With “Save Airlie Road” signs proliferating in the Wrightsville Sound area, the owners of Dockside restaurant held a meeting Tuesday in an effort to find common ground with the community on plans to upgrade the parking lot, which the Wilmington City Council is scheduled to consider on May 3.
Attorney Matthew Nichols, representing the developers, presented an updated plan to neighbors of the restaurant, who continued to raise concerns about the zoning change needed to make the parking lot upgrades and build residential units on the property that are part of the plan.
The plan presented on April 26 had some changes from the one that the developers pulled from the Wilmington City Council’s March 1 agenda. Instead of three smaller patio-style homes, the proposed upgrade to the Dockside Marina and Restaurant parking lot now had two single-family homes and a swimming pool.
The owners of Dockside want to upgrade its existing gravel parking lot, located across the street at 1308 Airlie Road, by using part of the lot at 1303 Airlie Road to construct a paved parking lot. But Nichols told the crowd of about a dozen neighbors that there wasn’t a way to make the upgrades without asking the city to change the zoning from residential to commercial through “conditional district rezoning.” The zoning change would mean that if approved by the council, the developers wouldn’t be able to make significant changes to the site plan.
Residents are worried that by approving a zoning change to commercial on the west side of Airlie Road, it would set a precedent that could set off more construction and development on that side of the street. Nichols countered that the property’s historic use as a commercial property meant it would be difficult for other developers to cite a precedent. Though it has a commercial use, the property that was annexed into the city is zoned residential, requiring developers to obtain a zoning change before starting any construction.
“We would think there would be a clear distinction between this property and other property on the west side of Airlie,” Nichols said.
Residents have also raised concerns that by including the higher-capacity housing in the plan, the developers would start a trend toward more residential density in the neighborhood. Some asked if the houses could have their own driveway constructed, as the current plan would require the residents to drive through the parking lot to reach the two houses.
“The residential units are a big thing for my clients,” Nichols said. “They’re needed to help offset and pay for the improvement to the parking lot.”
Daniel Pearson, whose property abuts the lot at 1303 Airlie Road, said he believed the changes to zoning could be obtained through a “text amendment” to the city’s zoning ordinance.
“Each plan is better,” Pearson told Nichols. “The resistance is that we don’t want it rezoned.”
The developers will hold another meeting with residents at Dockside on Saturday, April 30 at 9 a.m., ahead of the following Tuesday’s council meeting.
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