Applications for annexation of five parcels in the County adjacent to Walmart have grown to seven in the past month, and the City Council will discuss annexation at a Council Worksession in City Hall on Tuesday (April 18) at 5 p.m.
All seven of the parcels are zoned Rural District, the County’s lowest-density zoning where residential is permitted. Applicants are asking that the properties be annexed by the City and re-zoned to Highway Commercial, zoning which among other things permits multi-family dwellings, drive-thru restaurants and motel/hotel/extended stay businesses.
The properties are within 1/2 mile of the City’s Growth Boundary at Chowan Creek Bluff, and there are some 20 other similarly-zoned parcels in the immediate area. While under existing regulations the City is permitted annexation, the City has said repeatedly it had no intention of doing further annexation east of Walmart.
The parcels affected are relatively narrow and deep, likely restricting commercial development to frontage along the Sea Island Parkway. With HC zoning in place, however, consolidation of the properties into a single parcel would result in a site nearly the same size as Walmart, with attendant development opportunities.
Tuesday’s 5 p.m. meeting in the Planning Conference Room at City Hall is open to the public. As a Council Worksession, no votes will be taken or decisions made on the proposals.
