Argyle officials consider future Main Street, development standards at US 377, FM 407 intersection

Argyle Town Council, the planning and zoning commission and the comprehensive plan advisory committee met Jan. 15 to discuss plans for future commercial development at the corner of FM 407 and US 377.

No action was taken to move forward with a development plan, and discussions will continue to take place.

What happened?

Town Manager Mike Sims brought forward an idea for a potential Main Street to be added from Cook Street to Village Green Drive near the Waterbrook neighborhood. The street would wind through trees and include several commercial retail buildings on its path, including the future Argyle Marketplace, Branded Bowls and the town’s property, which will include a municipal building, new police building and, potentially, some businesses.

“We don’t have room for a big street,” Sims said. “That’s a two-lane road that can be closed off and used for pedestrians. It needs to have good sidewalks and good canopy tree cover.”

Sims also discussed plans to develop town standards that allow for this kind of development if the committees and council want to move forward with this plan, he said.

The discussion

Members of council, the planning and zoning committee and the comprehensive plan advisory committee presented their own ideas for this Main Street concept and stated concerns about more development in Argyle leading to further traffic along the major roads.

“I think we can hear everyone, I think we can accommodate most, if not all, [of committee and council member ideas], but somehow we’re going to have to come together and make this into reality,” Schmidt said.

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Michael Udovic questioned why the town would want to add a Main Street and invite more development.

“I’m not pro-developer,” he said. “I’d rather keep them all away from Argyle, except we need them on I-35W.”

Council members Martin Brading and Cynthia Hermann both approved of the Main Street concept.

“I think we just have to move down this path,” council member Martin Brading said. “It really could be a gem."

Diving deeper

Sims suggested making adjustments to the city’s master thoroughfare plan, which is a plan for specific roadway projects and improvements the town intends to pursue, to ensure it is possible for FM 407 to be pedestrian friendly.

“We’re going to have to work through that process to make sure that we’re recommending to [the Texas Department of Transportation] a version of FM 407 that we think is as good as possible for our town center development,” Sims said.