We're gonna go ahead and call to order the City of Wilmington Board of Adjustments meeting for Thursday, January 18th, 2024.

It is one o'clock.

Before we started, we'll ask everyone that's going to speak today to be sworn in.

All right, I'll ask that staff, applicants, and members of the public who wish to speak to stand and raise your right hand.

Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Next read the board of adjustments introduction.

Hearings before the board of adjustment are quasi-judicial in nature.

Decisions of the board are based on the record of these proceedings.

To grant a variance requires a concurrent vote of four fifths of the board of the members of the board.

To reverse or modify termination of administrative official requires a simple majority.

Evidence submitted to the board for review becomes part of the record.

Appeals of the board's decisions are to Superior Court and are based on the record.

Appeals must be filed within 30 days of the data filing of the board's order in the planning division.

A hearing before the board is conducted in accordance with rules of procedure.

Those who want to testify in a case are sworn as witness witnesses.

The chairperson recognizes those that want to testify or their attorney for presentation of evidence during the hearing.

To ensure all testimony is properly recorded, you would please come forward to address the board, state your name, address, and speak clearly.

All right.

Um the first item on our agenda will be the approval of the minutes from the December 21st, 2023 meeting.

Is there a motion as presented?

I'll make a motion to approve those minutes.

There's been a motion, is there a second?

There's been a second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

Those are approved.

We're the our item on the agenda is old business.

It relates to 6450 Shinwood Road.

It's variants under uh Chapter 18 land development code section 18-270, subsection B, subsection 12 to allow more than two feet of fill in a coastal A flood, uh special flood hazard area.

Uh we'll recognize Catherine for the city.

Thank you, Chairman, members of the board.

Um, this is a request for a waiver.

Um at 6450 Shinwood Road to the city's floodplain standards.

This property is zoned R20, uh residential legacy district, and contains a 6,171 square foot dwelling that was constructed around 1977, according to New Hanover County tax records.

This property is located in a special flood hazard area zone coastal A with a base flood elevation of 13 feet above mean sea level.

The coastal A zone is considered a high hazard area due to the likelihood of breaking wave heights that are between one and a half and three feet.

Within the coastal A zone with a BFE of 13 feet, the lowest horizontal member of structures must be elevated at or above 15 feet above mean sea level.

Based on an elevation certificate from Mike Tackett, dated September 2nd, 2011.

The existing house is constructed with a finished floor at 14.21 feet above mean sea level and a finished basement at 4.45 feet above mean sea level.

The existing structure, excluding the basement, is 1.79 feet lower than the regulatory flood level.

The applicant has proposed to remove non-conforming living space on the ground floor and to elevate the existing structure to above the regulatory flood level.

City Code Chapter 18, section 18270 prohibits the use of fill in coastal high hazard zones for structural support, and it prohibits more than two feet of fill for any purpose.

Section R 322.4 of the International Residential Code, also known as the building code, requires that slabs used for parking floors of enclosures, landing stacks, walkways, patios, and similar uses that are beneath buildings or located such that they could be undermined or displaced and could call cause damage, either be structurally independent or self-supporting such that they will remain intact under flood conditions, taking into account scour and erosion, and have building foundations that are capable of resisting any added loads due to the presence of the slabs.

44 CFR and the North Carolina State Building Code requires that all structures within a coastal A zone comply with standards for V zone construction.

That's construction for a high velocity zones.

Within a V zone, structures must be either free of obstruction, elevated on pilings, or constructed with walls that are designed to break apart during flood events without damaging the structural integrity of the building or adjacent property.

The applicant would be required to comply with building code standards, the code of federal regulations, regardless of any variants issued by the Board of Adjustment.

On August 7, 2023, planning staff accepted an application for a waiver to the city's flood standards for a coastal high hazard zone to allow three feet of fill.

This matter was continued from the October 19th, 2023 meeting of the Board of Adjustment to allow the applicant time to demonstrate compliance with the land development code, the International Residential Code, and the Code of Federal Regulations pertaining to the structural changes.

This matter is set for hearing before you today, January 18th, 2024.

I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have of city staff, and the applicant is also present to give a presentation.

And I'll just go through the attachments.

I'd like to submit the attachments and the case summary into the record.

This is showing the flood zone, the red line on the map is showing the limits of moderate wave action where you're expected to have the elevated flood heights or wave heights.

I'm sorry.

This is the site plan submitted by the applicant.

You can see in blue that says the fill location.