Photo by Kyle G. HorstHampton Inn & Suites has been approved to move into Colleyville.
The Colleyville City Council approved the rezoning request for a 91-room Hilton-branded hotel at 5200 SH 121 next to La Hacienda Ranch.
This was the fourth time the rezoning request had appeared before the council.
Icon Lodging, the company who will run the hotel, and the developer originally asked the council to rezone 1.94 acres of property from CC-2 Commercial District to a Planned Unit Development-Commercial zoning in order to build a five-story, 96-room hotel.
In addition the developer asked the city for a number of building code waivers. Most notably the developer asked the city to waive the height limit so the hotel could be five stories, construct 97 parking spaces instead of the required 98 spaces, reduce the required amount of landscaped area to 18 percent and to waive the requirement that a hotel must include a restaurant.
Strong opposition formed to stop the hotel, which would be the first in the city, from opening, citing problems with crime, traffic, noise, parking, the height of the building and the proximity to Colleyville Heritage High School.
Due to the opposition the developer made multiple revisions to the hotel, most notably a 10-foot reduction in height to 66 feet, a reduction in rooms to meet parking standards and landscaping.
Officials with La Hacienda Ranch, which borders the hotel's property, was originally opposed to the project based on the height of the building and the lack of parking, but withdrew their opposition after meeting with the developer to come to an agreement on a number of issues.
"Based the accommodations that have been made, the agreement to put some specific language in so that our folks can see in black-and-white that no primary structure will be over 66 feet based on the changes that have been made, we are not in a position to say 'great, we support it,' but we do not oppose," Thomas M. Whelan, a representative for La Hacienda Ranch said. "We withdraw our opposition to the proposed hotel."
"The developer has indicated, once we got talking, and exhibited a willingness to make changes to accommodate our concerns and we hope to work together to work on landscaping on both sides of the fence."
Due to the opposition of more than 20 percent of adjacent landowners, a super-majority vote of the council was required in order to approve the project. However, since La Hacienda Ranch withdrew their opposition to the project, only a simple majority vote was needed.
After Mayor David Kelly moved to approve the hotel, the council voted 6–0 in favor of the project.
Residents shouldn't expect to see construction start anytime soon though.
The land has only been rezoned; the developer stated that they will need about six months to draw up engineering plans and submit them to the city. The city will also have to review and approve the plans, a process that could also take months if major changes are necessary.
After construction is approved to begin, the developer expects construction to last 12–14 months.
