Denton City Council denied a rezoning request for a 0.74-acre lot that would allow the property owners to build four duplexes, adding a total of eight units on Bolivar and Taliaferro streets at a July 14 meeting.
The overview
The lot’s current zoning allows for three single-family homes with accessory dwelling units at each home for a total of six units. The proposed zoning change would reduce the minimum lot size from 10,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet and allow for duplex construction. The reduction in minimum lot size would have allowed for eight duplexes to be built on the property.
Council denied the request after several neighbors spoke in opposition to the zoning change out of concerns over privacy and added traffic on the neighborhood's narrow streets.
“When we’re talking about squeezing eight units on less than three quarters of an acre, it’s a very narrow margin. That is very concerning to me,” council member George Ferrie said. “I drove down those three streets, Bolivar, Taliaferro [and] Fain; they are incredibly narrow.”
Some background
Council moved to table the rezoning request at a May 5 meeting because the property owners had not determined rent rates and to allow the owners to work with neighbors to the north to modify the site plan.
Since the May 5 meeting, the property owners, listed as the Reyes family in city documents, clarified the duplexes would be market-rate housing. The site plan was modified to direct the parking lot away from the neighbor’s house to avoid headlights shining into their windows and added a 10-foot landscape buffer on the north side of the property.
The new site plan would also replace the neighbor’s fence with an 8-foot wood fence to address privacy concerns.
Sam Bunn, the neighbor north of the property, said he was still concerned about the parking lot after the site plan changes.
“Nothing says that we’re not going to have all these cars pointed at my house,” Bunn said.
Council member Jordan Villarreal moved to deny the request.
“I appreciate the improvements that you’ve made since the May meeting, but there’s still too many concerns from constituents,” Villarreal said.
Also of note
Denton Mayor Chris Watts directed staff to explore a temporary moratorium on new multifamily housing developments at the July 15 work session.
Watts proposed exploring a moratorium to allow council to have comprehensive discussions about affordable housing and multifamily development in the city.
