Planning board recommends denial for Hawthorne at Hampstead plan to add 84 apartments amid resident concerns about flooding, traffic and schools

The Pender County Planning Board voted to recommend denial of a conditional zoning map amendment (case REZONE-2024-82) that would have added 84 apartment units to the Hawthorne at Hampstead development and unified two projects under a single conditional zoning district.

Planning staff recommended denial, saying the infrastructure required to support the additional multifamily units is not available and that the proposal conflicts with Objective 4.6 and Policies 5.1.C and 5.1.D of the Pender 2 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Staff noted the site straddles two future land‑use categories (regional mixed use and coastal residential) and explained how density is calculated under the county’s conditional zoning rules. Staff reported the project’s maximum allowable unit count under the future land use plan is 362 units; with the additional 84 units the proposal would result in 307 units on the site (gross density about 7.8 units/acre; net density about 13.2 units/acre). Staff also presented traffic and school capacity data: the added…