New Hanover County Commission has approved a 60-acre rezoning along Crooked Pine Road from low-density residential to a planned development district, with the aim of building a mixed commercial and residential development.
The applicants said the development will be at the intersection of Murrayville Road and Military Cutoff Road, once those two roads have been extended.
If the developers follow their stated plan, the development could bring nearly 500 residential units to a neighborhood that’s almost entirely single-family homes. Planned Development Zoning offers incredible flexibility for the builders — once it’s rezoned, the developer can essentially build what they like within the lot.
Developers said the new commercial centers should redirect local traffic to local shops, instead of residents driving to Market Street to shop. But Commissioner Jonathan Barfield said the new road also creates a more direct link to that corridor.
“It can give people another route to get to Market Street," Barfield said. "I know we're always trying to find ways to create greater connectivity and move traffic around in a more efficient manner.”
The connection of the new roads will also alleviate traffic along Market, according to county staff. Work on the Military Cutoff extension began in 2017, and should be completed by 2023.
The rezoning should set this development on the path to becoming a new “commercial node,” which the developers say will be walkable, with multimodal paths that connect with the county's paths all the way to Wrightsville Beach.
The rezoning passed through the commission unanimously.
