Planning board recommends rezoning for 8-unit Carolina Beach Road development, requires proof of legal access

The New Hanover County Planning Board voted Feb. 5 to recommend approval of a conditional rezoning that would allow an eight-unit attached residential development on a parcel along Carolina Beach Road.

Planning staff described a revised concept plan that reduced units from nine to eight, converted a building near the entrance from a triplex to a duplex, added a sidewalk along the northern frontage and provided a 10-foot transitional buffer behind Units 3–8. Staff said the proposal aligns with the 2016 Comprehensive Plan’s community mixed-use place type, is below the threshold for a traffic-impact analysis and is expected to generate about two additional students. Staff recommended approval with eight conditions related to height, tree preservation, lighting, parking, access and other site protections.

During public comment, supporters including Stephanie Shear said the applicant had negotiated with Red Lighthouse Village homeowners and urged protections on short-term rentals. Opponents, including long-time resident Robert Shanowitz, said the neighborhood is a closed, private lane with a narrow, blind turn on Carolina Beach Road and raised concerns about emergency-vehicle access, nearby utilities, recent paving paid for by residents and added traffic near a bus stop.

Applicant representative Cindy Wolf told the board she and the property owner had worked with Red Lighthouse Village and brought a petition showing 18 of 23 owners expressing support for negotiating an access easement. Wolf said driveway aprons and turning radii would be sized for emergency vehicles and that the development would not build in the community’s 30-foot open-space buffer; she urged the board to weigh the Red Lighthouse Lane access as a safer alternative to direct access on Carolina Beach Road.

County legal and planning staff cautioned that the petition letters represent promises of support and are not legally binding. To address that, the board’s recommended conditions include a requirement that, before Technical Review Committee approval, the developer provide documentation demonstrating the project has legal access from Red Lighthouse Lane and that this documentation be reviewed and verified by the New Hanover County Attorney’s Office.

Chair moved to recommend approval, reading eight conditions that include a 35-foot maximum building height; protection of a 21-inch DBH water oak; full-cutoff downward lighting; permitted housing limited to duplex, triplex and quadraplex dwellings; parking minimums; retention of existing trees outside essential improvements; dedication of a minimum 20-foot public access easement along Carolina Beach Road for future bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure; and the legal-access documentation requirement.

The board approved the motion and the recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration at its March meeting (tentatively March 16, 2026). County staff said technical details such as driveway aprons, emergency turnarounds and sewer/water connections will be reviewed later in the TRC process.

The board’s vote followed extended debate about neighborhood compatibility and traffic; several board members said nearby lots developed under performance standards are smaller than standard R-15 parcels and judged the proposed density compatible, while residents and other board members emphasized local safety and stormwater concerns.