WILMINGTON — An area recreation club will expand its offerings after council unanimously approved its forward movement following a quasi-judicial hearing last week.
READ MORE: Arcade, bowling, pickleball, restaurant proposed for new rec center on Oleander Drive
The Holly Tree Racquet and Swim Club currently consists of 10 tennis courts, a swimming pool, clubhouse with kitchen and a retail shop, all on 5.5 acres of property. It has proposed an expanded private recreational facility called The Club at Midtown, enveloping an additional 2 acres for the project. The project is being brought forth by Mike Harms.
Site plans include converting eight of the outdoor tennis courts to pickleball, adding 10 indoor pickleball courts, a resort lap pool and pool house with saunas, and creation of an upscale restaurant and bar located in the renovated clubhouse. Another area will include golf simulators and a game room.
Included in the plans is expanded parking, as the current 400 or so members will tap out at almost double, 800, once opened to the public. Located at 4950 Holly Tree Road and 340 Westchester Road, the racquet club is located in the midst of a suburban neighborhood, with two entrances planned from Wallington Road.
To see through the project, a special use permit was needed, as the current club — which opened in 1994 — was in place before zoning regulations were established by the city. Any interior square footage alterations, such as the indoor pickleball and clubhouse, or impervious changes, like more parking, the area must be approved via special-use permit. The zoning for the full seven acres will remain R-15.
A quasi-judicial hearing — an evidentiary procedure, similar to a court proceeding — was required before council voted on the permit. This allowed council members only to hear from people whose properties are in close proximity, thus facing potential negative effects, to the project.
Council had to agree whether the speakers had legal standing to present qualms into record; those who spoke would have to present facts indicating how they’re impacted. State law notes in quasi-judicial hearings participants who speak toward traffic and property values can only be professionals — i.e. traffic engineers or property appraisers.
In other words, anecdotal evidence from neighbors worried about traffic or property value could not be presented.
Attorney Sam Potter, representing the developer, had engineers and appraisers to speak to sound, traffic and stormwater.
Council had to vote on whether half a dozen residents had standing to present concerns and questions. Potter also asked questions of them and indicated whether those against the project should be considered viable.
Council member Charlie Rivenbark took up for the residents before the hearing began, noting the council had to follow the law, stating he’s been through five or six quasi-judicial hearings since serving the city.
“I’ve always had an issue that the applicant pops in with a hydrologist, engineer, appraiser,” he said, “and whether the residents have standing or not — most people don’t understand how this works — they’re at a severe disadvantage at this point.”
Three of the five people were cleared for the proceeding. Neil Musselwhite and Brenda Galloway were not, the latter of whom was determined to be too far away from the project — 13 houses down — to qualify.
Musselwhite’s main concern was a driving range once included; his house, he said was within 300 feet of the property line. It appeared on the documents put forth at the city council meeting, but Musselwhite said beforehand he was told the range wasn’t to remain.
“I’m concerned about golf balls hitting my property, my service animal, my children,” Musselwhite stated. “I don’t want property damage.”
Potter confirmed the driving range was no longer part of the plan. The Club at Midtown had been presented to planning before in different iterations and with different zoning requests since last summer and again in November. Because the applicant wanted to include a fenced-in outdoor golf range, the height of the fence required a different zoning.
“The amount of pushback we got from the community and the neighbors and, quite frankly, planning staff caused us to withdraw the golf facility, so there is no outdoor golf facility that’s a part of this,” Potter said, noting it pulled the zoning requests.
Musselwhite’s second major issue was his property value decreasing but it was determined invalid by council, with Potter agreeing:
“His alleged special damages — reduction in property value — he won’t know about it until after the project is done. You have to be an expert to provide opinions.”
Shirley McIntyre, Emily Bischof, and Robert Marshall, the latter of whom represented the Westchester Homeowners Association, were accepted into the proceedings and centered most of their complaints on noise and light pollution.
Though they also were worried over traffic impeding their neighborhood.
“Right now, our neighborhood is quiet,” McIntyre said.
Potter put forth four conditions the applicant had to show for council to approve the plan:
- The project will not materially endanger the public health or safety.
- All required conditions and specifications are met — technical objective criteria, such as driveways, building heights, buffers.
- The use will not substantially injure the value of abutting properties.
