At a Feb. 11 meeting, the commission approved zoning amendments on the south side of Panther Creek Parkway and the east and west sides of Teel Parkway for new standards of open space to allow the construction of 16 patio home lots within a current homeowners association lot.
One of the development’s owners, Jason Rose, said the project’s open space element will benefit those living in existing neighborhoods as well.
“I’m trying to propose a really unique patio home product here,” Rose said at the meeting. “Because what this offers is the ability to walk and have the proximity to this beautiful green space.”
Edward Jenkins, vice president of the Christie Estates HOA, spoke in favor of the zoning amendment at the meeting. Jenkins said he lives directly across from the field where the patio homes are to be built.
“The field is full of animals that tear up my yard; it’s also a great place to grow weeds,” he said at the meeting. “I spend a fortune trying to keep the weeds out of my yard.”
As a Realtor who has sold homes in the Christie Estates neighborhood, Jenkins said prospective buyers have continued to ask about the field.
“We had people concerned thinking that [there] could be townhomes someday,” Jenkins said at the meeting.
Patio homes will offer better use to the empty field, Commissioner Brittany Colberg said at the meeting.
Colberg said this after Christie Estates HOA President Raveen Bhasin said at the meeting that the land has incurred over $30,000 in mowing a year.
“I definitely see that this is a unique way to solve for it,” Colberg said. “I find support in the creativity in making a product that would benefit all the communities.”
One resident at the nearby Traditions of Frisco neighborhood said when she moved into her home, she was told there would be a park where the field is located. But Development Services Director John Lettelleir said this land has always been identified as open space and never as a park.
“I believe it was unfortunate that people were told it was a park,” commission Chair Robert Cox said at the meeting. “People use the word park and open space interchangeably.”
Commissioner Jon Kendall voted against amending the zoning, citing a desire for more involvement from the Traditions of Frisco neighborhood in the decision.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the neighborhood name where the patio homes will go and to clarify the land that was rezoned.
