Montreat council continues conditional‑zoning hearing for 779 Foreman Siding Road after contested stormwater testimony

The Montreat Board of Commissioners voted on April 14 to continue the public hearing on Wade Burns’s conditional‑zoning request for 779 Foreman Siding Road to its regular meeting on July 9, 2026, after extended testimony from the applicant, neighbors and experts about stormwater, property access and legal risk.

Burns asked the board to rezone a 0.26‑acre parcel under R‑3 conditional zoning so he could keep construction already completed on the site while obtaining reduced front and side setbacks. Burns and his lawyer said the site’s stormwater measures had prevented washouts during recent storms and that some adjustments could be made if required. "Driveway was how you get to the garage," Wade Burns said in response to questions about a paved driveway that neighbors say was added after the application.

Neighbors William ("Will") Hamilton, speaking with family members, argued the property’s drainage deliberately channels polluted runoff onto their land and violates the town’s stormwater buffer rule identified in the packet as section 3051. "The storm water is released onto our property, which harms the environment and is an illegal trespass," Hamilton told the board while showing site plans and annotated slides he said documented three discharge points to the Hamiltons’ parcel.

Hamilton’s team offered a compromise: cover and pipe the 26‑foot stream segment on Burns’s property and remove impervious surfaces (gravel and paved driveways) within 30 feet of the stream to eliminate the cited 3051 violation. Burns’s side said some of those remedies were infeasible and that prior approvals and site improvements had been intended to manage runoff.

An independent engineer retained by the Hamiltons, Wyatt Edsel of Edsel Engineering, told the board he believed it was "feasible to connect those systems" and that culverting that short stream segment could prevent impervious runoff from entering the vegetated buffer. Edsel also noted he had not completed a full hydraulic analysis of downstream capacity.

Town attorney Brandon cautioned that the dispute over whether the 30‑foot buffer requirement applies to the feature at issue has been litigated and remanded for further fact‑finding. He summarized the court record for the board and said the matter’s legal contours remain complicated and in active appeal.

Commissioners pressed both sides on technical and legal questions: whether a paved driveway built after the application should be allowed; whether off‑site swales and catch basins had recorded easements or maintenance agreements; and whether the town could, through conditional zoning, effectively resolve an outstanding Board of Adjustment setback dispute or instead risk further litigation. Multiple commissioners said they preferred an ordinance and a clear exhibit map and written conditions before approving a conditional‑zoning application for work already completed.

After discussion the board voted to continue the public hearing and asked staff and the town attorney to prepare a draft ordinance or, if the applicant preferred, accept a revised application that includes a certified exhibit map and explicit conditions for the council to record and certify. The council set the continuation for its regular meeting on July 9, 2026.

What happens next: staff and the town attorney will draft an ordinance or conditional‑zoning document that lists the proposed conditions, maps and strings of responsibility for maintenance and repair; the applicant and the Hamiltons can submit written proposals and technical calculations for staff review ahead of the July 9 meeting.

The petition and the hearing packet discussed site drainage details, a Board of Adjustment order and a Court of Appeals decision referenced by Hamilton’s counsel; the council emphasized that factual, engineering and legal clarifications would be required before any final action.

(Reporting note: quotations and attributions come from speakers recorded at the April 14 Montreat Board of Commissioners meeting; the council identified the continued hearing date as July 9, 2026.)