Keller officials table housing development and road work contract, deny hair salon specific use permit

The Keller City Council put the brakes on a possible housing development during the May 5 meeting.

Additional funding for railroad crossing improvements at Keller Hicks Road was also tabled and the council was deadlocked on a specific use permit for a salon.

The big picture

A planned development called The Preserve at Keller Oaks would have 59 residential lots, two commercial lots and 5.57 acres of open space was postponed until the July 7 meeting.

Skoburg Company asked for the rezoning from commercial and planned development that included single-family residential 36,000-square-foot minimum lots to single-family 15,000-square-foot lots and commercial development.

An attached item, a resolution for approving a future land use plan amendment, was also tabled.

Outgoing Mayor Armin Mizani made a motion to table it to allow the developer and landowners to address concerns raised by City Council members.

The city mailed 67 notifications and 12 properties within 200 feet of the plan, according to city documents.

Council member Shannon Dubberly was in favor of a larger lot size, while council member Karen Brennan voiced her concerns about needing more space between the homes. Brennan suggested removing some houses from the plan to allow more space between properties.

Council member Chris Whatley said he could not support down zoning to meet all the requests made by the developer in terms of minimum lot width and lot coverage, which were all proposed in shorter distances than city codes require, according to the presentation.

Greg Will said even with the proposed changes from a September 2025 presentation, he would still vote no. That development featured one commercial lot and 65 houses, according to the presentation.

Skoburg president Adam J. Buczek said he expected houses in the development, if approved, to range from $1.2 million to $1.5 million each. He said changing the property requirement to single-family, 20,000-square-foot lots would “kill the project.”

Also of note

A supplemental agreement between the city and Union Pacific Railroad Company for Keller Hicks Road improvements was tabled until the June 2 meeting.

The project, a joint initiative with the city of Fort Worth, started in 2023. Keller officials agreed to pay $213,917 for its portion of the project, according to previous reporting.

The additional funding was for $104,000 following extra costs associated with fixing the crown of the road, said Alonzo Liñán, Keller public works director.

Raising the surface of the road 4 inches impacted the distance of the railroad arm crossing to the road, making it less than the TxDOT's Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices height range of 3 1/2 feet to 4 1/2 feet, Liñán said.

He said the actual cost would probably be closer to between $85,000 and $90,000.

Mayor-elect Ross McMullin asked the city to reach out to Union Pacific to ask for a reduction in the cost due to the arm replacement required due to the surfacing of the road being increased.

One more thing

Amazing Hair Salon, which had operated at 112 W. Hill St. from June 2019 to April 2024, applied to return to the city.

The salon, located in the Old Town Keller zoning, required a specific use permit for Seferina Ramirez to reopen the business. The building has been vacant since she closed it.

Council was deadlocked 3-3, meaning the request failed.

Opposition on the council and public speakers pointed out the abundance of salons in the area. Questions were raised if a to-go food establishment could work in the 500-square-foot building, which is on 0.06 of an acre.

Mizani suggested that building owner Fledy Covarrubias talk with the Keller Economic Development about options for revamping the facade with new paint and cosmetic enhancements.