Council approved a zoning change for about 102 acres to be used for mixed-use development with both commercial and residential uses at the May 28 meeting.
The property is along FM 455 on the west side of FM 1385.
“The planning commission heard this earlier this month and at their regular meeting and made some recommendations along with advancing a recommendation to approve the requested zone change,” Community Services Director Darrell Gentry said.
The five recommendations were to limit building height to four stories, allow a maximum density of 28 units per acre, allow for the sale of guns in a big-box retail store, require a 30-foot landscape area along the frontages of the major roadways and require the trash enclosures to be 7 feet tall.
Within the concept plans for the development, there are restaurants and fast-food dining options, a gas station, and a trail system connecting the commercial and multifamily areas.
“There's a mid-street area that connects FM 1385 to a future road, which is shown there on the very eastern property line,” Gentry said. “There's extensive landscaping, at least in terms of the development standards, which will incorporate that connecting roadway as well as the roadway that comes in off of 455.”
Heather Shankle of Daake Law represented the applicant and addressed traffic concerns, noting that TxDOT approval to expand and improve both FM 455 and FM 1385 will help as the area grows.
“The expansions and the improvements to 455 would allow us to control the mobility as you travel east to and onto the Dallas North Tollway, which is approximately a mile and a half from the location, and continuing east on G.A. Moore Parkway all the way to Preston Road,” Shankle said.
She shared a similar comment regarding the improvements and expansion to FM 1385.
Jim Knight with KFM Engineering noted that TxDOT is still working on the road im- provement/expansion plans for FM 455 and FM 1385, which are in progress, and that once completed, the two will be “major roadways.”
He added that once the project advances, the traffic study will be updated to ensure it works properly.
During the public hearing, resident Michael Ruttkowski voiced concerns and asked questions about traffic, retail stores and apartment costs.
City Attorney Brenda McDonald addressed the price and stated that it will likely be higher-end apartments.
“An apartment complex these days to build costs about $350,000, $400,000 per unit to build, so there are huge tax generators for the community, and they provide some needed housing when the community starts to grow,” Knight said, adding that the developer will do a market study before pricing the units.
As far as retail stores go, Knight said, the hope is to attract both national and local retailers, but it will be determined later as the project develops.
After approving the rezoning, the council then discussed and voted on an economic incentive agreement for the town center development.
“This is a 20-year agreement that would allow us to reimburse the developer for the ad valorem property taxes that are paid once these areas are constructed,” said Michele Sanchez, the assistant city manager and chief financial officer.
That clock starts “once the first [certificate of occupancy] is pulled,” she said.
“Year one through year three, we reimburse 100% of the ad valorem value, and then years four through five is 80% and then years six through 20 is 50%” Sanchez said.
She noted that there is a cap of $15 million, and once it is reached, the initiative stops.
Sanchez also added that there are requirements in the agreements that the commercial development begin before all multifamily is developed.
“Before they can pull an additional permit to make it beyond 960 units of multifamily, they have to have obtained a building permit for a junior tenant or the 20,000 square foot retail space that's designated in commercial,” Sanchez said. “We've done this to try and keep it from all multifamily building at once and then commercial coming in on the back end. We want to try and blend this all together to work well.”
Mayor Pro Tem Andrew Ambrosio gave positive remarks about the opportunity for more retail space in Pilot Point and its location but also noted that he still has concerns about traffic.
“A lot of people that live on 1385 are now heading south,” Sanchez said. “They're not coming all the way into town, and we saw that when we did our comprehensive plan about sales tax leakage. So, by putting a big box retail here, we're actually capturing it within Pilot Point, which actually helps everybody because your sales tax goes to reduce property taxes, so sales tax generation is great for everybody in town.”
The motion passed. Assistant Director of Community Services Katie Blust discussed major highlights from January to March regarding the progress reports for the Comprehensive Plan.
That included adopting the Water and Wastewater masterplan in January to address current demands and infrastructure needs.
She added that the draft of the Unified Development Code is nearly finalized; a tentative date has been scheduled for later in the year for council feedback.
Blust also discussed that Fire Station No. 3 has a staff of 15 firefi ghters, split equally among three shifts.
“The station also includes an annex for the Pilot Point Police Department, providing office space for two criminal investigation staff members,” Blust said.
Pilot Point Fire Chief Heath Hudson spoke during the staff report and provided more details on how the new Fire Station No. 3 has affected response times for residents.
“We took a couple of … addresses at Mobberly Farms that had repetitive calls there prior to 3's opening, and basically it's cut the response times to about 14 minutes,” Hudson said. “So, that station is there within three to four minutes, where it was taking 15-plus from here.”
Police Chief Angela Mathews shared that four new police officers were set to graduate from the police academy in the days after the council meeting and were set to be out on patrol Wednesday.
Mathews added that there are an additional four officers undergoing background checks.
“If we're able to get everybody completely successful out of background and we get everybody staffed within the next month or two, then we're anticipating the last person should be getting out of field training around this time next year,” she said.
Although Pilot Point will continue its mutual aid agreement with Aubrey, the need is dwindling as the staff grows, Mathews added.
The council approved a special event permit for a Fourth of July parade brought forth by Main Street Manager Jennifer Neal and Parks and Recreation Director Jason Poncio.
The event is in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
City Manager Britt Lusk added that this parade is being put on with the help of several community organizations and nonprofits in Pilot Point.
“They came and made an ask to the city, and so we were able to maneuver and do some things to make it where we could actually have this parade,” Lusk said. “We heard that the community wanted it. We heard it loud and clear that we needed to move it forward.”
