NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Following in the footsteps of other recent detested developments, the Tarin Woods development is requesting a special use permit to finally push through its addition, now 444 units.
READ MORE: Tarin Woods is back before planning board, 600-plus neighbors petition against expansion
Hoosier Daddy LLC is requesting an additional dwelling allowance for 43.5 acres at 5741 Carolina Beach Road, located in the R-15, medium-density residential, zoning district. Because the R-15 district only allows for 2.5 units per acre, the addition, which will have 10.2 units per acre, requires a special use permit; 10.2 units is the maximum allowed.
This is the third iteration of the expansion to add to its already 130-unit development, though public pushback led to its defeat every time. While it’s submitted a special-use permit before, this go-round developers opt for more units.
Special use permits have come under fire from both the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County in recent months. Elected leaders and the public began to view SUPs as loopholes for developers after several projects — namely the Holly Shelter Racquet Club — eked through despite intense opposition.
Though SUPs are designed to offer property owners flexibility without having to undergo a rezoning, both governing bodies have discussed ridding their land codes of them in favor of conditional zoning. This would also do away with quasi-judicial hearings, a complicated process required for SUP approval. Because it limits those who can speak to experts on the topic, whether it be property values or stormwater, the process has garnered pushback from some.
The New Hanover County Planning Board held a preliminary hearing for the Tarin Woods proposal on Thursday. Seen as a dress rehearsal for the formal review before the commissioners, the meeting offered the general public opportunity to express their concerns.
The five speakers raised the issue of flooding — pointing to excess water surrounding properties already experienced during storms — and traffic, as the development is expected to generate 113 morning and 145 evening peak hour trips. Despite the significant flooding increase, residents tried to poke holes in the developer’s traffic impact analysis, completed in 2021 and in winter months, when there was less congestion.
“The 2015 annual daily trips were counted at 31,000 on South College Road, north of the intersection; south of the intersection, the ADT count was 41,000 — it’s significant,” resident Michelle O’Brien said. “These roads originally built to serve rural and intermediate tour traffic are comparable to a city of over 100,000; simply adding traffic to Carolina Beach Road without creating alternative or additional routes for traffic or safe routes from pedestrians and bicyclists compounds the problem.”
Attorney Corrie Lee, representing Hoosier Daddy, said their TIA is under review to ensure it fits their current proposal, though she said they don’t think they will need to replace it with a new one.
The planning board normally suggests whether a project should be approved by commissioners, but it doesn’t offer recommendations for approval for quasi-judicial hearings, which can only be heard once. Instead, the board offers guidance to presenters and suggested last week the developer home in on the new parts of the development because some board members had trouble identifying them.
“You’re going to have to convince them that the reason that what you’re proposing to them now addresses the concerns that they had previously during the time they consider the conditional rezoning,” vice chair Colin Tarrant said, “and if you go up there with the same application and you make the same arguments, I wouldn’t expect a different result, and I can’t say that what we’re hearing tonight is a lot different from what I’ve heard in different times.”
Hoosier Daddy has been submitting various versions of the Tarin Woods expansion for several years. In 2022, developer Rockford Partners proposed 328 additional townhomes and 10 single-family homes to the existing Tarin Woods neighborhood. It was denied in May 2023 by the county commissioners in a 4-1 vote after significant pushback from nearby residents.
The addition was then switched to a special use permit in May 2024, though requesting the same density, 10.2 units an acre, as the developer did last week. However, the new plan?development only contained 171 units spread across 16.78 acres.
The permit request was withdrawn before it went before commissioners, though residents at the planning board meeting expressed the same concerns as they did a year later — the traffic and flooding would inundate surrounding neighborhoods.
Resident Shawn Bunge described the repeated submissions as a “tactic of erosion.”
“This is a repeated attempt to force high density development into a clearly inappropriate location that isn’t just misguided; it’s a blatant show of disrespect for the governing decisions already made and the community that calls this area home,” Bunge said.
Brenda McCombie, director of the Coastal Christian Academy abutting the Tarin Woods property, said she was shocked to see a road running behind the school. She said the design presented safety concerns and would require the school to put up more fencing.
However, Lee said the new site plan was drawn up with these concerns in mind. She said the townhomes were placed on the perimeter of the property to avoid multi-story buildings with balconies overlooking the school property. The site will also use dense buffers.
When the commissioners questioned Lee on this version’s novelty, Lee admitted not much beyond switching from conditional zoning to a special use permit and the reconfiguration of the site plan.
Commissioners recommended she focus on those components when going back before the commissioners next month; they also advised the public to lawyer up.
“In order for your opinions, feelings and arguments to be considered, you are going to have to meet a certain legal standard that that board of commissioners will only be able to consider evidence you put before them that meets that legal standard,” Tarrant said. “So please take heed as to what we’re saying when we strongly recommend you do communicate and retain legal counsel to advise you, as well as other experts.”
Tips or comments? Email info@portcitydaily.com.
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
