Pender County planning board approves revision to Lanes Ferry Landing master plan with commercial/multifamily flexibility

The Pender County Planning Board voted to approve an administrative revision to the Lanes Ferry Landing master development plan, allowing the applicant to adjust unit types while keeping the previously authorized 2,695 total units.

Planning staff told the board the project — originally approved in the mid-2010s and re-engineered since — proposes a redistribution of types (staff presented a plan showing about 2,365 single-family detached, 125 attached and up to 205 multifamily units) and a smaller commercial footprint than the original approval. Senior staff said net density calculations were corrected during the review and that the project complies with the Unified Development Ordinance and the county’s Imagine Pender 2050 future land-use plan.

Neighbors raised flood and traffic concerns at public comment. Eileen Schoiber, who lives adjacent to the site, said the area north of NC 210 flooded up to 2–3 feet during the 2018 storm and asked, “If we had that hurricane again, if we had 2,000 homes under 3 feet of water, what will we do?” The applicant’s engineer, Tim Clinch of Paramount Engineering, responded that the wastewater facility is infiltration‑based with “no direct discharge to the river,” that the design used the updated FEMA maps and that lots will be raised and engineered to sit above the revised 100‑year base‑flood elevations (he said the team plans pads about two feet above the new base elevations and that FEMA has approved permits and a conditional letter of map revision).

Traffic engineers said the updated unit mix reduces trip generation relative to the originally approved plan and that previously required off‑site improvements identified by NCDOT — turn lanes, ramp work and possible future signals — remain required. Ronald Stevenson (DRMP), the project traffic engineer, said the study follows the earlier TIA and DOT/Wilmington MPO coordination and that several improvements already are identified for initial phases.

After discussion about the site’s commercial acreage, connectivity to adjoining parcels and the possibility of gating, the board and applicant negotiated a condition to preserve flexibility in the commercial/multifamily node. The approved condition reads, in effect, that the Phase 5 parcel and the future commercial area “shall allow upper‑story residential with multifamily units not to exceed 205 with commercial space not to exceed 70,000 square feet for the entire project.” The board voted to grant administrative approval with that condition. The motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.

Staff and the applicant said the project already holds several federal and state approvals for earlier phases (wetland JD, FEMA CLOMR activity for fill and as‑built verification, preliminary plat approval for phase 1 and wastewater permitting). Project representatives said phase 1 north of NC 210 has the necessary site permits and could proceed toward construction subject to applicable permits and subsequent plats.

Next steps: the project will proceed through usual permitting and construction phases; any future changes that would alter the approved project density or exceed the new commercial cap will require a master‑plan revision or separate approval as established by the county code.