The New Hanover Board of Supervisors and their consultants were introduced to a new iteration of the New Hanover Village Center (formerly Town Center) at their meeting on Monday, September 26.

            Clay Heckler, President of Select Properties, Zach Sivertsen, an attorney with Eastburn and Gray, and Jason Engelhardt with Langan Engineering, presented the sketch plan that had been worked through with township manager Jamie Gwynn and solicitor Andrew Bellwoar to get closer to what the supervisors wanted to see.

            The new proposed version of the development has 623 units of which 33% (approximately 200) are age restricted. The apartments in the previous plan have been removed, and in place of the apartment building at the Charlotte Street entrance to the Village Center, the developer has added a two-story medical building.

            The development, which also included a supermarket and other potential retail and office spaces, will have 3,093 parking spaces, a number that exceeds the township's requirement.

            Density is still an ongoing concern for the board. Supervisor Boone Flint pointed out the density of the townhomes in the center of the development. Developer Heckler noted that there are many developments with greater density, where townhomes are in blocks of eight, rather than six, as shown on the plan.

The supervisors asked that the developer provide examples of similar arrangements that they can view, to get an idea of how the townhomes would look.

            Stormwater management remains a priority, with supervisor Ross Snook keeping a keen eye on the planning. He stated that he was concerned about the developer building on hydric (very wet) soils, the number of impervious surfaces, and the use of wetlands. He noted that the area behind the Wawa on Charlotte Street, for example, was very wet and that he was aware of hydric soils in the northwest portion of the tract, where the age-restricted section of the development would be built.

            "We don't want another wet development," Snook said.

            The development team stated that there would be no basements in the development, and that size of the basins has remained the same, even though the density has lessened. They also said that all drainage would feed into storm sewers.

            When attorney Sivertsen asked if the board thought that the plan was moving in the right direction, the supervisors were reluctant to commit to either a yes or a no, as there were still many outstanding questions.

            Supervisor Kurt Zebrowski said that because they were only looking at a sketch plan, there was still much to be done. "If the engineering doesn't work, it doesn't work," he said.

            He stated that he didn't want to get trapped into saying he liked the plan when the engineering might not work.

            "I'm not going to pass something that our engineers say doesn't work," he added. He noted that the plan looks promising, so from him, not a hard no.

            The development team is slated to return to the township on November 3.

            Solicitor Bellwoar announced that the supervisors had met in an executive session prior to the meeting to discuss personnel and litigation, on September 24 to discuss personnel, and on September 13 for litigation.