In one of the latest developments in a dispute over the future of the Echo Farms golf course, the city's planning panel will hear an appeal Wednesday of a decision made in January that favored the property's owner.

The Subdivision Review Board (SRB) on Jan. 18 signed off on the technical merits of a preliminary plan to redevelop much of the unprofitable golf course into the Woodlands at Echo Farms, a project that would include single-family homes and multi-family units.

An attorney who spoke out against those plans on behalf of Echo Farms residents at the January SRB meeting applied for an appeal to the Wilmington Planning Commission, saying that the submittals of site-specific plans by property owner Matrix Development Group and its partners "are incomplete and were not sufficient for approval" by the SRB for a long list of reasons, according to planning commission documents.

"Furthermore, the SRB's decision was not conditioned upon the applicants' prior pending request to rezone the subject property to [a less-dense] R-15," says the application submtted by Murphy Averitt III of Marshal Williams & Gorham.

In addition to the rezoning request, unusual because it has come from a third party (Echo Farms residents) rather than the property owner, the conflict between residents and developers includes a pending lawsuit.

When the planning commission considers the appeal at its meeting that starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, the process will be a de novo hearing, which means the request will be considered anew as if the SRB approval never happened, according to city officials and those involved in the application.

Echo Farms Preservation on Tuesday morning sent an email to those on its email list titled, "51 Reasons to Reject the Proposed Echo Farms Development." Among them are concerns about whether the new development would fit in with the city's Comprehensive Plan or existing homes in the area. 

"They have provided neither sketches of proposed buildings nor any architectural details at all," the email said of the developers.

Matrix and its partners have taken issue with some of the Echo Farms residents' objections.

In December, Matrix issued a statement that said, "Over the past several years, recreational amenities like tennis and swimming have become increasingly popular, while the golf component has struggled. These demands mirror national trends towards more active recreation opportunities for people of all ages and abilities. Matrix has submitted a proposed design that includes an expansion of these sought-after community recreation areas, and a variety of new home opportunities, with sensitivity towards buffering the areas surrounding the Echo Farms property."

At meeting of the Wilmington City Council last week, a representative of another residents' group, Save Echo Farms, asked city officials to consider buying the property so it can be preserved for parks and greenspace. Efforts Tuesday to ask Matrix officials whether such a sale would be possible were not immediately successful.