{"id":43576,"date":"2025-11-10T19:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T19:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/43576\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T19:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T19:03:08","slug":"mile-long-heavy-commercial-zone-proposed-along-woodrow-road-west-of-frankford-angers-neighbors-who-showed-up-at-city-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/43576\/","title":{"rendered":"Mile long heavy commercial zone proposed along Woodrow Road west of Frankford angers neighbors who showed up at city meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The proposed rezoning of 51 acres on the north side of Woodrow Road west of Frankford Avenue angered nearby residents who came out in force Thursday night to oppose it during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting at Citizens Tower.<\/p>\n

Developer Thomas Payne and his company Starlight Development LLC asked for the area \u2013 now listed as low density single family \u2013 to become a heavy commercial district.<\/p>\n

The commission voted it down 1-5. It now goes to the City Council on December 2, which can overrule the commission.<\/p>\n

Payne described his plan as an office\/warehouse concept with deed-restricted masonry or stucco facades. He cited his recent project near Liberty High School as an example of what it would look like.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral of these are million-dollar properties,\u201d Payne said while showing pictures of businesses with masonry or stucco facades.<\/p>\n

Neighbors are upset at the prospect of living near a diesel mechanic shop or industrial warehouse. But Payne said that\u2019s not going to happen. And he said he already informed neighbors of that in a recent town hall meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said specifically that although those things are allowed in heavy commercial that they will be deed restricted, and I will not allow those things,\u201d Payne said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose restrictions will be much more restrictive than the city\u2019s heavy commercial zoning,\u201d Payne.<\/p>\n

But some of the neighbors objected \u2013 saying nothing would stop Payne from getting the zoning change and then putting in whatever he wants regardless of his promises. The deed restrictions haven\u2019t been filed yet, according to information presented in the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made it very clear what my intentions are,\u201d Payne said.<\/p>\n

Attorney Charles Chambers was among the residents to speak out against the zoning change.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraffic \u2013 everybody\u2019s talked about traffic, and you bet that\u2019s an issue,\u201d Chambers said.<\/p>\n

He described Woodrow Road as narrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt scares you to death when you meet an F250 with a six-horse trailer coming behind it. It\u2019s narrow. It has zero shoulder,\u201d Chambers said.<\/p>\n

Payne thinks his idea for commercial property along Woodrow Road between Frankford and Milwaukee will have less impact on traffic than residential which is what the current zoning allows.<\/p>\n

A total of 12 people spoke to the commission in opposition to the zoning change. Payne and his representative from a local engineering firm were the only two in favor.<\/p>\n

Jamie McGar, a city employee, presented the case to commission, saying the property was voluntarily annexed in 2021. The city compared the proposed zoning to Lubbock\u2019s land use plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe property is suitable for the proposed zone change,\u201d McGar told the commission.<\/p>\n

The city was required by law to send 26 notifications to nearby landowners about the proposed zoning change. Ten letters came back \u2013 all in opposition, McGar said.<\/p>\n

But then 126 more letters of opposition came in from outside the notification zone. These were folks who were not officially notified by the city but heard about the zoning change anyway. Eight of them were outside the city limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the north is vacant land. To the west is unincorporated single-family homes. To the east is a mix of single-family homes and unincorporated vacant land,\u201d McGar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe properties to the south are unincorporated and include single-family homes with one property that would be classified as heavy commercial use,\u201d McGar added.<\/p>\n

Complicating the matter is an Atmos Energy gas line easement across property. Payne said Atmos will not allow anything to be developed on top the gas line.<\/p>\n

Payne said, \u201cAlthough this request covers approximately 51 acres, there are only 32 acres of it that are not included in the Atmos Gas Line easement.\u201d<\/p>\n

A zoning map showed any development will need to be relatively close to the road to avoid the gas line.<\/p>\n

Commission member Robert Wood mentioned the gas line easement and said, \u201cI do think it will be commercial at some point. It\u2019s on Woodrow Road and you can\u2019t go deep. \u2026 It\u2019s going to be on the road. And so, that\u2019s going to be commercial at some point. \u2026 That\u2019s what it\u2019s going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commission member Tanner Noble said he understood the concerns about having commercial near residential.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is commercial next to residential everywhere you look,\u201d Noble said.<\/p>\n

He mentioned a Walmart next to the Orchard Park development.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t think their values were impacted by that,\u201d Noble said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving said that, in this particular case, my issue is the length of that commercial [property]. \u2026 To have it running across the whole mile, to me, seems excessive. That\u2019s the part I\u2019m struggling with the most,\u201d Noble said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want us to think about the zoning that is going from minimal to the highest zoning,\u201d said commission member Renee Cage.<\/p>\n

She wondered if there was a way to offer a compromise \u2013 something higher than residential but lower than heavy commercial. City Attorney Matt Wade said the two sides would have to negotiate that kind of a deal \u2013 it could not come from the Planning and Zoning Commission.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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