Planning board holds preliminary forum on two Porters Neck special use permit requests

The New Hanover County Planning Board on Jan. 9 heard a preliminary forum on two linked special use permit applications for the Porters Neck area: SUP S24‑04, a 62‑unit multifamily building with 1,800 square feet of commercial space fronting Market Street, and SUP S24‑05, an additional‑dwelling allowance proposing 242 row‑style dwellings in an R‑15 district, together totaling 304 dwelling units.

Robert Farrell, planning staff, opened the staff presentation and emphasized that "preliminary forums are not public hearings and neither the planning board nor planning staff make a recommendation on the request." He summarized the county’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requirements and the four quasi‑judicial findings the Board of County Commissioners must make at the upcoming hearing: public health/safety, compliance with the UDO, injury to adjoining property values, and harmony with the comprehensive land use plan.

Gary Shippen, attorney for the applicant, told the board the project team had reduced density since a 2023 rezoning attempt and revised the plan "to pull density toward Market Street" and away from adjacent single‑family neighborhoods. "This applicant has heard what was…