The Arlington Planning & Zoning Commission on April 29 approved a revised development plan for multifamily residential apartments on West Arkansas Lane near the Pantego town limits.
The vote was 7-1, with one abstention. Commissioner Derek Carter voted no. Jacob Sumpter abstained.
Carter said he objected to the interior hallways planned for the development — a design he said tends to “harbor nefarious activities.”
The revised plan reduces the Autumn Parc development from 57 units to 51, in one three-story building rather than two, with carports instead of the originally planned garages. The changes were necessitated because of difficulties developers faced in getting city staff to approve treatment of an existing stormwater channel adjacent to the site. The eventual redesign did not allow enough space for garages.
The proposed development by Dallas-based OM Housing sits roughly 100 feet west of the Pantego limits. The portion of the site addressed at 1915 West Arkansas Lane is 0.261 acres and is vacant and undeveloped. At 1921 West Arkansas Lane, there is an existing structure that is currently used for boat and RV storage.
Development consultant Nikki Moore of Arlington-based MMA told the commission that the changes were needed to address some technical challenges that the developer came across in engineering.
“It wasn’t necessarily related to drainage. We solved for the drainage, but more or less getting city staff and public works comfortable with the fact that we were taking the majority of public storm water runoff from Arkansas (Lane), and we were then routing it through a private underground detention system, and replacing that open air tree line channel, and then once again, that water going back into a public system at Pioneer 303.”
The original development plan for the site was approved by the Arlington City Council in August 2023 and consisted of two three-story structures with 57 total units. Under the revised plan the developer is proposing a revision to the original development plan that involves reducing the number of structures on-site, which will allow for fewer units.
Moore noted that, “It’s a little bit unprecedented to go from public to private, back to public, and how to address that transition of storm water and maintenance, and ultimately we just never got a direct approval after six renditions of materials and various ideas to get public works comfortable with that.”
Moore said the project is “a tax credit deal type of living situation,” and that OM Housing decided to alter the site plan in order “to just leave the existing channel as it is.”
Autumn Parc will be a gated community. The first floor of the single building would accommodate the office, clubhouse and mailboxes. Above would be 18 one-bedroom units, 23 two-bedroom units and 10 three-bedroom units.
The building will have only interior hallways for residents to reach their units, which was a problem for Carter.
“I can’t support any apartment building that has these interior rooms, these interior hallways, because they do harbor nefarious activities,” Carter said. “The hallways are closed, they create a lot of hiding spots, they have odors, they have dog issues, they have trash issues.”
Then-commissioner Thomas Ware, however, complimented the developer. “I think you’ve done a great job redoing this, and given and taken, and it really looks good,” he said. Ware now serves as a city council member.
The project will go before the city council on June 9.
Lance Murray is a freelance contributor covering business for the Arlington Report. 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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