NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Two projects with a shared goal to bring community together have passed muster by the county this week.
READ MORE: 1940s house to become Castle Hayne bottle shop has residents concerned with noise, light
A rezoning at 5406 Castle Hayne Road in the northern part of the county was approved unanimously by commissioners to become a bottle shop, while another at three Carolina Beach Road addresses also gained the green light to become the second location for a popular market.
Castle Hayne Brews and Putt
Commissioners agreed to rezone a portion of a parcel where a 1940s home is located residential district R-15 to regional business. Douglas Brandon Paluck’s goal is to turn the property into a bottle shop, with a backyard mini-golf course, as well as live acoustic music offered.
“There is nothing going on like this out there,” Paluck said of the Castle Hayne area, adding only beer and wine will be sold — including locally crafted beer — and there will be games to welcome everyone. “It will be a family-friendly place with cornhole, shuffleboard and a Putt Putt course in the backyard.”
Zachary Dickerson, on New Hanover County planning staff, said the project would fuel business growth and that it aligned with the county’s comprehensive plan.
Castle Hayne Brews and Putt is located in an area with a mix of residential and commercial, including retail, pharmacy, restaurants and a bank. The rezoning passed the planning board unanimously with seven conditions, two of which were added when nearby neighbors spoke out against the project. Many were concerned with noise and light pollution affecting residences on Blossom Street.
“We’ve had concerns, but we’ve compromised with our neighbors through all the community meetings and planning board,” Paluck told commissioners.
At the planning board meeting last month, Paluck agreed to end live entertainment at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m., keep lighting to a minimum with Edison Bulbs and no exterior light poles, and create an 8-foot fence rather than the required 6-feet supplemented with vegetation to create more of a buffer facing Blossom Street. Paluck also plans to keep the 250-year-old live oak on the property.
Traffic will only enter the bottle shop from Castle Hayne Road, not Blossom Street, where parking is also prohibited. Paluck said he would put up signs informing visitors they could be towed if parking there; in addition to the bottle shop parking, there are overflow spaces at the neighboring Myers Attic, available when the vintage shop closes for the day.
“I want to commend you for working with your neighbors,” Commissioner Dane Scalise told Paluck at the meeting, noting he was for the project.
Commissioner Rob Zapple was concerned hours could be expanded for entertainment if the property was sold and transformed into a nightclub. The condition put forth in the rezoning notes all live music and entertainment outdoors will be done by 9 p.m. and staff concurred the condition remains in place, even in the event of a sale.
“They can continue their indoor operations as long as they want to,” Dickerson said.
Three people, all Castle Hayne residents, spoke in favor of the project, noting a laid-back business model to enjoy, beer, wine entertainment with family and friends was needed in the area.
Paula Gray praised Paluck, saying he would work with “the community at heart.”
“With all the development coming into the northern part of the county, we need something like this,” she said.
Biggers Market
Roughly 2.67 acres at three parcels — 6208, 6216 and 6218 Carolina Beach Road — need to be rezoned to bring in a local market and grocer that has already gained popularity on the northern side of New Hanover County.
The second Biggers Market, relocated to another plat Carolina Beach Road, is proposed to be an 11,000-square-foot enclosed market with a 4,000-square-foot porch, offering everything its Market Street company provides: fresh, locally grown produce, homemade food items from regional makers, as well as in-season pumpkins and Christmas trees, Adirondack chairs and more.
It needed to be rezoned from highway business (B-2) and residential (R-15) to conditional community business (CZD/CB).
The market has been set up in the southern portion of the county for a while at 6458 Carolina Beach Road under a tent but the move will expand it. The planning board unanimously recommended approval last fall; commissioners agreed Monday as well with a unanimous vote.
Retail will be 2,300 square feet, under a roof but in the open-air structure, outfitted with barn-style roll-up doors. The project could generate roughly 100 vehicle trips in morning hours and almost 200 trips in the afternoon.
Nine conditions are placed on the proposal, including enhancement of plantings in the buffer yard aside from what’s in the code with two rows of Leyland Cypress trees or evergreen shrubs. There will be no commercial or customer activity within the 35-foot setback, and exterior and security lighting fixtures should be installed downward with light posts no more than 12 feet. As well there is a 20-foot public easement to be installed for bikers and pedestrians off Carolina Beach Road.
Direct access to the market is from Carolina Beach Road and Biggers Market has agreed to replace a fence in the nearby Sellers Cove neighborhood facing the market.
Live music and food trucks are often part of Biggers Market on Market Street. The music would be set up at the second location, but amplified facing Carolina Beach Road and away from Sellers Cove, so as not to disturb area neighbors.
“My problem stems from the music part of this proposal,” LeAnn Pierce said, adding a lot of complaints have come in from people overall in the unincorporated part of the county when it comes to noise.
She expressed an interest to take up the noise ordinance separately with commissioners at a later date as well.
One of Biggers’ owners, Wells Strubel, said music “winds down” normally at 8 p.m.
“Retail closes at 6 p.m. and the music continues,” he said, adding it’s never gone past 9 p.m.
Zapple was concerned the ordinance could allow for the music to continue until midnight, should the market choose.
Between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., the county’s noise ordinance says there is a limit of 70 decibels, patrolled by the sheriff’s office.
“We’ve never had a noise complaint,” Strubel said, referring to Market Street but brought up a zoning violation from a few years ago.
There is a zero tolerance of amplified sound within 500 feet of residential districts per the city and the City of Wilmington issued a zoning violation to Biggers two years ago. It was reversed by the board of adjustment in November 2022.
The city claimed the market added amplified music, not listed in its zoning compliance application. But Biggers was formerly Port City Produce and therefore grandfathered into old city zoning code from 2015, which at the time did not regulate outdoor music in the regional business district.
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“It’s the only thing the city could cite us for, was amplified outdoor sound,” Strubel said.
He added the complaints coming in at that time were really about parking, not noise. The group fixed the parking issue by adding more spaces at another nearby property they owned.
“So I have been to the Biggers Market, it’s near my neighborhood,” Commissioner Stephanie Walker said. “My experience with Market Street is, it doesn’t seem to be that loud.”
Rivenbark thought too much emphasis was being put on noise, considering musicians brought to Biggers were mostly acoustic, not bands.
“I’ve never seen anybody mad because they had to be at a produce market or a bait and tackle shop, so I think it’s a no-brainer,” Rivenbark said.
The market operates from March through December. Zapple asked if Strubel would be amenable to ending the music by 10 p.m. and adding it as a condition, to which the Biggers’ owner agreed.
Melanie Ferrara was the only person who spoke during the public hearing and said she is one of 11 balconies from Sellers Cove facing the soon-to-be-build Carolina Beach Road market. Ferrara relayed that the HOA board has an “excellent relationship” with Strubel and has no problem communicating with him, should the need arise.
“If the music ever became too much, we could talk with Wells,” she said. “We are all for it.”
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