For the third time this year council denied the proposed housing development near the Grapevine-Colleyville border, this time with prejudice.
The vote was 4-3 with Council Members Chuck Kelley, Brandi Elder, Scotty Richardson and Ben Graves voting in favor of the denial during the Dec. 19 meeting.
Prior to the vote, Curtis Young, a principal at Sage Group Inc. and the lead representative for the proposal, said developers made several concessions and if it was denied, the contract would end and they would not come back for a fourth attempt.
The backstory
The first proposal for rezoning the land from agricultural to single-family residential estate to create the neighborhood was denied without prejudice in a 6-0 vote by council Feb. 21. As the plan was denied without prejudice, the applicant did not need to adhere to a 12-month waiting period to file for a similar zoning change.
The proposal was to rezone an area located at Wilkes and Pool Road from agricultural and single-family residential to a planned unit development district for residential use.
- 13.89-acre property
- 14 lots
- Lots ranging from 26,118-30,448 square feet
- Primary entrance from Pool Road with emergency access from Wilkes Drive
A closer look
Prior to the vote, Mayor Bobby Lindamood spoke about the proposal, citing the back-and-forth discussion between the developer and council.
“We've been at this for 18 months and we still have not received anything,” he said. “Mr. Curtis and the owner Mr. [Mark] Goodwin ... they haven't received anything either. There's a couple [people] that say they want nothing done to it, but that's not going to happen because just about everybody knows that something is going to be developed there.”
Nearly two dozen people spoke in opposition of the plan in the third attempt and there were nearly 30 more people who signed in to voice opposition but did not speak.
Much of the pushback in public comments from local residents was the desire to keep the trees.
The context
Young said the latest proposal would have saved 40% of the trees on the property—about 5 1/2 acres that would be untouched.
The latest revised plan cut the proposed number of houses down from 13 to nine. Lindamood asked if that number could be cut to eight, but the owner of the land balked at that idea.
“I believe we've worked really well together,” Goodwin said. “I don't think everyone's going to be happy. I'm not naive to that. But I think we've done a good job to get it as low as we possibly can.”
The latest proposal featured:
- 9 lots
- Lots ranging from 43,895 to 52,579 square feet
- Primary entrance through Pool Road
- An open space to connect to a proposed nature trail on Pool Road
Lindamood said he spoke with former Mayor Richard Newton prior to the council meeting to seek advice.
“He said go with something that has the teeth that will preserve the trees,” Lindamood said. “My opinion is that I am protecting the trees. Somebody said deny it with prejudice. Well, honestly, if you deny with prejudice, that is kicking the can down the road. All that does is give them more time with the same plan and then we can go back to it. So that that doesn't really work with denying it with prejudice.”
