Denton city council tabled a request to rezone a 0.74-acre lot that would allow the owners to build four duplexes, adding a total of eight units to the corner of Bolivar Street and Taliaferro Street at a May 5 city council meeting.
The overview
Property owner Essau Reyes requested to rezone the lot to a zoning classification that would reduce the minimum lot size from 10,000 feet to 4,000 feet and allow for duplex construction.
Under current zoning, the owners can build three single-family homes with additional dwelling units at each home, or six units. The proposed zoning change would allow the owners to build four duplexes for a total of eight housing units.
"We want to create affordable housing; a different option for housing besides those apartments we see coming up," Reyes said. "Something different from just mass construction."
Zooming in
Neighbors expressed concerns over the additional units crowding the neighborhood and the possibility of the duplexes being used for short-term rentals like Airbnb.
"We feel like we're getting crowded out of our neighborhood," resident Sam Bunn said. "We bought our home next to a single-family home. We didn't buy it next to [four] duplexes."
Bunn added that he would be "much happier" with six units instead of eight.
Council moved to delay the decision to allow the property owners to reach an agreement with the neighbors and to come up with potential rent rates. Aimee Bissett, a representative for the property owners, said the owners weren't far enough in process to have landed on possible rent rates.
"I wish you all had some idea of what you're going to rent these for. It would make this process a lot easier for us," council member Brandon McGee said.
Looking ahead
Council member Jill Jester motioned for the postponement with no time frame attached.
"I did not see the need to have a date certain, so if [they] want to take it for a year, if they want to take it for a month, that wasn't part of my motion," Jester said.
Editor's note: This story was edited to reflect the correct number of duplexes in the first paragraph.
