For the third time in three years, a luxury villa developer is trying to build 44 attached homes next to Wildwood's Village Green — and for the third time, the city's planning commission has said no.

The Wildwood Planning & Zoning Commission denied Latitude N38's request to rezone a 6.9-acre parcel at the southeast corner of Eatherton Road and Crestview Drive on April 6. The commission voted against the proposal, with Chair David Beattie casting the only vote in favor. The developer's attorney filed an appeal to City Council the next day.

The project would convert the site from non-urban residential (large-lot, low-density) to R-6A, a higher-density residential district. The application includes a planned residential development overlay, which allows flexibility in site design. The latest plan calls for 44 single-family attached dwellings arranged in clusters of three, four, and six units.

A Pattern of Denials

This is the same parcel, the same developer, and the same fight that played out in 2023 and 2024. P&Z first denied a rezoning request for the site in 2023. The developer — Latitude N38, LLC, with applicant TB Realty and Benton Homes — appealed to City Council, which accepted the appeal in January 2024 and held a public hearing that May. The council rejected the project. City code then barred the developer from resubmitting a proposal with a PRD overlay for 12 months.

With that waiting period expired, the developer came back with a new application — and got the same result from P&Z.

Residents Push Back

During the prior two rounds of public hearings, residents opposed the project, citing concerns about density, increased traffic on Eatherton Road, and the possibility that units could be rented rather than owner-occupied.

Developer's Case

Attorney Mike Doster, representing the petitioner, sent a letter to the city on April 7 arguing the project meets all criteria of the municipal code.

"By utilizing the flexibility of a PRD — including clustering of units and reduced building setbacks — Latitude N38 is able to create a thoughtfully designed community that preserves over 30% of the site as common ground, including an 83-foot buffer along the southern property line," Doster wrote.

The P&Z commission's near-unanimous denial suggests it disagreed with that assessment.

Doster also pointed to the Wildwood Town Center plan, which he said envisions diverse, urban-style housing, and described the project as an option for long-term Wildwood residents who want to age in place without maintaining a large rural property.

What's Next

The appeal was brought before City Council at its April 13, 2026 meeting. A date for the full public hearing has not been announced. In the prior cycle, roughly four months passed between the council accepting the appeal and holding the hearing.