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Board allows porch to remain on relocated historic home at 200 Hillsdale Drive
Summary
The Board approved a variance to permit an 8.22‑ft porch encroachment into the side‑street setback so a relocated historic home can retain its porch; staff said future additions that encroach would require separate variances.
The Wilmington Board of Adjustments unanimously approved a variance Dec. 18 allowing a porch on a relocated historic home at 200 Hillsdale Drive to encroach 8.22 feet into the side‑street setback in the R‑15 district.
Planner Grace LeMay told the board the corner lot sits at the intersection of Hillsdale Drive and Nash Drive (the latter an unimproved public gravel road treated as a side street by the land‑development code). The applicant requests an encroachment of 8.22 feet, which exceeds the 5‑foot encroachment allowed by section 18‑422 and therefore requires a variance of 3.22 feet.
Applicant Misty Donaldson said her family is moving a special historic residence to the site and that the porch is central to the home’s character. Donaldson said the porch was a filming location for scenes of the locally produced Dawson’s Creek and that removing the porch would harm the home’s historic integrity and livability.
A board member asked whether approval could be conditioned to prevent future additions that further encroach; LeMay said future additions that encroach the setback would require their own variance requests. After brief discussion, a motion to approve the variance based on the four findings of fact passed unanimously.
What happens next: The variance applies to the porch as requested; future building additions that encroach into the setback would require separate review and a new variance application.
