CAROLINA BEACH — A proposal to develop a 177-room hotel stalled last year after town staff determined a formal traffic impact analysis would need approval before council consideration. A study finding the project would not negatively impact town traffic is expected to receive full approval next month, but some residents are skeptical.
READ MORE: Resident petition started against height allowance of proposed Embassy Suites in Carolina Beach
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In December, Harmony Hospitality and engineering contractor Davenport submitted to the North Carolina Department of Transportation a traffic impact analysis for its proposed hotel to be constructed at the intersection of Canal Drive and Carl Winner Drive. Harmony Hospitality president Page Johnson purchased the SeaWitch Cafe property to build a six-story Embassy Suites; if all goes according to plan, it’s expected to break ground next year.
First, it must receive a conditional rezoning for a height allowance and go before Carolina Beach town council for approval, but the TIA had to be completed in the process. Davenport Engineering has estimated a trip generation potential of 1,495 in total, with 103 trips in the Friday evening peak hour and 128 trips in the Saturday mid-day peak hour.
Carolina Beach resident Alex Torres — who started a petition, with 1,500 signatures by press, opposing the hotel’s development — expressed concerns the study did not fully account for peak season traffic in the summer. Internal emails indicate data collected for the TIA was done from June 7 to 9.
“This bypasses both Memorial Day and a music festival the following weekend, which would skew data,” Davenport senior traffic engineer Don Bennett wrote last May.
Torres also worried about the cumulative impact of a separate major local mixed-use development. The Proximity, located on N. Lake Park Boulevard 0.6 miles from the proposed Embassy, includes 250 residential units and 35,000 square feet of commercial space; Cape Fear Commercial co-founder Brian Eckel told Port City Daily businesses are expected to open in the first quarter of 2025.
Council member Joe Benson shares concerns about the cumulative strain of new projects on transportation and water infrastructure.
“If folks are throwing out the Proximity reference that’s valid,” he said. “I know what our running averages are but the running average doesn’t include a number of weekends.”
Benson emphasized the importance of infrastructure improvements after Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 caused severe flooding in the town in September.
“We’ve got stuff we need to handle in terms of a council that is a priority,” Benson said to PCD. “That’s accelerating approval for increased water storage and treatment. There is no way I’m approving anything that’s going to extend and worsen the concerns of water during the height of the summer and various weekends in the summer.”
The development is expected to connect Carolina Beach Avenue with two one-way driveways, one entry and exit. Davenport’s recommended roadway improvements include providing a full-length left turn lane and a right turn lane with 100 feet of storage at the Canal-Carl Winner intersection.
With the recommended improvements in place, Davenport does not expect the project to have a negative impact on the area’s transportation capacity and mobility.
NCDOT senior assistant traffic engineer Bryce Cox notified Carolina Beach development director Jeremy Hardison Embassy Suites’ traffic impact analysis received preliminary approval in January, with final approval expected no later than mid-February.
Harmony representatives asked if conditional zoning approval could be attained prior to completing the TIA last February. Hardison responded a full study would be necessary to determine potential roadway improvements before a zoning application could be submitted for consideration.
“We will do our best to get the traffic study behind us,” Harmony’s Johnson wrote in response. “If the town [could] help push from their side it would be appreciated.”
Town Manager Bruce Oakley told Port City Daily he had not yet reviewed the study and noted the developer still has not submitted any formal zoning applications to the town. Mayor Lynn Barbee similarly said council had not received any further proposal on the Embassy Suites project.
Harmony representatives were unavailable for comment by press.
The Virginia-based hotel management company — which owns Cloud 9 and Embassy Suites in downtown Wilmington — purchased the SeaWitch Café and Tiki Bar last January. The company wants to use the SeaWitch property as part of a multipurpose development, including a 177-room hotel, 240 parking spaces, and a rooftop bar and restaurant.
The proposed hotel would require six parcels to be redeveloped upon the approval of a conditional zoning amendment to increase allowed height from 50 feet to around 90 feet at the intersection of Canal Drive and Carl Winner Drive.
More than a dozen residents spoke out in opposition to the proposal at a March community meeting last year. In addition to straining infrastructure, residents worry the hotel will overshadow the beach’s small-town culture and exacerbate flooding.
Alternatively, Harmony representatives contended the project would benefit the town with $2.6 million of tax revenue, create 200 jobs, and blend into the town’s cultural atmosphere by emulating SeaWitch’s aesthetics, menu, and music.
In addition to the SeaWitch property, Johnson has five nearby parcels under contract. The parcels are owned by Carolina Beach Hospitalities LLC; Bill Troutman is the firm’s owner, according to Secretary of State records.
“Page has been looking at buying this property for several years from Bill Troutman who owned the oceanfront piece,” Mayor pro tem Deb LeCompte told PCD in March. “So, I mean they’ve made presentations multiple times to staff and prior councils trying to get something built there.”
The town currently contracts Troutman’s property for public parking use. In a September email, Embassy Suites manager Zach Brigman told Hardison that Harmony Hospitality was filling out a conditional zoning application to change parking management on Carolina Beach Hospitalities’ lots.
“As you know we are in the process of buying Bill Troutman’s land in the hopes of developing a new hotel in the future,” he wrote in an October email. “Since this will most likely not happen now, we need to look at our income stream over the next couple of years.”
According to town emails, Johnson met with Hardison and Oakley to discuss the issue in November. Town clerk Kim Ward told PCD Monday no changes to the parking agreement have been made.
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