Planning commission backs code change to allow semi-permanent structures in downtown Wilmington

The City of Wilmington Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend a land development code amendment that would allow one semi-permanent accessory structure per lot in the Central Business District (CBD), with conditions limiting use, size, and placement.

Planner Grace Lame told the commission the proposal responds to gaps in the CBD design standards that treat small accessory structures the same as primary buildings, creating practical barriers for adaptive reuse of older, nonconforming properties. "Staff recommends approval," Lame said, explaining the amendment would permit semi-permanent structures only as accessory uses to existing restaurants and nightclubs, would prohibit them as primary structures, and would require standards for quantity, dimensions, appearance and location.

The amendment was prompted in part by a Board of Adjustment case. Joseph Ebar, owner of the Eagle’s Dare on North Third Street and the applicant behind the text amendment, said he installed a shipping container as a secondary bar more than three years ago and later received four zoning violations. "We had four zoning violations that I ended up going to the Board of Adjustment for — building height, fenestration, material and setback," Ebar said, describing the BOA's recommendation that a code amendment would be a more appropriate long-term solution.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on several details during a lengthy discussion: whether the structures may connect to water or sewer (they may not), whether they could be used in residential districts (they cannot), how the proposal would apply to new development (it would not permit new nonconforming development), and how the historic preservation overlay would affect approvals. Staff said projects visible from the public right-of-way inside the historic district would need a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission and that permit-level review would require renderings and maintenance standards.

Several commissioners said they supported the amendment for the CBD but asked for added safeguards to avoid unintended consequences in other locations. Commissioners debated orientation and placement rules to reduce the chance that a long-side facade would block the principal building or obstruct corner visibility. The commission incorporated an orientation requirement — effectively asking staff to add code language to require the narrow side face the primary street frontage and to address corner-lot exceptions — before moving the measure forward.

Commissioner Collier moved to recommend approval with the added orientation condition; Commissioner Adams seconded. The motion carried by roll call, 6–0, and will be forwarded to City Council for consideration.

Next steps: the planning commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to Wilmington City Council; if council approves the amendment the change would allow semi-permanent accessory structures on qualifying CBD properties as of the adoption date (an implementation date referenced by staff during the hearing). The Board of Adjustment case involving the applicant remains tabled pending the outcome of the code amendment.