The Wilmington Board of Adjustment held a regular public hearing on Thursday, August 20, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. in City Council Chambers. The agenda listed the location as Skyline Center, 929 North Front Street, while the minutes state City Hall, 929 N. Front St. Chair Jeff Hovis called the meeting to order, the oath was administered to potential speakers, and the board unanimously approved the June 18, 2026 minutes. The board then heard two evidentiary matters, voting 5-0 on both.
Todd Rademacher, Planner II, presented the request for a variance from City Code Section 18-316 for impacts to the critical root zones (CRZ) of two specimen Southern Live Oak trees on a 3.73-acre, R-15 property proposed for an 8-lot residential subdivision. The Land Development Code permits up to 20% CRZ impact without a variance; the applicant requested approximately 28% impact for each tree. Staff recommended approval with a condition to protect the affected trees from future removal. The applicant's consulting engineer stated that over 12 layouts were evaluated, that sanitary sewer easements, floodplains, wetlands, and the property's configuration constrained the design, and that the roadway section was reduced from 50 to 40 feet. He also said pervious pavement would still count as disturbance within the CRZ. The board discussed using a recorded covenant or deed restriction rather than an easement, and staff explained that subdivided lots under one acre are exempt from city tree removal requirements, making the restriction necessary to preserve the trees in perpetuity. The board found the variance met the required findings of fact and approved it with a condition that the two affected specimen trees be protected from removal in perpetuity through recorded deed restrictions. Motion by Troy Demers, second by Alain Norman, passed 5-0.
Chair Hovis recused himself due to a business conflict, Vice Chair Patrick Moore presided, and alternate Greg Thompson joined the dais to provide a full five-member board. Brian Chambers, Assistant Planning Director, presented the appeal of staff's determination that a fence at 1159 Sea Lavender Drive violated City Code Section 18-554 (Legacy Code). The 0.35-acre property is zoned R-7 (CD) and is subject to a special use permit for the Cottages at Bradley Creek planned unit development; the transcript describes a 56-lot subdivision. Staff found the fence was approximately 6 feet high and located 5.25 feet from the front property line, within the 10-foot setback established by the special use permit along both Sea Lavender Drive frontages. Because the code allows only 4-foot fences in a front yard setback, staff determined the fence was out of compliance. Attorney Brooke McCormick, representing owners Austin and Christian Ogre, argued that the property is a corner lot, that the fenced portion is a side yard rather than a front yard, that side/rear fences may be up to 8 feet, that the special use permit setbacks do not prohibit fences, and that the original notice of violation did not cite the special use permit setback. Board members questioned how the front yard should be identified on a curved street. Staff clarified that the special use permit reduced the setback to 10 feet along the entire frontage and that the front yard is the area between the property line and the required setback. The board agreed with staff's interpretation, determining that the portion of the fence within the 10-foot setback must be reduced to a maximum height of 4 feet while side and rear portions may remain. Motion by Graham Mitchell, second by Greg Thompson, passed 5-0.
All right, we're gonna go ahead and get started. Go ahead and call to order the Board of Adjustments meeting for Thursday, August 20th, 2026. Before we get started, I'll read the Board of Adjustment Introduction. Hearings before the Board of Adjustments 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 members of the board. To reverse or modify determination of administrative official requires a simple majority. Evidence submitted to the board for review becomes part of the record. Appeals of the board's decision are to Superior Court and based on the record. Appeals must be filed 30 days of the date of the filing of the board's order in the planning division. A hearing before the board is conducted in accordance with the rules of procedure. Those who want to testify in a case are sworn as witnesses. The chairperson recognizes those who want to testify or are their attorneys for presentation of evidence during the hearing. To ensure that all testimony is properly recorded, please come forward to address the board, state your name, address, and speak clearly. Next, we'll go ahead and swear in anyone that's going to uh testify or present anything today. Would you please rise? If I could have all staff applicants and members of the public, anybody who wishes to speak this afternoon to please stand up 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. Our next item is going to be the approval of the minutes from the June 18th, 2026 meeting. If there aren't any changes, we'd entertain a motion of approval. Move to approve. Motion is a second. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Those pass. Next item is new business. It's 308 Hooker Road, a variance to city code section eighteen dash three one six for the impact to specimen trees. And you'll be doing the presentation, Todd. All right, thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Uh as was mentioned, this is 308 hooker road variants. Um section 18-316, tree reservation, uh, impacts of the critical root zone where we have uh two trees that are currently being impacted uh based on the plan that was submitted. Uh the subject property, uh located at 308 hooker road. The property is currently the site of two vacated single family homes as well as accessory structures. The property is bordered by Hooker Road along the front edge and residential single family home properties along all other property boundaries. Here we have views from the front uh looking from Hooker Road. Uh the picture on the right will show the impacted tree. Uh that is under discussion today. Here are some additional views from the rear of the property and an arrow pointing out the general location of the second tree at the rear. Uh that is impacted uh beyond the 20% of critical roots out. The project went through uh TRC pre-TRC uh on May 21st of 2026 for the review of the eight-lot residential subdivision. During this review, comments were noted about impacts to the critical root zone of two specimen southern live oak trees. On June 7th, 2026, the applicant submitted a request for a variance of city code section eighteen-three sixteen, seeking relief to exceed maximum critical root zone impacts of twenty percent for two trees at twenty-eight percent uh for each tree. Seeking relief to exceed maximum critical root zone impacts of 20% for two trees at 28% for each tree. Impacts of specimen trees, CRZ beyond 20% shall only be authorized by variants from the Board of Adjustment per the land development code.