Planning board tables request to allow RV camping, storage at Wilmington Moose Lodge

The New Hanover County Planning Board on March 6 tabled a text amendment request from the Wilmington Moose Lodge that would have allowed RV camping and private RV and boat storage as accessory uses at fraternal and social lodges across the county.

County planning staff said the proposed countywide change raised compatibility and public-health concerns. Dickerson, planning staff, told the board that "staff does recommend denial of this request." He said staff’s research found that similar uses in other jurisdictions were often legal nonconformities or grandfathered and that campgrounds typically need larger parcels and on-site waste disposal requirements.

The applicant, Brian DeBose, junior past president of the Wilmington Moose Lodge and North Carolina chairperson for Moose Charities, told the board the lodge has offered camping to members for decades and said the lodge has eight existing campsites and electrical hookups installed during renovations more than 20 years ago. DeBose said the lodge received a notice of violation in 2024 and paid a $1,000 fine after efforts to resolve the matter with staff were delayed. He said the lodge was working with the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority on an on-site sewage plan and asked the board to allow limited camping and storage while the county reviewed a code change.

Board members said they were sympathetic to the lodge’s history of providing member camping but questioned a blanket ordinance change that would apply countywide. Several members suggested a site-specific approach — such as a revised special-use permit or a narrowly tailored amendment — rather than adding a new permitted use that would affect all parcels currently allowing lodges. Miss Roth, planning staff, explained that existing campground rules require a much larger scale (including a minimum number of spaces) and separate restroom/shower provisions that do not fit the lodge’s smaller, episodic use.

Given the board’s reservations and the technical drafting needed to limit any change to an appropriate scale and set of locations, the applicant requested the matter be tabled. The board approved a motion to table the item; staff will notify the applicant and the board when revised language or a site-based pathway is ready for consideration.

Next steps: The item is tabled with no date certain. Planning staff will work with the applicant on alternative language and on whether a special-use permit or narrowly written text amendment would meet the lodge’s needs while addressing the staff’s compatibility and waste-disposal concerns.