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Three public hearings unlike others in the last year will hit the Farmers Branch City Council’s Feb. 18 agenda. A fourth would allow storm shelter at private school.
The Farmers Branch Planning and Zoning Commission recommended a specific use permit for an indoor classic car dealership on the northeast side of the city at 14805 Venture Dr. and a zoning amendment for an indoor trampoline park for children ages 6-11 in the Rainbow Trade Mart building at 4355 Lyndon B. Johnson Fwy. during the Jan. 27 meeting.
In addition, the developers of The Brickyard are seeking a zoning amendment for the Brinks Building in Mercer Crossing, and Preston Hollow Presbyterian School needs a zoning amendment so they can build a storm shelter.
The commission voted to recommend both of those zoning amendments as well.
Skyway Classics would like to open their first dealership in Texas in 20,000 square feet within an existing warehouse building near Beltline Road. The family-owned company specializes in classic and antique vehicles, though Ryan Tanksi, who is head of service, told the commission that they do offer some exotic vehicles as well. They buy cars as well as offer consignment services.
The showroom will have space for 31 autos when fully stocked, an area for staging and photography and a reception and office area, said Lead Planner Brett Mangum.
“We did feel in our analysis that the request is in line with comprehensive plan by and large, considering the boutique nature of this auto dealer, which is classic cars rather than your standard, typical car dealership that we’re all familiar with with outdoor storage. All of this activity will be contained within the building,” Mangum said.
There are quite a few residences near the warehouse, all of whom were notified by letter as required by law. “I’ve had a few phone calls. None of them were in opposition. They were just seeking additional information on this request,” Mangum said.
Tanski said the showroom will be only a showroom and there will be no cars stored outside. “There will not be any type of reconditioning, any type of repair or any type of improvements made to these vehicles,” he said.
Operations in Farmers Branch will start with three employees, but Tanski said the brothers hope to grow the business to be comparable to their location south of Tampa, Fla., that employees 17.
Sales are by appointment only. “In our current location … we maybe get 10 visitors a week that we aren’t expecting, so we are anticipating a very, very low traffic impact,” he said.
Council also will oversee a public hearing and consider approving a zoning amendment to allow an indoor commercial amusement facility at 4355 Lyndon B. Johnson Fwy.
Wang Holding Co. proposed an indoor amusement park for children ages 6-11, called 11 MAX Amusement Park, which would be located on the second floor of the Rainbow Trade Mart.
If it passes, they propose renovating an area of the building that is currently vacant and adding a kitchen facility on the first floor. They also requested an additional 400-square-foot sign on the front of the building. A 300-square-foot sign would be allowed without an amendment.
If approved, 11 MAX Indoor Amusement Park would have a 30,000-square-foot indoor park that would include trampolines, slides, an arcade, mirror maze and virtual reality. Event spaces available for birthday party.
The applicant, YuXiong Wang from Century 21 Commercial on behalf of Wang Holding LLC, said the company successfully operates two locations, one in China and another in South Korea.
“It’s new. It’s unique. There’s nothing like this in DFW,” Wang said at the Jan. 27 planning and zoning meeting. “Kids love this stuff.”
Wang also said the trampolines could be used by cheer teams to practice stunts.
According to information Wang presented to the commission, there is a population of 700,000 people within 20 minutes of Farmers Branch with about 14 percent under the age of 14.
He said that he expects repeat customers because of the size of the park. “In two hours, kids won’t finish the whole project, so they’ll keep coming back,” he said.
A public hearing also will be held for a request to rezone 10.58 acres at 1990 Wittington Place, where the three-story Brinks Home Security office building currently stands, from office-1 to mid-density multi-residential use.
The Billingsley Co. plans to demolish the Brinks building and build a new phase of the multi-family development, The Brickyard, if the request is granted by city council.
The planning and zoning commission approved the request during the Dec. 9 meeting.
Lucy Billingsley, partner at Billingsley Co., which owns the property, asked for the public hearing with city council be postponed until Feb. 18. Since then, she presented the project to the Mercer Crossing West Homeowner Association.
This request would be Phase 8 of The Brickyard, of which Phases 1 and 2 are built and Phases 3-7 are approved, according to the map presented by Billingsley.
This phase will include two “larger” four-story multifamily buildings and six three-story townhome-style buildings with 472 units and 807 parking spaces.
Several adjacent phases had been rezoned from office to mid-density residential use.
“This is the last remaining piece of that original office zoning,” said Sarah Bergman, deputy director of planning. It is consistent with the other phases of Brickyard.
The Farmers Branch 2045 Comprehensive Plan recommends high-density residential use in this area, she said.
Billingsley described the financial situation of the three-story Brinks building as “difficult,” in her presentation to the commission.
“We built this building when we had office zoning all around us. This was an urban zoning by the City of Farmers Branch. There was no single family,” she said. Her company protested all three times the surrounding property owner requested the zoning be changed to single-family housing. “We protested because we knew the damage to the office building’s future would be there somehow. Of course we didn’t have an idea how. But now we have an office building out in a residential neighborhood.”
She said the parent owner of Brinks notified the company of their plans to terminate their contract for the space in June though they have asked for an extension.
She said Billingsley Co. has lost millions on the property. “Our net loss, including $1 million for demolition, will be about $12.5 million. That’s tragic, but now, what do we do? This is life. We move forward.”
The planning and zoning commission asked quite a few questions of Billingsley about changing the building to multi-family and why not more townhomes instead of multi-family buildings.
Billingsley said neither was financially feasible.
Several residents from the central and east sides of city spoke against the density.
Commission Chair Amber Raley confirmed with Bergman that notices were sent out to all surrounding property owners as required by law.
Bergman said that 39 notices were sent to all property owners within 200 feet and the school districts, and that as of the Dec. 9 meeting, there had been no responses.
The commissioners had quite a bit of discussion and voted twice before they approved the zoning request.
Commissioners Patrick Trapp and Harold Froehlich II voted against request. Commissioners Marcus Miller, Alden Sultzaugh, Colin Kirby and Chair Raley voted in favor.
Watch the Dec. 9 Planning and Zoning Meeting.
Preston Hollow Presbyterian School also will be on city council’s Feb. 18 agenda. The school, which already received a zoning amendment for its property at 4000 McEwen Rd., returned to the planning and zoning commission for another amendment after it found it is required to provide a storm shelter.
As a result, the school asked for another zoning amendment to build a third building on the property that would fulfill the storm shelter requirement and act as a gymnasium.
The school plans to open in August.
“This is kind of a curveball for us all … this gym was planned in the future, but it moved up very quickly because of the storm shelter requirements,” said John Arnold. “The intent from the beginning is to get the building done for the storm shelter so the school can open.”
