Wilmington to pay $500K in short-term rental registration fee reimbursements

The City of Wilmington will pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars in short-term rental registration fees after a NC Court of Appeals ruling earlier this week.

May 3, 2022

Sydney Bouchelle,

Short Term Rentals — The City of Wilmington will pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars in short-term rental registration fees after a NC Court of Appeals ruling earlier this week. (Photo: Sydney Bouchelle/WWAY)

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The City of Wilmington will pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars in short-term rental registration fees after an NC Court of Appeals ruling earlier this week.

On Monday, the city said it would not appeal the court’s unanimous decision that struck down the city’s 20-19 zoning ordinance regulating short-term rentals through a registration and lottery process.

With the appeals court ruling, the city is now amending its ordinance and will no longer require registration for rentals. So, according to general statute, the city must now reimburse homeowners who paid those registration fees. At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, the council approved an ordinance allowing the city to pay $511,484 out of the general fund for the reimbursements.

Council also approved several rezoning requests.

First, they approved a request to rezone a little more than three acres of land at the intersection of Independence Boulevard and Tiburon Drive to allow the construction of a restaurant called Covey. Several people that live in the area spoke in favor of the development, saying they look forward to having fine dining within walking distance of their homes.

Two different residential developments are coming soon to Wrightsville Avenue. A 32-unit townhome community at the intersection of Wrightsville and French Road will address some of the “middle housing needs,” which is the type of housing between single-family homes and apartment complexes. Also, a 14-lot subdivision between Wrightsville and Rogers Avenues.

Council also heard an initial presentation for this fiscal year’s recommended budget. A public hearing on the budget will be held on May 17, with a work session held on May 27.

They also voted to set a public hearing on June 7 for the voluntary annexation of property at 205, 209, 213 & 217 Middle Sound Loop Road.