RESIDENTS are pushing back against a new development that they claim will obstruct the view in front of their condo complex.
The Sellars Cove community in Wilmington, North Carolina is battling authorities over a new building proposal.
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A U-Haul’s U-Box Portable Moving & Storage Containers is set to be built in front of residents' houses and they are voicing their complaints.
The new business would require the area to be rezoned and neighbors to the proposed build take issue with this for two reasons.
Sellars Cove, according to residents, is tucked away from nearby heavy traffic on Route 421, they say this development would change that.
Melanie Ferrera, a resident of the community, explained to local news: "It’s the fact that there is so much traffic on 421. Sellars Cove can barely pull out on 421 along with Beau Rivage."
"And now we’re going to have to deal with U-Haul trucks."
She continued: "Anybody knows that coming up 421, the traffic is at 55 miles an hour. How? How are we going to get around this? How are they’re not going to be more accidents,”
On Thursday, dozens of residents appeared at a community meeting to discuss their complaints and safety was among the top concerns.
One resident remarked: "It is dangerous, it is in the wrong place, you don’t need to put that there and we don’t need it.”
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Another expanded saying it also does not go with the feel of their community: "We don’t want that there because of safety, de-valuation, and it just does not go with our community.”
The residents are not opposed to business development in the area as a whole but oppose a high-traffic business such as a U-Haul facility.
Some alternative ideas were given at the meeting: "You know if we had like a business, I don’t care if there was like a dentist or a doctor or a salon or something of that nature."
"But to put a U-Haul with trucks coming in and out is not what we want.”
The developer on the project, Cindee Wolf, plans to submit her rezoning application on September 1.
The residents plan to keep fighting against the building and development.
Starting on Monday, a change.org petition to stop the rezoning was created by resident Gina Drost.
She cites traffic, "U-Haul facility overload," and "Preserving our residential character" as the main reasons she and others wish to stop the rezoning plans.
The explanation reads in part: "We chose this area because of its peaceful atmosphere, friendly neighbors, and safe environment for our children.
"However, recent developments have left me worried about the future of our beloved community.
"The proposal to convert residential zones into commercial spaces threatens to disrupt the harmony we have worked so hard to maintain."
The petition currently has over 200 signatures of the 500-signature goal set.
Some residents of the town do not hold high hopes for Sellars Cove's fight and have taken to Facebook to explain why.
Wilmington resident Sarah Bishop commented on local news coverage of the issue: "We are having this problem several places in Wilmington, it seems.
"Re-zoning is being approved despite neighborhood opposition at town hall meetings and retail places are becoming eyesores outside of our residential neighborhood windows."
Another resident explained that the developer involved seems to have a pull in these types of decisions.
"Cindy Wolfe must have some serious ties with the planning board and city council," they said. "She wheels and deals and gets what 'SHE' wants."
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To this explanation, another concerned citizen responded that she has connections with the deciding board members: "Which goes against all the rules of a quasi-judicial decision-making process-since all the board members hobnob with her.
"They are not supposed to be affiliated-plus, her connection to CFPUA."
