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The Argyle Planning and Zoning Commission considered a new 141-acre development with a member-based grocery store, retail, hotels and open space at its Feb. 25 special meeting.
No vote was taken on the item, and discussion will continue at the next planning and zoning meeting in March.
What’s happening?
The development would be located on the northeast corner of I-35W and FM 407 and could generate $4 million in sales tax revenue for the town annually, Town Manager Mike Sims said.
“We’re going to have a dominance of sales tax [for] our revenue, as opposed to property taxes,” Mayor Ronald Schmidt said at a Feb. 24 town hall meeting. “Not only do we want to do [this] for the citizens, but I’ll be honest with you, our Legislature is changing. Our governor ... is promising that he’s going to take away property taxes ... [and] we’re trying to be ahead of that.”
The warehouse grocery store could be a Sam’s Club, Costco or BJ’s, Sims said. There are no square footage limits for the grocery store, but it is limited to the area of land closest to the Argyle ISD schools and FM 407, per town documents.
“I, for one, am not in favor of big box stores,” Planning and Zoning Commissioner Michael Udovic said. “I don’t mind having them around, [but] I don’t want them in our town.”
Two town citizens countered Udovic’s opinion, saying they would like to see one grocery store in Argyle so they don’t have to combat FM 407 traffic.
The proposed development also includes full-service hotels limited to the southwest corner of the property closest to I-35W and FM 407, per town documents. The hotels must include at least 90 rooms, have a full-service breakfast, an indoor pool and a bar, according to town documents. The height of the hotel buildings is limited to four stories, or 60 feet.
The development proposes 36 acres of open space with hike and bike trails, which could be extended to include more trails at the corner of Sam Davis Road and I-35W at a future date, Sims said.
In addition, there are several commercial uses that could be developed, but restrictions have been set for where the uses can be located across the 141 acres, per town documents. Permitted uses include:
Diving deeper
The proposed development is expected to bring in 26,052 daily weekday trips by the time it is fully built out in 2035, according to town documents.
The proposal includes four access points along FM 407, two entry-points along the I-35W frontage roads and a gated fire-only connection to the Argyle ISD middle school. A second access point near the future Argyle ISD middle school would tie into the school's side entry road and provide an additional exit for school traffic to alleviate the cars on FM 407, per town documents.
“[Argyle ISD] is opening the middle school [and] the elementary school,” Sims said. “[There is] going to [be] a whole bunch of traffic in an already highly constrained FM 407. [When] we brought that concern up to the developer, they were amenable to the idea that we provide an escape route for traffic from the school.”
There is also a proposed one-way roundabout on Sam Davis Road to prevent cut-through traffic going eastbound on Sam Davis and keep high levels of traffic away from nearby residents, Sims said.
Looking ahead
The Texas Department of Transportation is planning projects on I-35W and FM 407 in the upcoming years, Sims said.
A smaller project on FM 407 is currently in progress to add right-turn lanes on the west side of FM 407 and I-35W to improve congestion, Community Impact previously reported. The project also includes adding drainage, vehicle deflection walls at the FM 407 and I-35W overpass and pavement markings.
TxDOT plans to expand FM 407 from Bill Cook Road and FM 1830 at an undetermined date.
Additionally, the I-35W frontage roads will transition from four lanes to six lanes and a dedicated U-turn lane will be installed at the FM 407 intersection, according to town documents. TxDOT plans to bid out the project in December 2027, pending they have the necessary funding, according to a TxDOT report from Dec. 12.
What’s next?
The proposed 141-acre development will be looked at again and voted on by the planning and zoning commission at the March 4 meeting.
