Update – September 2025

The developer is back again. Despite rules requiring a 12-month wait before refiling, Hoosier Daddy LLC slipped in a new Special Use Permit (SUP) application under a last-minute “change of circumstance” loophole -just before the County’s zoning amendment took effect that would have required a more open, legislative process. This new request seeks approval for 290 high-density units (apartments and townhomes) directly beside our single-family neighborhoods, including Tarin Woods, Battle Park, Covington, Congleton Farms, Sentry Oaks, and Rosa Parks.

Our concerns remain the same-outdated traffic studies, stormwater and flooding risks, school strain, and the incompatibility of such density with the character and harmony of our communities. We need your continued support to show the Planning Board and County Commissioners that this proposal is still not right for our area. Please sign, share, and leave your public comment today.

If you're inclined to donate, please follow the donation link here (donating to change.org does NOT help the cause, it boosts the petition but has very little impact):  https://givebutter.com/7S4atV

Submit your comment here → https://www.nhcgov.com/1105/Public-Comment

The Issue

We are residents of Tarin Woods, Battle Park, Covington, Congleton Farms, and neighboring communities in Wilmington, NC. Many of us chose these single-family home communities for the peace, safety, and quality of life they offer. We value the safe spaces our children enjoy, the amenities designed for modest neighborhood sizes, and the natural beauty of the trees and wetlands that define our environment.

Now, we once again face a serious threat to that tranquility. A Special Use Permit (SUP) application has been filed by the same developer who previously sought increased density — and was denied rezoning and withdrew his previous Special Use Permit. This time, they are requesting approval for nearly three times as many units on a larger tract of land, proposing dense multi-family housing (apartments and townhomes) in the heart of established low-density, single-family neighborhoods.  (Find the application to review here:   https://laserfiche.nhcgov.com/WebLink/Browse.aspx?id=5343001&dbid=0&repo=NHC  

This proposal is not transitional or compatible with our community character, despite claims to the contrary. It introduces significant incompatibilities without adequate buffers or adjacent higher-density development to justify it. It threatens to fundamentally change the nature of our neighborhoods.

Our concerns are numerous and serious:

Traffic and Safety:   Our area is already straining under increasing traffic. According to NCDOT data, congestion is steadily worsening, and the addition of hundreds of new residences would further burden our already inadequate highway system and evacuation routes.
Stormwater and Flooding: The existing phases of Tarin Woods already experience drainage and flooding issues, worsened by poor construction practices and insufficient stormwater management. The new plan would pave over nearly 18 acres of impervious surface—in an area previously classified as wetland and Pamlico soil—putting even more homes at risk.
Schools and Resources: New Hanover County Schools transportation is already stretched thin. Adding the potential for 400+ new students without new school facilities is simply not sustainable.
Developer Track Record: This developer has demonstrated poor construction quality and ongoing neglect of existing roads, stormwater systems, and common areas. Trusting them to manage an even larger, higher-impact development would be irresponsible.
Repeated Attempts to Circumvent Zoning: Since 2018, the developer has tried five times to secure rezoning or increased dwelling allowances — each time denied or withdrawn due to inappropriate density. Now they seek to use the Special Use Permit process to bypass established zoning standards, requesting even greater density than before.

We deserve better. Our communities deserve thoughtful development that respects the environment, the infrastructure, and the families who already live here.

We urge the New Hanover County Planning Board and Board of Commissioners to stand with us—your constituents—and deny this Special Use Permit. Approving it would set a dangerous precedent, encouraging developers to misuse SUPs to force through incompatible, high-density projects in low-density, residential neighborhoods.

Please join us in protecting the character, safety, and quality of life of our neighborhoods.

Sign this petition today! 

(And if you have a few moments to click and submit public comment prior to the May 1 Planning Board meeting, please do!  Click here--> https://www.nhcgov.com/formcenter/planning-land-use-23/public-comment-form-95  )