Wilmington Design Adjustment Committee Meeting – June 15, 2022

The Wilmington Design Adjustment Committee met on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers to consider two development requests requiring adjustments and waivers from Wilmington’s subdivision and technical standards. After hearing public testimony and deliberation, the committee approved the May 18, 2022 minutes, conditionally approved the Bradley Heights preliminary plan and most related waivers, and approved the 5040 Market Street preliminary plan while denying two of its waiver requests. The meeting adjourned at 3:46 p.m.; the next regular meeting is scheduled for July 20, 2022.

Note: The agenda lists the meeting at City Council Chambers, Skyline Center, 929 North Front Street, while the minutes list City Council Chambers at 102 North 3rd Street.

Approval of Minutes

• The Design Adjustment Committee approved the May 18, 2022 minutes on a 4-0 vote. Gary McSmith abstained because he did not attend the May 18 meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Bradley Heights: Neil Shulman, a property owner, spoke in opposition, citing concerns about the right-of-way configuration and a ditch/fence line, retention ponds, traffic (including approximately 139 additional daily trips), parking, dead-end sidewalks, and whether fire apparatus could navigate the tight turn radii. He urged “smart development” rather than what he described as overly dense development.
• Bradley Heights: Chris Howard spoke in opposition, focusing on traffic concerns and what he said were repeated changes to the plans regarding buffers, a privacy fence, and access; he said he was not against development generally but wanted concrete commitments.
• 5040 Market Street: No public comments were offered.

Old Business: Bradley Heights

• Staff and the applicant presented revised plans for a proposed residential development at 239, 245, 251, 261 Giles Avenue and 255, 257 Peiffer Avenue. The site is zoned R-15 and the applicant requested R-5(CD) zoning with duplexes, quadraplexes, and courtyard-style homes, new streets, open space, and stormwater facilities.
• The applicant said changes from the May 18 continued hearing included centering pavement in the right-of-way, removing on-street parking, widening a connecting right-of-way to 40 feet, and reducing density by leaving a northern portion for future development.
• The requested waivers included narrower rights-of-way and pavement widths, reduced turning radii, use of header curb instead of vertical curb in some radii, and an increase in maximum driveway width from 62 to 68 feet.
• Committee discussion focused on emergency-vehicle turning, the 20-foot pavement width, plaza/sidewalk widths, utility location, and future development. Captain Elrod noted 20 feet of pavement meets the state fire-code minimum. Mr. McSmith said water and sewer could be accommodated in a 40-foot right-of-way. Staff clarified that the committee reviews technical standards only, while the rezoning request goes to the Planning Commission and City Council.
• The committee acted on the six requested design adjustments (each 5-0): it approved the Giles Avenue cross-section adjustment, conditionally approved the new right-of-way and alley cross-section adjustments, approved only the radii at the existing variable-width right-of-way for the turning-radius adjustment, conditionally approved the header-curb adjustment, and approved the driveway-width adjustment. It then conditionally approved the preliminary plan as a whole (5-0).

New Business: 5040 Market Street

• Staff presented a proposal for adaptive reuse of the former Days Inn/hotel site at 5040 Market Street, zoned RB (Regional Business). The 3.02-acre site includes an existing commercial/restaurant building and a 116-room hotel; the applicant proposed conversion to commercial mixed-use with 116 apartment units, with no building expansion or changes to existing driveways. The applicant noted prior Board of Adjustment variances reduced the required parking from 180 to 140 spaces.
• Waivers were requested for: the minimum property-line offset for driveways on a major thoroughfare (75-foot minimum; existing eastern driveway 24 feet and western driveway 13 feet from property lines), two driveways allowed where 174 feet of frontage would ordinarily permit one, a private driveway length of 880 feet versus a 500-foot maximum, and an 18-foot drive-aisle width versus a 24-foot minimum.
• The applicant’s counsel, Colin Tarrant, entered an NCDOT email from district engineer Benjamin Hughes stating NCDOT would require no driveway modifications for the retrofit. The applicant argued that existing conditions and site constraints justified keeping the driveways and that closing one would create bottlenecks and operational problems.
• Committee members discussed safety benefits of reducing curb cuts, access management, future NCDOT median/changes on Market Street, emergency-vehicle access, and the possibility of restriping parking spaces to meet the 24-foot drive-aisle width.
• The committee denied the waiver to keep both driveways (5-0), required elimination of the western driveway, approved the property-line offset only for the eastern driveway (5-0), denied the 18-foot drive-aisle width waiver (5-0), and approved the driveway-length waiver with a condition that the area be marked as a fire lane (5-0). It then approved the preliminary plan with staff conditions (5-0).

Key Outcomes

• Minutes approved 4-0 (McSmith abstained).
• Bradley Heights: six waivers/adjustments approved or conditionally approved 5-0; preliminary plan conditionally approved 5-0.
• 5040 Market Street: two waivers denied (two-driveway request and 18-foot drive-aisle width), two waivers approved (eastern driveway offset and driveway-length waiver with fire-lane marking), and preliminary plan approved 5-0.
• The meeting adjourned at 3:46 p.m.; the next Design Adjustment Committee meeting is July 20, 2022.