There were a total of five rezoning requests on the meeting agenda, but the 4.6-acre, 64-unit project in the southern part of the county was the only one strongly contested.
Residents who live nearby — and would be most impacted by a new development — arrived at the public hearing by the dozens to raise concerns. Some claimed existing multi-family complexes around the county are under-utilized.
Many of the attendees also claim the road does not have the capacity to support more commuters coming to and from the area. Resident Tom Toby, who campaigned against overdevelopment as a county commissioner candidate in 2022, echoed concerns about traffic.
“Again, traffic was backed up from the bridge to Lords Creek on one holiday weekend. What are we going to do on that end of the county now when the next hurricane comes and we have to evacuate all of these people now, through the narrowest part of New Hanover County and out," Toby said.
Another resident, Sheila Stubbs, tacked onto Toby’s sentiment insisting that opposition to the development stems from a concern for the well-being and access to services for potential residents, and not from “not in my backyard” rhetoric.
“Maybe I don't have the vision that these developers have. I can only see a claustrophobic plot crammed full of buildings, parked cars, impervious surfaces, three to six feet of grass and a handful of trees and a stagnant pond,” Stubbs said.
Acting for the property owners, Giovanni Ippolito and Tanya Vlacancich, Cindee Wolf of the Design Solutions firm applied to rezone the land from a lower-density residential area to one allowing denser apartment-style projects. As part of the proposal, the project would include 10% workforce housing units — about six units.
Wolf said that offering a variety of housing types would support the growth in the neighborhood.
“We continue to hear about the influx of new residents in our county and the deficit of housing opportunities. The lack of supply and demand continues to drive the rental costs up," she said.
However, the pushback from residents, and disapproval of some commissioners, including Dane Scalise and Rob Zapple, led Wolf to withdraw the request before a vote — meaning the project can more easily be resubmitted in the future.
Wolf declined to comment about her motion to withdraw the rezoning request.
