County commissioners approve rezoning for new Tractor Supply, contract to use landfill gas

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners conditionally approved a rezoning for a new Tractor Supply store, a contract to monetize landfill gas and more at a meeting on Monday, April 3.

Board members conditionally approved a request to rezone 11.5 acres at 3400 Castle Hayne Road from residential (R-20) to a conditional business zoning district (B-2) for a Tractor Supply store. The one-story building would include a 21,930 square-foot retail building, a 3,744 square-foot garden center and a 12,170 square-foot fenced outdoor display area.

According to the agenda documents, the R-20 zoning was set in 1974 before water and sewer services were available in the area. The request was submitted by David Long with Castle Hayne Development Group LLC on behalf of the property owner James Stone with Ashton & Avery, LLC.

Commissioners approved the request given the developers include a utility easement and site access restrictions.

Commissioners also approved a contract between NHC Recycling and Solid Waste and Archaea Energy for a landfill gas-to-energy facility to be made over the next two years.

The department already maintains several landfill gas collection wells to manage the methane made by the decomposition of solid waste. Since this was enough to be monetizable, the county put out a request for proposals and got five responses, choosing Archaea Energy out of the bunch.

Now, Archaea will have two years to build the facility with interconnection to Piedmont Natural Gas pipeline along Hwy 421. Once the facility is operating and receiving landfill gas, the Recycling and Solid Waste Department will receive $300,000 annually with increases based on the Consumer Price Index and a variable payment based on how much landfill gas is received and marketed.

The board held a public hearing and approved a rezoning for a two-story 20,800 square-foot building with an underground stormwater system for unspecified office and retail purposes at 7620 Market Street in continuance until June. The request comes from Cindee Wolf with Design Solutions on behalf of the owner, Bayshore Estates, Inc. Bayshore Estates is also the company behind the nearby Bayshore Estates community.

They approved rezoning 2.74 acres from residential (R-15) to conditional business (B-2) to allow for the structure and remove the special highway overlay district (SHOD) from the property. SHOD requires larger setbacks than the developers would prefer, and they have agreed to comply with other SHOD requirements.

One development would put 10 single-family homes and 327 townhomes on 42 acres at 5741 Carolina Beach Road and Shiloh Drive north of Manassas Drive. The request by James Yopp with River Road Construction LLC and Hoosier Daddy LLC asks for the land to be rezoned from lower-density residential (R-15) to moderate high-density residential (R-5).

But before the meeting, the board received a request to continue the item.

The proposal also includes open space and an amenity center. Students living in the development would be assigned to Anderson Elementary and Ashely High along with Myrtle Grove or Murray middle schools depending on the part of the neighborhood.

The planning board last considered this application on March 2, and several people spoke against the request. The board then unanimously recommended the denial of the petition. Staff found that the proposal was consistent with the county’s overall plan, but the county manager recommended denial because of the amount of traffic on Carolina Beach Road.

The full agenda is available on the county commissioners’ website.

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