Plans for a new Tesla dealership are moving forward.
The Flower Mound Planning and Zoning Commission on July 24 approved a site plan for automaker Tesla to develop a car sales dealership and service center near Justin Road and Stone Hill Farms Parkway.
A public hearing was held for the matter, but no one from the public spoke. The plan passed 6-0 and now heads to Flower Mound Town Council, which will review the matter at its Aug. 7 meeting.
The details
At the July 24 meeting, Town Principal Planner Poornima Kashyap gave a rundown of Tesla’s plans, which include some requests for exceptions for underground utilities and architectural standards. The commission recommended approval of those exceptions requested, which included building exterior colors. The one-story dealership and service center would encompass 51,391 square feet and be located in the Stone Hill Farms Retail Addition, south of Justin Road and west of Stone Hill Farms Parkway, according to a commission agenda memo.
A closer look
The site is approximately 5.33 acres and is vacant, the agenda memo stated. The property is zoned as a planned development district for commercial uses and is master-planned for commercial/industrial uses. New or used car sales and auto repair garage uses are permitted by right within this zoning district.
On Jan. 3, 2022, council approved a specific-use permit to allow a boat dealership on the same property. If the proposed site plan for Tesla is approved by council, the specific-use permit for the boat dealership would no longer be valid, according to the memo.
What else?
Kashyap was asked about gray for the exterior of the building. Gray doesn’t meet the town’s urban design plan for being complementary with colors and materials of adjacent buildings, she said. Instead, the plan requires facades to be composed of colors that are “primarily natural” and “earth-tone colors,” including but not limited to brown, umber, beige, taupe, sepia, white, off-white and slight variations. The urban design plan allows more contrasting secondary colors that relate to the primary color of the building, the memo stated, and the applicant is requesting to use red banding as a secondary color on the elevations.
Bill Hofman, of California-based consulting firm Hofman Planning Associates, spoke to the commission about Tesla’s plan and said the company was “really excited” to have a chance to come to the community.
“We believe this is a superior design,” he said. “We do believe, in fact, that our color scheme will be compatible, and I think it’s something that might be different, but we believe it will be compatible.”
Tesla Design Manager Dhwani Dave spoke about how Tesla wanted to come to Flower Mound because of the “huge” demand for the product. She reminded the commission Tesla makes electric vehicles and that they do not have emissions or make noise. She also showed sketches of site and floor plans and elevations, along with an illustration of the proposed exterior of the building.
Hours of operation at the Tesla location would be 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Dave said. Customers are required to make appointments to service or buy a car.
