Planning commission votes in favor of developer after neighbors raise concerns

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A battle over a land development off Eastwood Road in Wilmington has neighbors concerned as the plans may be changing.

At a meeting Wednesday night, the developer asked the Wilmington Planning Commission to allow some major changes.

“It’s pretty shocking to me actually,” Cambridge Village resident Sally Scherer said. “It’s like somebody going back on their word.”

The proposed mixed-use development, CenterPoint, would be built right next to Cambridge Village near Military Cutoff Road. A number of other neighbors in the area are also upset at the new changes the developer is proposing.

“He now wants to build five structures that are seven stories tall,” Landfall resident Marc Farinella said. “That’s three stories higher than anything else in the vicinity.”

According to original plans, the developer planned for a 75-foot hotel, two parking garages, a medical building and retail shops.

“And it was the retail space and the restaurants that were of interest to our community,” Farinella said. “These were amenities for our community.”

Just last week, Farinella got word that the developer wants to add more hotel and residential space, and take away some space for those shops. The developer also requested a new special-use permit to build four more 75-foot buildings.

“Those structures are going to tower over everything else here, and it’s really going to undermine the character of the neighborhoods around here,” Farinella said.
“I think it’s fair to say we also feel really deceived by all this.”

With the new plans, Scherer says she would be met by these buildings when she steps out on her balcony. She says she was on board with the plans when they included more retail shops and restaurants.

“Now, it’s almost all big, high apartment buildings, which just means a whole lot more traffic, and a whole lot more people,” Scherer said.

Both Scherer and Farinella say they’re not against the original plan, but feel blind-sided by the changes.

“What he’s proposed now is a bait and switch, and an unreasonable plan for this community,” Farinella said.

The developer, Swain and Associates, says a bigger hotel was necessary to attract a big chain company, and blamed other changes on the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

“They wanted to make sure that our retail, which was up here, didn’t block some of those sightlines that they had,” says Jason Swain of Swain and Associates. “So when we moved the hotel, we lost retail here, and then when we changed our plan to accommodate NCDOT’s right of way, we lost this retail building, and this retail building as well.”

Swain and Associates does plan to rollback its request to increase the height of those other buildings.

The planning commission ultimately voted 3-2 to recommend city council officially approve the changes, saying the proposal is consistent with the City of Wilmington’s comprehensive and strategic plan.

Chairman Richard Collier and Commissioner Bruce Bowman had to recuse themselves from the vote due to a conflict of interest.

Click here to view the Planning Commission’s agenda from Wednesday night.

Click here to view the developer’s full proposal.