Residents made their voices count at Tuesday’s Farmers Branch City Council meeting.
Twenty-three people spoke for three minutes each at the public hearing held for the council to consider rezoning 2.62 acres at the southwest corner of Golfing Green Drive and Josey Lane.
The measure failed after lengthy debate among council members when Councilman Omar Roman, District 1, made a motion to deny the rezoning proposal with Councilman Martin Baird, District 2, seconding. The vote to deny the Ordinance No. 3846 passed 3-2 with Councilmembers Richard Jackson and David Merritt opposing.
Builder and owner Tom Cusick proposed building 41 townhomes on the land, which currently includes three duplexes and an office building at 13305 Josey Lane that Cusick owns and a .94-acre lot on the corner that is owned by the city.
Cusick approached the city more than two years ago to explore the idea of developing the corner.
Since then, he also started building a home for Mayor Terry Lynne, which is not yet complete.
The Farmers Branch Planning and Zoning Commission approved the development of the corner, which is considered a Four Corners Catalyst Site and agrees with the city’s 2045 comprehensive plan, for the council’s consideration.
Residents spoke overwhelmingly against the plan though several said they were in favor of development in general. They cited neighborhood character, density, parking and traffic issues as reasons they opposed Cusick’s plan.
“To go from three duplexes, which is six families, to over 41 families is insane in that area,” said Andrew Mazera, who said he lives directly across from the proposed development on Rawhide Parkway. He also criticized the cost of the proposed townhomes, which Cusick estimated would cost $400,000 to $500,000. “This is just something for the wealthy.”
Jerry Hays, who has lived on Golfing Green for more than 30 years, opposed the development based on traffic and how it looks compared to the rest of the neighborhood.
He said already crossing Josey Lane at the light at Golfing Green is problematic. Adding that many more vehicles will make it even more dangerous, he said.
“This housing steps away from the character of this area,” he said. “Forty-one units crammed into a small space is not a good look. While these may be townhomes … they look a lot like apartments to me. It is not in line with the other housing in the area.”
Brenda Brodrick, who lives on Rawhide Parkway said she sent out emails and went door to door to inform neighbors about the public hearing.
She said she was concerned about the quantity of cars the development would add to the “treacherous” intersection at Josey and Golfing Green.
Resident Al Solis appealed to the council’s duty to represent the residents who live here.
“People love this place because of the quality of life that’s here,” he said. “I'd like you to consider that.”
However, not everyone spoke against the development.
Kyle Burton, who is running for Farmers Branch City Council for District 5, said, “I’ve had the pleasure of seeing many Thomas Cusick homes being built around the neighborhood. … Farmers Branch is a growing city. There’s a lot of new development coming in and these people need a place to live. Not all of them can afford a million-dollar house, but they can afford a townhome. I think this does nothing but improve that area of the city and increases the tax revenue. There will be at least 41 new families living there. I strongly support it.”
Resident Todd Warren said it’s too late for Farmers Branch to avoid development.
“The dirt here anymore is worth gold,” he said. “There are some good sides to development. I’m not saying money is everything, but it certainly helps.”
Farmers Branch is “definitely a city on the rise again. It’s not some little farm town like everyone thinks,” Warren said.
Economic impact of the development on the city was important to Dave Reid, who is running for city council for District 3.
“One of the things that everyone is looking to do is bring more amenities, more businesses, (and a) better quality of life to this city. That costs money,” he said. “So having a larger tax base, using underdeveloped land and adding that to our tax base is going to be a positive. Secondly, if we want to revamp Four Corners, to bring the businesses there, you need to have the demographics there to support it, and that’s what this development and the other development that’s currently underway is going to bring the families here to support those businesses … everyone’s going to benefit.”
In explaining how the project came about, Cusick said he researched and targeted the property around the undeveloped piece of land that the city owns and purchased the adjacent properties.
“The goal was to continue the project further down, but that’s just not going to happen because there are too many other owners through there to successfully complete those acquisitions,” he said.
Because of the costs associated with acquiring and holding the properties, he said it was not financially optional to put duplexes there now. In addition, he did not see the market for a gated community as was suggested to him.
“I have to be able to sell something,” he said.
Deputy Director of Planning Marcos Narvaez said that feasibility, traffic and view studies were not required for the proposed development because it was within the scope of the comprehensive plan.
Councilman David Merritt of District 5 asked about Cusick’s perspective on traffic at the intersection of Josey and Golfing Green.
“I can appreciate the concerns neighbors and citizens have for the traffic. At the end of the day, this is miniscule compared to Joya Park,” Cusick said.
Merritt also asked about overflow parking.
The development included 82 garage parking spaces and another 27 in lots, but Cusick said the problem with parking is much bigger in scope than his proposed development.
“I think that’s something we currently deal with in the city regardless of whether you live on Stardust or Charcoal or Janwood,” he said. “I think this is something that is impacted across the community as a whole right now. Currently people park along Golfing Green as it is.”
After Cusick and city staff answered all of the council’s questions and council members discussed the project, the council closed the public meeting and voted to deny the ordinance to rezone the lot.