The owner of land on South College Road is seeking a rezoning to allow for a mixed-use development aimed at complementing an existing neighborhood.

If the request made to New Hanover County is granted, the 65 acres at 5601 S. College Road, owned by Cameron Management entity Dry Pond Partners LLC, would be rezoned from R-15, residential district, to a Planned Development (PD) district.

The planned development would be an expansion of the existing Whiskey Branch master-planned community that began in 2018 as a residential subdivision containing single-family homes and townhomes, according to a community information notice. 

Plans for a portion of the 65 acres to hold 324 apartments were pulled from the county planning process by Dry Pond Partners in 2019.

Since then, county zoning ordinances have been updated, "so now we're coming back to rezone the entire 65 acres to PD zoning," said Hill Rogers, broker in charge of Cameron Management.

The new project would add 60 single-family lots, 250 apartments, 110 townhome units and community-oriented retail, office and other commercial uses “designed to complement the residential character of the subdivision,” the notice stated and a conceptual site plan showed.

The apartment portion of the additions is in the middle of the site, not touching any existing single-family neighborhoods, Rogers pointed out.

The site plan also shows commercial outparcels and a mixed-use building on South College Road that would include 24,000 square feet of commercial space on the bottom floor and 20 residential units on top.

"I think there's demand for these housing types, and I think this proposed rezoning meets the objectives of the future land use plan," Rogers said. “We also believe this proposed rezoning better satisfies the concerns of the surrounding neighbors who would prefer to have similar land use types adjacent to their property."

A community meeting on the potential PD rezoning will be held in a virtual setting via Zoom at 5 p.m. Dec. 15.

Those who want to register to attend the community meeting can do so online.