One zoning case in southwest Arlington could be the city’s first test case on a new state law that residents worry could open a neighborhood up to apartments.
The proposed change would shift the zoning of property at 4232, 4312 Kelly Elliott Road and 4230 W. Interstate 20 Highway from single-family housing to neighborhood commercial.
Such zoning wouldn’t typically allow for apartments, but new Texas law would permit such use in certain circumstances.
Nearby residents say multifamily housing or business would cause traffic hazards and reduce the city’s green spaces.
The City Council will hold a public hearing regarding the rezoning on Tuesday night.
Becky Hearne, who has owned a home adjacent to the vacant plots since 2021, said she wants more clarity from the landowner on what will end up behind her house.
“I get that it will probably go commercial, but I think all of the homeowners would feel a lot better if we had some input or knowledge about what was going there,” Hearne said.
Zoning change fails in P&Z; council to hold hearing
The proposed change initially went to the Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 4.
Nikki Moore, a land development consultant with design firm MMA Texas, brought forward the proposal on behalf of the landowner. Commissioners split on the proposal with a 4-4 vote, which meant it failed.
The proposed changes did not include a plan for the land.
Zoning land as neighborhood commercial opens its uses to allow a range of businesses, such as offices, restaurants or massage therapy clinics.
To read the full list of possible uses under the zoning, click here.
Without a plan, some planning and zoning commissioners worry that the area could be packaged with a nearby plot of land and turned into multifamily apartments under a recent state law.
What is Senate Bill 840?
The Legislature passed Senate Bill 840 last year. The bill went into effect in September and allows developers to build multifamily apartments on land zoned commercial, foregoing a rezoning process. Gov. Greg Abbott said the bill “slashes regulations and speeds up the permitting process,” according to The Texas Tribune.
The bill only affects cities with 150,000 or more residents that are in counties that have populations of over 300,000.
The three plots proposed for a zoning change total about 2.75 acres, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District. Moore told commissioners that the land, due to its size and other factors, is “not particularly marketable for multifamily.”
Bill Biesel, the real estate broker for the land, later added that he wanted to focus on selling the property to future developers as a space for small offices, saying that two people previously interested in the land wanted it for commercial purposes.
Commissioner Tom Ware, who is running for City Council District 4, said he worried that a 1.37-acre plot next to 4320 W. Interstate 20 Highway could also propose a zoning change, leading to a singular buyer sweeping all of the land and building apartments.
Some commissioners who supported the change said the threat of Senate Bill 840 was not as large in this case as it appeared to be.
Commissioner Derek Carter said the most he could envision on the land is townhomes. Commissioner David Greer said the city’s development and zoning code protects the neighborhood from undesirable development on the plot.
Ultimately, a majority of commissioners agreed that commercial zoning made the most sense for the corner lot. However, they remained split on the details.
As public comment began, Dawayne Pace, a Saginaw resident, spoke to commissioners. Pace, the owner of the plot Ware referenced, said he would not be opposed to rezoning his land to commercial use in the future.
Ignacio Nunez, the Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission chairperson, said Pace’s statement had shaken his vote.
“I would probably vote ‘yes,’ except for the bomb that was dropped here tonight and exploded, because that piece of land could then be incorporated and that whole corner could really do something else entirely,” Nunez told Greer before the vote.
After considering the traffic the change could bring to the area, the lack of specifics on what will be built and the possibility that Senate Bill 840 opens development to multifamily apartments, the commission voted in a tie.
That tie was overridden by the City Council on March 10, when members voted 5-4 to host a public hearing following an appeal.
Arlington residents, City Council members react
Planning and zoning commissioners are not the only ones raising red flags.
Laura Capik, a frequently engaged Arlington resident who lives south of the property, said she heard about the possible zoning change from her daughter, who drives by the land to get to Interstate 20.
She said her biggest concern was the use of “blanket zoning,” referring to when a zoning change is implemented without a firm plan of what will be built.
“It’s kind of a ‘trust me’ attitude between the developer and the city, which is probably the worst thing for the surrounding adjacent neighborhood because the neighborhood has no clue what will finally be developed on that particular piece of property,” Capik said.
Capik highlighted concerns about the native trees in the lots and the effects a commercial development’s traffic would have on the property, which is just over half a mile from Martin High School.
The traffic is only getting worse as construction on the frontage roads is expected soon as part of a major state project, she said.
“I mean, it’s a disaster out there right now,” Capik said.
Hearne said she agrees with many of Capik’s concerns, adding that she worries about home values depending on what pops up in the lot and what would happen to its trees.
“There’s a huge difference between a Fuzzy’s Taco Shop with dumpsters at my back fence and a dentist’s office,” Hearne said. “It could be anything in that range.”
Hearne, a residential real estate agent, said she understands that commercial zoning would serve the area best and that she is not opposed to some form of housing in the lot.
“I would love to see them do duplexes or townhomes or something like a residential buffer, but it sounded like they had never been able to find any buyers for the property that felt like that was a viable thing to build there,” Hearne said.
Council member Bowie Hogg, who said he was “the most anti-apartments person on council,” was one of the four who voted against holding the April 7 public hearing.
Hogg told the Arlington Report that the community was “exactly right” to be concerned that blanket rezoning could lead to apartments.
“The last thing we need, especially in that area, is more apartments,” Hogg said.
Hogg said the new law will change how he and other council members approach any zoning request from now on, especially those near single-family residences. He added that the Kelly Elliott property would be “perfect” for a commercial development depending on the plan.
“As a council, we should be extra cautious over any kind of zoning change because developers are going to try and utilize (SB 840) just to make an extra dollar here and there,” Hogg said.
Council member Raul Gonzalez agreed that the bill has changed how he approaches zoning.
Gonzalez, who voted to hold the public hearing, said he did not want to see apartments built on the plot, but he wanted to hear all of the facts behind the case.
“A lot of people are counting on something else — that they’re going to buy more land, and then it’ll happen,” Gonzalez said. “Well, if they have to buy more land, then we have to change the zone of it, so we still really control that.”
“I want to hear, with the sole property that they have, can this really happen?” Gonzalez said.
Ultimately, what would have been a simple zoning case concerning commercial use has turned into something else entirely, he said.
“Senate Bill 840 has changed everything entirely,” Gonzalez said.
Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org.
At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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