WILMINGTON — Tuesday night’s Wilmington City Council meeting included tears and threats to remove people from council chambers over a proposed development on the corner of Oleander Drive and Independence Boulevard.
READ MORE: Neighbors unsuccessful so far in attempt to tank midtown housing development
Developer Dave Spetrino’s plan to build 40 for-sale units — 24 condos and 16 townhomes — at the corner of the intersection has taken flack since its neighbors got wind of the project. Nine nearby residents of Hawthorne Drive hired local land use attorney Grady Richardson to fight the development.
Despite this, the rezoning request needed to build the units got a recommendation from the planning commission last month and got the greenlight Tuesday. However, council did take the proposal down a peg.
Spetrino’s request was for a rezoning from R-15, moderate-density single-dwelling, to the office and institutional district to incorporate both housing and 2,000 square feet of commercial space. It’s slated to be located across from Hanover Center and Independence Mall.
“With the amount of services and commercial right across the street, it makes no sense on that side of the street that has primarily been residential,” Mayor Bill Saffo said.
Spetrino agreed to forgo the commercial element and go with council’s suggestion to rezone to MD-17, high-density multiple-dwelling residential. It passed 5-2.
Save Midtown Neighborhoods, a group of residents opposing the development, issued a statement post-ruling, which, in part, indicated:
“The city residents attending the meeting are obviously very disappointed in the result and frankly confused by the random change by council of the applicant’s requested zoning to a completely different zoning district just prior to their vote. We were not allowed the opportunity to consider this new zone and had no chance to argue against it.”
Though neither shared their explicit reasoning, council members David Joyner and Salette Andrews voted against the rezoning.
Andrews questioned points made by attorney Sam Franck, hired to represent Spetrino. One regarded Franck’s demonstration for the maximum roof height of 45 feet was not much higher than what’s allowed by-right, 40 feet.
“I don’t think that the people who are concerned about three- and four-story buildings, I don’t think they were concerned about the roof height; I think they were concerned about where the upstairs windows were,” Andrews said.
Saffo did take issue about the building height; Franck responded that constructing the structures horizontally and not vertically would result in the loss of more trees.
Neighbors’ distaste for the project was mostly due to a perceived lack of congruency the development has with the single-family homes it abuts, including height differences.
Adjacent property owners sent dozens of emails to city council ahead of Tuesday, calling on their elected officials to reject Spetrino’s proposal mainly because they thought it too intense for the 2.93-acre wooded plat.
Many of Tuesday’s speakers stated they were not against development of the corner property nor stymieing Wilmington’s trajectory of growth.
“I understand we need some of this, if not a lot of it, and certainly density is part of our plan; it’s just not this site,” nearby resident Vinton Fountain said.
Rivenbark called out the “not-in-my-backyard” sense he was getting from the crowd and when he was interrupted with boos from the crowd, the council member replied: “I didn’t ask for your comment.” Rivenbark thought council needed to rely on its staff’s professional analysis.
Per documents submitted ahead of time, staff exhibited mostly modest or strong support for the project, noting it aligns with the comprehensive plan’s encouragement of infill development located near services and transportation modes.
Franck argued the proposal answers the city’s call for “missing middle” housing and is designed in lockstep with its comprehensive plan.
“There’s not one single comprehensive plan criteria that was identified as not supported by staff,” Franck said.
Christine Hughes, a neighbor to the property — along with former city employee and “primary author” of the comprehensive plan — agreed the site is a great place for middle housing. This consists of residential types spanning the gap between single-dwelling detached homes and mid-rise apartments; the variety of home types comes with a variety of affordability in cities and can help prevent urban sprawl.
Yet, Hughes claimed Spetrino’s development doesn’t fit the mold.
“There’s a scale for what is considered missing middle based on location and context; you don’t just slap any old housing type down on the ground, call it missing middle, and walk away,” Hughes said.
She, along with the residents’ attorney said patio houses or duplexes would be more appropriate for the site.
“It looks like it’s got a couple of different interpretations of that comprehensive plan, do you agree with that?” council member Charlie Rivenbark asked staff, to which senior planner Patrick O’Mahoney said the assessment is fair.
Franck pointed out Spetrino’s plan is an improvement from what’s allowed by-right — seven or eight single-family lots.
Going that route, the developer could clear-cut the property without being held to mitigation, Franck reported. Plus, a developer would not have to improve the site’s alleyway, nearby bus stop, and stormwater drainage.
Another complaint revolved around traffic. Residents worried about additional cars having to pull out onto Oleander Drive and Independence Boulevard. Franck countered, stating those routes operate at high levels of service with the capacity to accommodate more vehicle trips, a rarity for major thoroughfares in Wilmington.
Staff’s assessment also looked favorably on the development’s proximity to the Cross City Trail and a Wave bus stop, the latter to be improved by the developer.
Neighbors also fretted over an unimproved alley separating Spetrino’s plat with their homes. In its current state, it can only accommodate one car. Spetrino has committed to expanding the lane to 18 feet, dedicating 10 feet of his property to do so; it will allow for two-way traffic. But property owners along the alleyway are not happy about the increase in traffic.
Much of Richardson’s argument against the development focused on technical components he perceived Spetrino was manipulating and staff was overlooking. The attorney said staff are using a double exemption of the alley to result in zero buffering requirements. Staff also reportedly told Richardson that transitional buffering was not required as the alley right-of-way serves that purpose and streetscaping is only required along rights-of-ways, of which the alley is exempt.
Most of the speakers avoided going too technical, instead imploring council to protect their community.
“These are real people and not just a statistic where someone is to be sacrificed in the name of growth in progress,” resident Robert Keith said. “For existing residents, it’s about raising their children in a safe place and the right to some reasonable level of privacy and quiet, enjoying their life savings and maybe their retirement fund from equity in their house at some point in this process. They deserve to be heard and represented. If not you, our elected leaders, who is listening?”
Cape Fear Housing Coalition Vice Chair Liz Carbone was one of the only speakers in favor of the development for its deliverance of middle housing.
“Our desire for every one of our neighbors to have the success and opportunity, the health and well-being that a home provides, doesn’t stop for us at 100% AMI,” Carbone said. “[W]e truly do wish the same for each person in this room as we do for our lowest income neighbors and that’s the sentiment that honestly feels absent from this room tonight.”
[Editor’s Note: Liz Carbone’s title has been changed from executive director to vice chair and her quote has been updated for accuracy. PCD regrets the error.]
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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