- The project will be in harmony with its surroundings and conforming to the city’s comprehensive plan.
As well, the developer must ensure maintenance structures are 100 feet from residences, no stadiums or athletic fields are allowed, and all buildings are set back 20 feet from lot lines.
Potter said the outdoor pickleball courts will be covered by an awning, which will do away with the current light poles installed currently and illuminating up to 11 p.m. nightly. That will thwart some light pollution, though added parking may bring more lighting to the project site.
“Everybody talks about sound when you talk about pickleball,” Potter said. “Sounds coming from pickleball will be coming from courts closest to Holly Tree, but will be surrounded by Acoustiblok.”
It’s essentially sound-deadening mats installed along the perimeter of the outdoor courts. There also will be awnings added to the outdoor facilities to addition to help contain sound.
Dan Wilcox is a former Carolina Beach mayor and sound engineer who designed “The Lost Colony” theater’s sound in Roanoke and has done analyses on noise impacts in communities for years. He said there is a difference between decibel sound and perceived analysis.
The City of Wilmington’s sound limit is 65 decibels from 7 a.m. to midnight on the property site; by comparison, in a home a vacuum cleaner or TV and radio operating emit around 70 decibels. Impulse noise is also monitored — a short sound at a specific frequency that Wilcox said is accounted for on top of a decibel reading. Pickleball is considered an impulse noise.
He said pickleball is different than tennis on average by 10 decibels but that doesn’t include the impulse noise scale — a “sharp” frequency.
“It’s annoying to some people — in that 1250 hertz frequency, whereas tennis balls when you strike those is down to 200 or 400 hertz.”
Wilcox said the noise itself of a pickleball striking a paddle isn’t necessarily louder, but the frequency is more intense and therefore catches more attention. He said the goal is to reduce the frequency to something more comfortable, done by distance, buffers, minimizing reflective surfaces, changes in ground elevation, buildings or hard barriers, and equipment choices.
Pickleball games range from 85 to 95 decibels, typically, according to Wilcox, but he said doubling distance from the courts reduces sound levels by six decibels.
“It’s not rocket science. It’s not guesswork. It’s just math,” he said.
The closest home to the pickleball court property line, he said, was 33 feet away. With appropriate measures taken — including tree buffer, having a soft lawn, installing a fence, equipment used — it can cut the frequency in half from 1250 to 600 hertz.
For instance, decreased noise when including distance can make for a 30-decibel decrease), while utilizing quiet paddles adds in another 10 decibel loss.
Every measure the project is taking comes out to roughly 30 or 40 decibels overall — within the city’s 65 limit — but that doesn’t include impulse sound. At its highest Wilcox said the project’s noise would likely be under 50 decibels.
“It’s much less offensive and eliminates the high frequency popping,” he said.
Spears was concerned the recurring pop noise of the paddle striking the ball would be problematic and said the residents had a valid concern.
Wilcox said his job was to analyze if the project would be in compliance with city ordinances and it is. But he added the owners also agreed to restricted play hours and recreational play only.
“And that’s a big one,” Wilcox said, as tournaments bring in louder sounds due to competitive players hitting the ball harder.
He also was recommending the shadowbox fence extend an additional 30 feet to increase more buffer.
Resident Marshall questioned the sound barrier: “How can you measure that noise with 10 pickleball courts going at the same time and somebody gotta win, and when they win, the human noise is elevated.”
Wilcox said his studies only addressed the most annoying and high frequency of the game play but even with all courts filled simultaneously decibel levels still would be within city limits.
Bischof was concerned with the Akoustibloc matting as the neighborhood is in a hurricane wind zone, she said. Wilcox said it could be easily removed down during major storms.
Nick Lauretta, civil engineer with Riverviews Engineering, presented on stormwater management and impervious surface. He said the plan is updating the current stormwater pond on site designed for currently 1 inch of water to become 1.5 inches; water will not flow toward adjacent property owners or Westchester Road, he assured.
The stormwater plan follows a 25-year event, per city codes. Essentially, Lauretta said it would be maintained consistently to what is being seen now on the site.
He also spoke to traffic and said existing averages are 303 daily with 21 evening peak trips; with the new project it would grow by 61 daily trips, adding 16 in the morning and 26 in the evening. An additional traffic impact analysis will not be needed, which is required if developments bring in an increase of trips by 100.
