The change means developers can no longer use the cluster development zoning option when looking at the Cross Timbers Conservation Development District. Instead they can use the other development options, which includes conservation developments and agricultural developments.
A cluster development allowed for more homes in a given development than the other development option, which meant there were more homes on a given piece of land.
“It did allow an increase in density. It allowed a [maximum] density of one unit per 1.6 acres looking at an overall density for the development, as opposed to the one unit per 2 acres, which is more typical of the district,” said Lexin Murphy, Flower Mound planning services director.
The Cross Timbers Conservation Development District is predominately residential.
“[Cluster development zoning] really didn’t have specific standards called out for it. The only reference to it was in the town’s master plan,” Murphy said. “Because it was in the master plan, it didn’t require a master plan amendment to [use cluster developments], but it didn’t have real specific standards that you would see in our ordinances.”
The decision to remove the cluster development option came after a series of public feedback and outcry. The town held a series of public hearings regarding the district earlier this year. During these hearings, a majority in attendance said they were not pleased with cluster developments.
The change will have no impact on previously approved cluster developments that are in the process of construction, Murphy said.
“What we heard from residents is, as some people felt, all of those developments weren’t always meeting their expectations when it came to actual conservation of natural resources,” she said.
