Surf City has blocked one of the largest projects that has been recently proposed on the island. The town council denied a special-use permit for a 48-foot-tall, 200-boat storage facility during its meeting.
An initial denial came at a town council meeting in August that carried into the early morning hours of the next day. However, a formal order to deny laying out the town’s issues with the project was issued on Oct. 6. This date is important, as it officially sets the timetable for when the applicant can challenge the ruling or come back with a revised proposal.
Here’s what to know about why the project was denied, as well as what life might be left in it.
What was proposed?
The project entailed two four-story buildings that would provide storage for 100 boats
each. The proposed site was on Roland Avenue, only a short distance from the island’s central roundabout.
The proposed dry-stack storage wouldn't have been the only one of its kind if approved. Another multi-story boat storage facility, the Topsail Island Yacht Club, is located right next door.
Alongside the boat storage, the full proposal included two additional commercial buildings totaling around 19,000 square feet combined. Plans indicated the commercial buildings would contain shops and a high-turnover sit-down restaurant.
According to the meeting agenda, these commercial buildings are considered by-right uses. Only the boat storage requires a special-use permit. However, Surf City Public Information Officer Ashley Riffle said that the commercial elements were included in the overall project the town denied.
Why was it denied?
For a special-use permit to be approved, the project must align with Surf City’s Unified Development Ordinance. In the eyes of the town council, the dry stack storage facility did not for three key reasons.
The first is traffic. According to the order to deny the permit, the town council found that the traffic impact analysis for the development was not sufficient. Specifically, the town determined that the analysis did not account for peak seasonal traffic fluctuations and for the project’s nearness to the island’s central roundabout, therefore underestimating the true traffic impact.
The town council also found that the proposed dry stack “would be noxious or offensive by reason of vibration, noise, odor, dust, smoke, or gas to the adjoining property owners at Topsail Island Yacht Club,” according to the order to deny.
The final area of concern was boat traffic through the nearby Intracoastal Waterway channel. The town determined that the additional boat traffic associated with the proposed dry stack facility would create safety issues in what the town described as an "already congested shared channel."
Not quite dead in the water
According to Surf City Public Information Officer Ashely Riffle, the town’s denial on Oct. 6 started two clocks. One is a 30-day window for the applicant, Wilmington-based Zimmer Development Company, to appeal the decision in N.C. Superior Court. The other is a 1-year wait until the applicant could submit a revised proposal.
As of Oct. 7, Zimmer Development Company had not responded to the StarNews’ request to comment on future plans for the project.
Charlie Kingree is the Pender County and trending topics reporter for the StarNews. He can be reached at ckingree@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Marina project formally denied in Surf City. What's next?
