Event venue, gardens planned near wine and cheese shop on Oleander Drive
A new event venue and gardens are set to take shape on the site of a former church behind a wine and cheese shop on Oleander Drive.
The Wilmington City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request for two acres of land along Oleander Drive and Sebrell Avenue during their regular meeting on Jan. 18. They also unanimously voted to waive a second reading of the rezoning request.
The rezoning request was brought before Wilmington leaders by the owners of Wendy's House, a shop that sells wine, cheese and chocolates at 126 Sebrell Ave. The owners plan to convert a nearby church into an event venue, add more space for parking and to bring a garden to an area behind the existing shop.
The site, which is located at 5823 Oleander Drive and 126 and 122 Sebrell Ave., was rezoned as a community business (conditional district) to allow for the proposed changes. Previously, a portion of the site was zoned as community business while another portion was zoned R-15 residential.
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Despite approvals from the Wilmington City Council and Wilmington Planning Commission, city planning staff recommended a denial of the rezoning.
Jeff Walton, an associate planner with the city of Wilmington, told council members they saw other uses would serve as a better transition into the residential neighborhoods off of Oleander Drive.
“More suitable uses such as office or higher density residential would serve as a more appropriate transition,” he said.
Cindee Wolf, the project's planner and the owner of Design Solutions, told council members the rezoning would not bring significant changes to the area and would follow previously established guidelines for development in the Seagate neighborhood.
“What we’re proposing to really rezone is for the gardens and the parking area,” she told council members.
When the project was considered in December at a Wilmington Planning Commission meeting, neighbors raised concerns about the noise the venue and gardens could bring to the area.
In response, the owners agreed not to allow amplified sound outdoors and to limit all outdoor events and gatherings to parts of the site that were previously zoned for community business, including 5823 Oleander Drive and 126 Sebrell Ave.
Several neighbors turned out at Tuesday's city council meeting to express support for the rezoning and the project.
Steve Martin told council members that although he and his wife now support the project, reaching that conclusion has been a "painful process." They weren't initially invited to a community meeting about the project because of a glitch in the city of Wilmington's GIS mapping system, Wolf said.
When Martin and his wife attended a meeting of the Wilmington Planning Commission to discuss the project, he said he was "disturbed by the experience."
“Based on this experience, I have to say the explicit message to citizens is, ‘Don’t come to this meeting and bother us,’” Martin said.
He offered members of the city council several recommendations to improve the experience of residents during the planning process.
Daniel Bailey, another resident, said he lives about a block from the site and supports the project because it will improve the neighborhood and keep the area safe and quiet. Three residents spoke in support of the project during Tuesday's meeting, but Bailey said that didn't represent the broad support the rezoning had in the neighborhood.
“This is what we want," he said. "This is what the neighborhood wants.”
Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wendy's House in Wilmington looks to add event venue, gardens
