by Nicole Bradford
A proposed 414-unit apartment complex in Shadow Creek Ranch failed to impress city council members and planning and zoning during an initial workshop.
“We’ve gotten 15 emails against it and that’s without notification,” Councilman Joseph Koza said during the December 16 feedback session, an initial step in working with developers.
The workshop was to gain feedback on a proposed amendment to the Shadow Creek development plan to allow multifamily on the 14 acres at the southeast corner of Business Center and Medical Center drives.
The property has been available for commercial development for roughly 20 years.
“This is a tough parcel — it’s not directly on the freeway,” Mayor Kevin Cole said. “Each and every parcel of land has its day in court whether it starts in a workshop here or ends up in a public hearing somewhere. We don’t go solicit. We wait for people to come to us, and they have the right to make their case.”
Ultimately, Councilman Clint Byrom pointed out that apartments are a hard sell to those who have already invested in homes there.
“The residents over there understand this was not contemplated to be multifamily,” he said regarding the tract of land. “It was contemplated to be some other type of business park, and that’s what they’re asking us to stick to.”
Based on the feedback received from residents in the hours before the workshop, Councilman Tony Carbone added, “I don’t know if there’s any appetite for this.”
The consensus of both the council and P&Z appeared to be more against multifamily vs. the site plan, which includes a two-story parking garage in the middle of the urban-style complex.
“As you view the project passing by, either pedestrian or in a vehicle, you’re not looking at a sea of parking,” said Jeff Gray, CEO of Houston-based GrayCo Partners LLC.
One of the residents’ concerns was traffic congestion, but commercial also has the potential to create traffic issues, Cole said.
“If an office building came in or some type of commercial development, you would end up with more traffic than you would with multifamily. By right, they can go and do those kinds of things,” he said. “Just be aware that commercial brings more traffic than any residential use does.”
