The Eagle’s Dare bar owner faces violation for cargo container

WILMINGTON, NC — Joseph Apkarian is the owner of, “The Eagle’s Dare,” on 3rd street downtown. He is facing a violation from the City of Wilmington due to a cargo container that sits on the property. The cargo container outside is painted white, with red decals matching the building’s aesthetics.

“Our shipping container is utilized as a secondary bar for our bigger events. It also has room for stuff, you know, call it storage,” he told WHQR.

The city considers the cargo container has the same building codes as a new construction and it does not pass those requirements. 

Apkarian says, “Shipping container architecture is a trend you see across the country. To include our city as we already have an area called Cargo District, there is no specific code that addresses shipping container architecture. I want to work with the city, not fight with the city. Let’s work together to update land development code to address this properly.”

“I’ve dealt with previous issues where we’ve done code updates, and this is no different. Just because something is set the way it doesn’t mean that’s necessarily how it should be. As an entrepreneur, always ask questions and work with your local city, council members, and elected officials. That’s how we grow as a city. We need to inform and address these matters then look at it as a people and community and say hey, this needs to be fixed, we discuss it and hopefully we bring it to where we can address these changing trends in our lives.”

Apkarian is in the process of working with the city to amend or create a separate section code specifically for shipping container architecture.

The City of Wilmington gave a statement:

Eagle’s Dare is located within the Central Business District. The City’s Land Development Code requires structures (such as the cargo container) in the commercially zoned property to meet dimensional and setback requirements for the district.

• The LDC allows a maximum setback of 5 feet, whereas the container is approximately 45 feet and 7 inches from the front property line.
• The LDC requires a minimum ground floor height of 13 feet, but the container only stands at 8 feet tall.
• The LDC requires at least 50% of a building’s street-level exterior wall facing a public street, sidewalk, or Riverwalk to include windows or other openings. The container does not have any windows on the street side, so the applicant is asking for a variance.
• The LDC prohibits metal at the primary building material, and the container has a full metal façade.

This item was continued from the Sept. 18 and Oct. 16 Board of Adjustment meetings. It was scheduled for Jan. 15, but on Jan. 5, the Planning Staff accepted an application for an LDC amendment proposal, which addresses shipping container design standards. This item will be heard at the April 1 Planning Commission meeting.

The BOA will hear the item on June 18 to allow for the LDC amendment process to take place.