A proposed 324-unit apartment complex is on the New Hanover County Planning Board agenda for its June 6 meeting.

Item 1 on the docket is a rezoning and special use permit request from Cameron Management on behalf of the property owner, Drypond Partners LLC. Cameron Management is in charge of the project, according to Hill Rogers, broker in charge of Cameron Management.

The owner proposes to rezone nearly 26 acres of a 64-acre parcel at 5601 S. College from R-15 (Residential District) to (CUD) R-10, Conditional Use Residential District, the release stated. If that zoning request is approved, the owners would ask for a special use permit to build a high-density development of 324 dwelling units within the rezoned area. The development would include a pool, clubhouse and related amenities, Rogers said Thursday. 

The parcel is adjacent to the gated Whiskey Branch subdivision, bordered to the south by Mohican Trail.

Rogers said the current working name for the apartment development is the Timbers at Whiskey Branch.

Remaining land fronting South College Road that is not part of the planned Timbers at Whiskey Creek development will likely remain zoned R-15, according to Rogers.

Plans to develop a third section of the Whiskey Branch property abutting the single-family subdivision are still up in the air, according to Rogers, who said his firm is waiting to see the county’s updates to current zoning ordinances. The site could become a mixed-use development or could be commercial, but whatever plan emerges will be “something supportive of the neighborhood,” he said.

New Hanover County senior planner Brad Schuler said that if the rezoning request gets a thumbs up from the Planning Board, it will move to the county's Board of Commissioners.

"The current proposed site plan complies with the applicable zoning standards for the requested high density development, which is dependent on the Board of Commissioners approving the rezoning to the (CUD) R-10 district and the companion special use permit," Schuler said in an email Thursday afternoon. 
 
Three other items will claim Planning Board consideration at the same meeting. One is a rezoning request from Parker & Associates on behalf of Clearly Development Inc. to rezone about 47.58 acres of land located near the 2500-2600 block of Castle Hayne Road, from R-15, Residential District, to R-10, Residential District.

Another rezoning request comes from  Eastern Carolinas Commercial Real Estate, on behalf of the property owner, Ogden-New Hanover Volunteer Emergency Medical Service, Inc.. The request is to rezone about 8.43 acres of land located at 4450 and 4580 Carolina Beach Road, from R-15, Residential District, to B-2, Highway Business District.

The agenda's fourth item is a special use permit request from E85 Transport LLC on behalf of the property owner, Jack Carlisle, to obtain a special use permit for a cemetery for family members on a nearly 16-acre parcel located at 8640 River Road.

The Planning Board's June 6 meeting takes place at 6 p.m. in the Andre’ Mallette Training Center at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Suite 135.

Update: This version of the story includes a comment from New Hanover County senior planner Brad Schuler.