Carolina Beach planners recommend conditional-zoning route for 5-foot temporary dock at Stoked Restaurant

The Carolina Beach Planning & Zoning Commission voted to recommend that Town Council allow temporary floating structures to encroach up to five feet beyond the town’s pierhead at 313 Canal Drive, provided each case goes through a conditional-zoning review and meets strict safety and removability requirements.

Planning staff introduced a text amendment requested by Noel Holdings LLC, owner of Stoked Restaurant, to permit a removable, anchored floating dock that would extend five feet past the pierhead. Staff described the pierhead as a town-established build line (originating in the 1980s and amended in 2012 to match the Army Corps channel setback) meant to protect navigable waters and public access. Miss Abbotts told commissioners TRC unanimously opposed a wide, by-right change to allow encroachments because of public-access and navigational-safety concerns.

Rodney Johnson, director of operations for Stoked Restaurant and a partner for owner Noel Holdings, said the restaurant needs to repair rotted pilings and decking and proposed the floating dock primarily to improve safety and docking for events. "Our biggest goal is to kind of take our current deck — and make it safer for guests as they come to the only dock-and-dine on the water in Carolina Beach," Johnson said, describing plans for a roughly 691-square-foot extension and noting wheelchair access standards in the design.

Public commenter Bob Lewis, who organizes the town’s Dragon Boat Regatta, urged approval on economic and community-grounded reasons, telling commissioners the regatta brings "two or three thousand people" to the island and has generated about $150,000 in net proceeds that support local causes.

Commissioners and staff pressed the applicant for specifics about prior permits on neighboring docks, KMA (the state permitting process) involvement and whether the town had a record of safety incidents; staff said no specific accident database was provided in the packet. Commissioners repeatedly emphasized that a town-wide, by-right allowance could create unintended consequences if other property owners sought similar encroachments at different harbor pinch points.

Rather than approving the amendment as a by-right change, the commission adopted a motion to recommend an ordinance that would permit temporary, removable floating structures up to five feet beyond the pierhead only after a conditional-zoning application and subject to conditions: removable at the owner’s expense on town notice, no permanent utilities, secure anchoring and no navigational hazard. The commission will forward that recommendation to Town Council for final action.

Next steps: the Planning & Zoning Commission’s recommendation goes to Town Council; if council approves the revised approach, affected applicants would apply for conditional zoning and undergo site-specific review and public hearings.