic congestion in Porters Neck. The North Carolina Department of Transportation and Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization also approved a traffic impact analysis for the proposal. The results require a new traffic signal at Cypress Pond Way and a right-turn lane on Market Street on the northbound approach to the site.
Applicant CIP Construction is a division of real estate development and management firm the Carroll Companies, founded by billionaire Roy Carroll. The company received similar public push back regarding traffic for The Avenue, a $200 million, 44-acre mixed-use project planned for Military Cutoff Road.
Residents Erica and Joseph Baillargeon emailed PCD warning of other negative effects of the development, including school density, a top concern among residents. The county estimates the development would generate more students attending Porters Neck Elementary School, Holly Shelter Middle School and Laney High School.
School density led planning board member Colin Tarrant to express doubt about the proposal at the last meeting; he argued the anticipated 60 new students generated by the development was an underestimate.
Planning board members Kevin Hine and Cameron Moore argued housing demand was sufficiently urgent to warrant approval, as long as it included conditions such as increased pedestrian and bike connectivity and the designation of Brays Drive — a subject of controversy as it passes through the neighboring Porter’s Pointe neighborhood — as emergency-use only.
Sir Clyde Road resident James Edmonds, who provided the sole public comment out of 52 in support of the development, argued the solution to high residential prices in Wilmington is building more housing. He advocated blanket approval of multifamily projects and incentives to increase density.
“I understand the concern about traffic and schools,” he wrote. “But those concerns can be addressed when the city and county are receiving revenue from a larger and more productive/stable base of citizens.”
Alternatively, resident Seth Dennis argued large residential developers should contribute more to counterbalance the strain they put on existing infrastructure such as roads and schools. He argued developers should be required to pay an impact fee to offset the burden higher density puts on public infrastructure.
“To permit such unfettered residential development without proportionate community contribution from the developer is nothing more than taxpayers subsidizing private enterprise because the taxpayer is left paying the true cost of development,” he wrote.
New Hanover County Commissioners unanimously approved the continuance; the rezoning request will now come up for vote at the Jan. 8 meeting.
Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at [email protected].
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