West end, Tram Road rezoning refused

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Two controversial requests to rezone property in Whiteville were forwarded with negative recommendations Monday.

The Whiteville Planning and Zoning Board turned down a request by B&D Enterprises and Autry Dawsey to rezone a parcel behind the Waffle International restaurant to allow multi-family use. The land is currently zoned R-6, for single family, small lot development.

The other request denied by the board came from CIW Developments, which initially wanted to develop an active adult retirement complex off Tram Road.

Dawsey appeared before the planning board earlier this year to request the change so he could build patio homes, townhomes and apartments on the property. Residents of the nearby Bob White Lane neighborhood objected strongly to the request, fearing that multi-family housing could bring traffic and congestion to the area.

At a previous meeting, Dawsey told the board the property was originally zoned for multi-family use. He also said he had no intentions of building subsidized housing on the parcel, but wanted to build “quality homes” to meet a growing rental market in the area.

Interim City Planner Don Eggert told the board Monday that a search of city records found no reference to Dawsey’s claim that the property was zoned anything but R-6.

With little discussion, the planning board unanimously voted to turn down the request. It will be given final consideration by the City Council at their next meeting.

In the second request, the board refused to grant a change to CIW Developments that would have allowed the company to build apartments in the 400 block of Tram Road.

CIW originally approached the board about constructing an Active Adult Retirement Complex (AARC) on the property last fall. As the city did not have a designation for AARCs, CIW requested the property be zoned multi-family. It is currently zoned R-12, or single family, large lot.

Residents complained that the addition of even a high-end apartment complex in the area would devalue properties and could lead to safety concerns. CIW initially withdrew the rezoning request, and asked the town to create an AARC designation. Eggert and CIW worked together to create the AARC definition, which was presented to the Planning Board and city council last month.

The definition adopted by the city has a stricter set of rules than those suggested by CIW. The developer then requested the Planning Board rezone the land to allow apartments. Mark Richardson, representing CIW, told the board the apartments would “not be a family housing facility.

“This would be for active adult households 55 or older,” he said.Richardson pointed out that the developer could “build 22 duplexes right now” on the property, according to the zoning ordinance.

“What we want to do would have minimal impact,” Richardson said. He explained the developer wants to construct 34 two-bedroom units and 14 one-bedroom units, incorporating some of the features of the AARC.

“I’d like to schedule a time to sit down with the neighbors and talk about this,” Richardson said. “There are a lot of misconceptions about what we want to do.”

The only question from the board came from Mary Lou Smith, chair of the board.

“Could this still be subsidized housing?” Smith asked.

Richardson confirmed that if the project was approved, some federal funding would be required for infrastructure development. Under most circumstances, property that is purchased or developed using federal funding can be converted to subsidized housing if it is sold.

The board refused the request with no additional comment.

After the meeting, Richardson was disappointed, but said he hoped the project could still become a reality.

“We haven’t quit yet,” he said.

In unrelated business, the board approved a request by Greater Apostolic Church to construct a new church facility at the northwest corner of East Main and Maultsby streets.

Planning boards review zoning applications and forward their recommendations to governing boards.

Final approval or denial of planning board recommendations is made by the city council.