11. November 2020 minutes
New Hanover County-City of Wilmington Workforce Housing Advisory Committee
November 4, 2020 Regular Meeting
Committee Members Present: Evelyn Bryant, Patrick Brien, Don Harris, Katrina Redmon, Steve Spain,
David Spetrino, Paul Stavovy
Staff Present: Tufanna Bradley (NHC), Glenn Harbeck (CoW), Rachel LaCoe (NHC), Thom Moton (CoW),
Suzanne Rogers (CoW), Rebekah Roth (NHC), Brad Schuler (NHC)
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order and a quorum was established through roll call at 3:02 pm by Chairperson
Evelyn Bryant.
Approve Agenda
Mr. Don Harris made a motion to approve the agenda, which was seconded by Mr. Steve Spain and
adopted unanimously.
Approve Minutes
Mr. David Spetrino made a motion to approve the draft minutes from the October 7, 2020 meeting. The
motion was seconded by Mr. Paul Stavovy and adopted unanimously.
Public Comments
City of Wilmington Planning Director Mr. Glenn Harbeck announced that City Council would be voting on
the second reading a Land Development Code text amendment concerning changes to prescribed
conditions for Commercial District Mixed Use (CDMU) developments in the Office and Institutional (O&I-
1), Commercial Business (CB), and Regional Business (RB) districts. Included is a provision to incentivize
workforce housing in CDMU developments in exchange for unlimited residential development density.
Changes since the first reading include the increase of the period of workforce housing from 10 years to
15 years.
New Business
Update on Housing Study and Survey
Chairperson Bryant recognized Workforce Housing Planner Rachel LaCoe.
Ms. LaCoe provided a presentation on Workforce Housing Considerations in Conditional and Straight
Rezonings.
• State law only allows conditional zoning and conditional use districts at the owner’s request;
they cannot be imposed without the owner’s agreement.
• Straight rezonings are reliant on existing/future development regulations to mitigate impacts.
• Conditional rezoning require community meeting and concept plan; may include additional
studies (TIA/Stormwater) to determine potential impacts; allows discussion on ways to mitigate
those specific impacts.
• New districts were adopted in New Hanover County in 2019. They were specifically adopted to
be used as straight rezonings, especially in the new R-5 district but lack of success has led to an
up-tick in conditional rezonings.
• These new residential districts can also assist with achieving the County’s goals of increasing the
supply of workforce/affordable housing.
• Greater by-right density can help to reduce the cost of developing each housing unit and allow
for housing types, such as townhomes and condominiums, that can provide more affordable
living opportunities for area residents than large-lot single family homes.
Discussion included questions about duplexes in the City of Wilmington’s R-7 and R-5 zoning, other
communities eliminating single family zoning, and how density is measured.
Mr. Spain asked if the WHAC should take advocacy on how tracts are rezoned. Ms. LaCoe reminded the
Committee that these types of recommendations will come from the study and survey reports.
Mr. Harbeck shared that the City is focused on density in the right places, including near transportation.
There was a brief discussion about the recent Planning Commission meeting and how affordable
housing can be incorporated in future developments. Recommendations would be discussed
Ms. LaCoe provided an update of two components of the Comprehensive Housing Study.
Bowen National Research portion of the study:
• Still on track to deliver draft by November, will need two weeks to incorporate UNCG findings
into their study
• Expecting a presentation in early 2021
UNCG portion of the study:
• 1,130 responses (goal of 1,813) but currently have over 95% confidence level
• Wrapping up survey in Mid-November
Announcements
No announcements.
Adjournment
With no further questions or comments, a quorum was established through roll call. Chairperson Bryant
adjourned the meeting at 4:16 PM.