The proposal includes significantly more parking onsite; neighbors expressed concerns that onstreet parking also exists in their neighborhoods and worried the project would bring more of this behavior. Currently, there are upward of 50 spaces allowed for parking at the club, but it will more than double to 139 once the project is complete (189 is allowed).
A proposal of 20 bike racks is also included and the group will have “a sidework network,” as Lauretta called it, from Kirby Smith to Holly Tree Road for people to access the site. As well, sidewalks will be installed on Wallington Drive, toward Holly Tree and provide connectivity to Cross City Trail.
The second 2-acre parcel is predominantly wooded and 60% of the trees will be kept, with no ability to expand development to the east toward Westchester or Lancaster roads, meaning there will be a significant buffer between the parking lot and homes. A wooden fence will also be built to increase a buffer between the residents and facility to break headlights and noise.
The site is in a CAMA watershed protection overlay — it’s near Hewlett Creek — and is restricted to a 25% impervious area, but it allows up to 50% for an exceptional design area. The plan’s proposal is 45%, though the developer is planning to install a pollinator garden and pave the parking lot and driveways with pervious pavement to help reduce stormwater runoff.
The clubhouse will double a little more in size from its current 3,000 square feet to become two-story. It will have a pro shop on the first floor and restaurant for members only on the second floor, to also include a wraparound porch.
Bischof did not want a restaurant to be added, particularly concerned by the amount of delivery trucks it would bring to ferry supplies. The residents were allowed to ask questions of the presenters and expert witnesses, to which Bischof asked Lauretta where all of the trucks would come and go from.
“The site driveways are designed to city of Wilmington standards and delivery trucks will come through one of two driveways and circle through the site,” Lauretta said. “All of those site radiuses are designed so a large vehicle can park there and they will unload in front of the clubhouse.”
“And I would argue the entrance into my neighborhood is not equipped for that at all,” she said.
Resident Shirley McIntyre, who lives on Lancaster, approached with the question about the traffic influx, noting it’s a one-way street, with Wallington being two-way. She wanted to know how all the traffic would be maneuvered from people accessing the club.
“Most people are going to travel Holly Tree Road to Wallington since it’s the quickest way to get there by a public street,” Lauretta said. “What you’re asking me to do is create a traffic impact analysis but that’s not warranted by the city’s standards.”
Marshall also took issue with the traffic assessments and questioned with a bar and restaurant on site, how Lauretta could actually know the amount of traffic derived. He also worried vehicles would back up with one way in and one way out. Lauretta said that was why the group added a second entry.
Cal Morgan, a state certified real estate appraiser with JC Morgan Company, assured that his estimation property values showed properties would not be affected by the project’s development. He surveyed market participants and brokers, and reviewed residential properties adjacent to other pickleball clubs.
While many brokers he spoke with didn’t expect any impact, two brokers, Morgan said, indicated it could be a “positive.” Morgan also looked at points-of-sale to assess what properties have sold in recent years in proximity to a pickleball court and compared them to other home sales not adjacent to the courts. After reviewing the datasets, Morgan said there was no discrepancy to show homes near pickleball facilities decrease in value.
Bischof refuted the testimony.
“Do you care about my neighborhood?” she asked council and staff. “My peace, my people, the people that have lived there for 50 years, the gentrification of that neighborhood. Do you guys actually care? Because it really doesn’t seem like you do. … I have watched that neighborhood change since 1991.”
She added it was once affordable and the neighbors, who have lived there for decades, likely wouldn’t even be able to afford a membership to the club.
Council eventually agreed unanimously to pass the request with conditions, including:
- Permit is limited to two existing tennis courts, 10 outdoor pickleball courts, a renovated 5,776 square feet clubhouse, and a 33,375 square-foot indoor pickleball facility
- Outdoor courts will include use of quiet paddles on outdoor courts
- Hours of operation for the outdoor pickleball and related lights shall be limited to 9 p.m.; pickleball will start at 9 a.m. on weekdays
- Operation of the indoor facilities shall be limited to 10 p.m.
- Outdoor pickleball courts shall be bordered by sound proofing materials with a covered awning.
- Public access will be allowed to the walkway that cuts through the project site
- Memberships are capped at 800
- No tournament play allowed on outdoor pickleball courts
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