Planning board recommends conditional B-2 rezoning for Market Street site with conditions on access and uses

The New Hanover County Planning Board voted unanimously July 17 to recommend that the county commissioners approve a conditional B-2 regional business rezoning for a Market Street parcel, a step the applicant and staff said would bring a longstanding legal nonconformity into compliance with current design standards.

Staff planner Miss Doss told the board the request would allow redevelopment of the site for a bank and other specified uses and would require the property to meet the county's Special Highway Overlay District standards. Doss said NCDOT has raised safety concerns with the existing right-in/right-out driveway and that staff included a condition allowing administrative removal of that driveway if NCDOT does not permit it.

The recommendation matters because the site is surrounded largely by commercial and industrial zoning and the change would limit potentially more intensive industrial uses allowed under the current I-1 zoning. "Staff's recommending approval, and this is effectively a down zoning," applicant representative Matt Nichols said, summarizing the basic rationale.

Nichols, an attorney representing the applicant, described the project as a reconfiguration of an existing commercial site (staff cited an existing building footprint of roughly 10,000 square feet) into a smaller, proposed 3,000-square-foot bank. He and staff said the change would have only a small net effect on peak-hour traffic (Nichols cited roughly seven additional AM-peak trips and a slight PM reduction) and would bring the site into conformity with the county's Unified Development Ordinance design standards.

Board members questioned whether the applicant would voluntarily close the Market Street access even if DOT permitted it. Nichols said the applicant would follow NCDOT's permit decision but also told the board: "If that's what the board wants, that's perfectly acceptable," indicating willingness to accept access closure as a condition.

Members also asked about preserving a healthy young tree near the building. Staff noted the county's specimen-tree threshold (trees over 36 inches in diameter) and said the tree in question appears too small to qualify; Nichols said the applicant would work with staff to try to save it if feasible.

After deliberation, a board member moved to recommend approval with two conditions: (1) limiting permissible uses on the site to a list that includes a bank/financial institution, child-care center, medical/dental/urgent care, veterinary service, business service center, instructional services and studios, personal services, pharmacy, and general retail; and (2) requiring closure of the Market Street right-in/right-out access if such closure is approved by NCDOT during the driveway permitting process. The motion was seconded and the board voted to recommend approval; the board will forward its recommendation to the county commissioners for final action.

Next steps: the planning board's recommendation will be transmitted to the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners for consideration at a future meeting.