The 3-acre plot will include 15 single-family attached townhome units.
What happened
At their Nov. 24 meeting, Plano City Council members voted to approve a zoning change for the development, with several recommended conditions.
The decision comes after Plano Planning and Zoning commissioners voted 5-1 at an Oct. 20 meeting to recommend approval of the zoning change and associated concept plan.
Commissioner Sean Lingenfelter voted against both items due to remaining concerns about traffic, screening and fire access limitations.
What you need to know
The developer asked for a zoning change that would rezone 3.2 acres from agricultural to single-family residential.
The property, located at the southwest corner of Windhaven Parkway and Midway Road, will include 15 single-family attached townhome units with detached garages, according to city documents.
Planning Director Christina Day said the city received 89 responses in opposition to the zoning change and three in support.
Day said the main complaints the city has received about the zoning change have been about the project’s density and potential traffic impacts.
The details
The zoning change also included a specific use permit for a private street subdivision. Access to the property is planned to use a one-way slip road that will run parallel to Windhaven Parkway, according to city documents.
After the development was tabled by commissioners Aug. 18, the developer made several changes, including:
- Requiring minimum setbacks and landscape buffers from the southern property line
- Adding screening from the alleyway
- Removing access to Red Wolf Lane from the proposed complex
- Reducing proposed townhome units from 16 to 15
Christy Davidson, a resident of the Red Wolf Estates, said despite restricting access through the complex, Red Wolf Lane will likely become a “cut through” road for traffic, increasing traffic and safety concerns.
“At the end of the day, this property is Plano and it needs to reflect Plano ... and not The Colony,” Davidson said.
Lucy Billingsley, partner with the Billingsley Company and developer of Austin Ranch, said the project is designed to fit with the rest of Austin Ranch as it will serve as a new entry point.
“Our interests are the same as the city’s,” Billingsley said. “We need this to be wonderful. ... We’re here for the long-term, so we care a great deal.”
Quote of note
Council member Rick Horne said the addition of single-family attached will help meet a “housing need that we need in the area,” particularly for newer residents coming in.
“It makes a great transition from The Colony into the rest of [Plano] heading east to Windhaven,” Horne said.
