Wendell board OKs rezoning for eight townhomes near downtown over residents' objections

The Wendell Town Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a rezoning request that will allow eight townhome units on roughly 3.58 acres at the corner of Wendell Falls Parkway and Cook Street.

The measure rezones the parcel from Residential-3 to Downtown Mixed Use Conditional District, allowing a DMX development (conditional) that, if built as proposed, would place four units facing Wendell Falls Parkway and four units facing an internal alley. The board-approved zoning conditions include rear-loaded 20-by-20 garages, a 15-foot landscape buffer and a 6-foot stained wood privacy fence along the western lot line, a prohibition on vinyl siding (fiber-cement required), a three‑story height limit, and a requirement that end units have at least one window per floor. The plan shows roughly 1,500 square feet of on-site open space; staff said the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requires 8,000 square feet and the applicant proposed a fee-in-lieu for the remainder.

Why it matters: The parcel sits a few blocks from Wendell’s downtown core and Blueprint Wendell 2030 designates the area as a downtown fringe where attached single-family townhomes and denser residential can be allowed. Supporters called the project the type of infill the town’s comprehensive plan envisions;…