PENDER COUNTY — Fast-paced development in a neighboring county continues to accelerate.
Pender County commissioners approved a rezoning request Monday, which will be used for a new regional office for D.R. Horton, the largest home-building company in the U.S. It also makes way for a new townhome development coming to Scotts Hill.
The applicant requested rezoning two tracts of land — owned by Mary Beth Morgan Carlson — totaling approximately 20 acres. The developer wanted a change from the residential performance district, which allows three units an acre, to conditional zoning district 3, enabling for higher density.
Conditional zoning districts are intended for proposals almost certain to be constructed, according to the county’s agenda packet; the applicant’s site plan is for 70 townhomes and 15,000 square feet of commercial office space.
The plan includes one building within the commercial office space, which D.R. Horton will use as a regional office. The company already has a strong presence in the Cape Fear region; its Wilmington division office is located on Parker Farm Drive in Mayfaire.
D.R. Horton operates at least 16 neighborhood home developments in the region. It has previously faced controversy in the Cape Fear region; the company violated Pender water restrictions by using county water during a 2019 shortage and New Hanover residents complained about development and communication problems in 2017.
No one from D.R. Horton responded to PCD’s request for comment by press.
All commissioners voted to approve the rezoning except Brad George. Though he didn’t speak a lot during the meeting, George asked planning director Daniel Adams if the development would include a connection to the Pender EMS station. Adams replied the applicant agreed to connect a road to the station if Pender EMS submitted a written request to do so.
George told Port City Daily his reasoning for rejecting the proposal.
“My reasoning is with the current demand on the water system in eastern Pender which caused restrictions to be announced in early spring, with a school district that is around 1000 students over capacity in the eastern schools, and with outdated traffic studies showing HWY at or over capacity four years ago,” he said. “I don’t feel like now is the proper time to be rezoning to increase density.”
The Carlson tracts are located on the west side of U.S. Hwy. 17, approximately a quarter-mile north of the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 17 and Pandy Ann Lane.
D.R. Horton proposes 14.97 acres for residential development, with townhomes distributed across 14 buildings, each with four, five or six units. Another 3.79 acres is planned for commercial development, and 0.75 acres is slated as conservation area for wetlands. The density is 4.6 units per acre.
“There are currently a couple of single-family structures on the property; the majority of the site is undeveloped,” Tara Murphy, land planner with Wilmington-based McKim & Creed, the engineering firm involved in the project, said at the meeting. McKim & Creed regional growth manager Richard Collier told Port City Daily the homes on the Carlson Tracts will be taken down before development.
There will be direct points of access to the commercial side of the development from U.S. Hwy 17.
The residential component of the site will be accessible via Atlantic Avenue, a proposed collector road to connect the site to U.S. Hwy 17 and the Blake Farm development; collector roads are low-to-moderate-capacity roads used to move traffic from local streets to arterial roads.
Trask Land Co. is the primary developer of the Blake Farm project, expected to offer 2,200 residential units when complete across 1300 acres. D.R. Horton owns a parcel within Blake Farm and McKim & Creed is the engineer for its development proposal.
Collier told Port City Daily the master plan for D.R. Horton’s Blake Farm townhomes project has been approved. D.R. Horton’s approved portion of the development includes 225 single family homes.
D.R. Horton and McKim & Creed will coordinate the Carlson Tracts and Blake Farm connection on Atlantic Avenue. They also plan to build a second collector road to connect NC Hwy 17 and Atlantic Avenue near Peanut Rd.
Murphy said the Carlson tracts and Blake Farm projects will coordinate for water infrastructure. The site will use public water through Pender County Utilities and private sewer through provider Pluris.
“This connection of Atlantic Avenue will help allow for infrastructure in the way of water service that will help close the loop for the overall development and Blake farm – there is a pump station,” she said.
Atlantic Avenue will cross property owned by Duke Energy Progress. Brian West, a representative of DEP’s land services division, provided a letter, included with the site plan, acknowledging its ongoing negotiations with D.R. Horton regarding access.
Planning director Daniel Adams said a traffic impact analysis coordinated by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is in process and will inform any necessary changes to the site plan. He said the proposed second collector road may be moved from its location as a result of the research.
Commissioner Fred McCoy asked Adams if the second connector road could come out to a new school development planned near the intersection of NC Hwy 210 and Peanut Road.
“There’s flexibility in the way the road could be designed in that vicinity,” Adams said.
Murphy emphasized the development will align with Pender County’s bicycle and pedestrian plan. There will be a 5-foot sidewalk and bicycle lanes on both sides of Atlantic Avenue. The applicant also agreed to install a 10-foot-wide multi-use path along the side of the development that fronts the U.S. Hwy 17 right-of-way.
Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at peter@localdailymedia.com.
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