Hines asks council to waive one-year wait so a smaller flex warehouse plan can return

A developer whose industrial project was turned down in May is asking The Colony City Council to let it try again now instead of waiting a full year.

The request is on the consent agenda for the council's regular session at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, at City Hall, 6053 Main St. Consent items are approved together in one motion unless a council member pulls one for separate discussion.

What was denied

According to a Planning and Development Department memo in the council packet, the Planning and Zoning Commission held a hearing on March 24 on a request to rezone about 72 acres from Planned Development 10 to a new Planned Development 31 for an office warehouse and mixed commercial project. Commissioners recommended approval with conditions on a 4-3 vote.

The council denied the request 4-2 on May 5.

The land sits north of the northwest corner of Plano Parkway and Windhaven Parkway. The waiver petition lists Hines Acquisitions LLC of Dallas as the applicant and Lonzar Delaware Inc. as the owner of the roughly 71.72-acre tract. It describes the denied case, PD26-0001, as about 1 million square feet of Class A industrial development.

What would come back

The new request, filed on or about Aug. 24 according to the memo, is for a planned development with about 368,000 square feet of Class A flex office and warehouse space.

In the petition, the applicant said the plan was "materially scaled" with less building area and intensity, and that it changed access points, parking, driveway locations and site layout in response to concerns raised during the first review. It also checked boxes citing changes in surrounding conditions.

Why a waiver is needed

Section 24-101(h) of the city's zoning ordinance bars any new zoning application on all or part of a tract for one year after the council denies a request, unless the council waives that period. Staff wrote that the rule makes no distinction between a resubmitted application and a different one, so even an amended plan cannot go forward without the waiver.

The waiver does not approve the project. If granted, it only lets the application proceed to the Planning and Zoning Commission and then the council, and no public notice is required for this step, the memo says.

The same agenda also asks the council to declare its intent to repay up to $6.4 million in early capital spending, including $2 million each for the Memorial Drive widening and Phase 15 street reconstruction, from debt the city expects to issue later this fiscal year.

Sources

thecolony.granicus.com

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