By Amira Van Leeuwen
KYLE — With a 3-3 vote, Kyle City Council decided against moving forward with a rezoning ordinance that rezones approximately 54.23 acres of land from retail services to a Planned Unit Development (PUD).
City council members Michael Tobias, Daniela Parsley and Yvonne Flores-Cale all voted in dissent and Mayor Travis Mitchell, Mayor Pro Tem Robert Rizo and council member Ashlee Bradshaw voted for the ordinance.
According to Interim Director of Planning Will Atkinson, the design is a pedestrian-focused, Vybe trail-oriented development.
“They’ve done a significant amount of work in terms of trying to make this project function properly from a pedestrian safety perspective and also to integrate into the Vybe Trail system in a very well thought out comprehensive manner,” Atkinson said.
Tracy Shield, president of Waterleaf’s Homeowners Association, spoke during the item’s public hearing. Shield wanted to remind the council that FM 150 gets “horrifically backed up” during school hours and the work traffic period.
“As these developments come in, even though they look great and everything, we also need to think about that traffic pattern,” Shield said. “It’s a nightmare sometimes. ...This development looks great, but can 150 support it?”
Applicant Todd Kaiser with BGK Architects talked briefly about the design and architecture. Kaiser said the concept from the very beginning was to use real, solid materials like local Texas brick, good windows and steel planters in front of every house with various plantings.
“It’s a timeless design. We try to stay away from trend and flashiness, but to focus more on simplicity and quality,” Kaiser said.
Bradshaw thought the development was “amazing” and motioned to approve the rezoning ordinance.
“I appreciate the thought that really went into everything from the design of the homes to the flow of traffic to the green space and everything like that. I think this is something that Kyle deserves and do appreciate you addressing the traffic concerns,” Bradshaw said.
The townhomes also have two-car garages with parked driveways, which raised many questions and back and forth among council members, Atkinson and the developers.
Tobias wondered how many homes were outlined in the development. Kaiser clarified that there would be about 198 new homes.
“[The] average home has three to four cars per household. That’s 760 more cars on that road,” Tobias observed. “Not to be the devil’s advocate on that, but I’m just letting you know because of the concerns we’re having on that traffic.”
Flores-Cale expressed her concerns about parking.
“I know you guys are saying ‘But there’s a garage in the back and it can hold two cars in the garage and two cars in the actual driveaway.’ That doesn’t matter to me because, the truth of the matter is, when people come over they don’t park at the back of the house. They park at the front. That has caused a real safety issue for my neighborhood in particular, so I can’t imagine that it’s going to be better here,” Flores-Cale said.
Flores-Cale was also concerned about traffic and thought it would cause more road stress.
“The traffic in this area cannot sustain all of this,” Flores-Cale said. “Now, would I like to see something like this in the area? Sure. When the city is prepared and ready. Traffic-wise, we are not ready for this.”
Atkinson said traffic would be there no matter what the development is.
“In my opinion, I believe a gold standard or a better functioning project from an overall design is much better than the standard,” Atkinson said.
Because the area is already zoned, Atkinson said the council has to approve this project or go with another project that might lack quality. Parsley said it felt like the council was being trapped.
Parsley suggested adding more retail and larger lots to help with traffic density. Atkinson said the reason why the development has the density that it has currently is to account for the Vybe trail and make it into a Vybe node to provide that sense of community.
Adam Green, senior vice president of land acquisition & development at Bridge Tower Homes, took the podium to speak. He noted how interesting it was that the staff’s interest in developing Kyle “the right way” translates over to the council members. Green explained that due to finances, implementing fewer homes was not an option for Bridge Tower Homes.
Green addressed the traffic concern by proposing to continue to move the project along.
“If we can continue to move the project forward, what I can do with Will is, I don’t have a problem with paying for a traffic study to see what it looks like on 150. If it were to come back that we needed a traffic light or something big like that, at that time, between myself, my company, the city and TxDOT, try to work through getting that done,” Green said.
Flores-Cale was a big advocate for protecting retail. Although Bradshaw agreed in wanting to protect retail, she also encouraged Flores-Cale to look at the Kyle Parkway deal that was previously approved, which gave up 15 acres of retail for 7,500 square feet of retail for multifamily on a congested road.
“I just wanna make sure, whatever we are gonna give up, we completely think through it, and we’re making the right sacrifices. Because sacrificing for homes is not what the area needs,” Flores-Cale said.
Mitchell believes that the council's focus should be on elevating the design standards, particularly out east of Kyle.
“I have fought against straight zoning and the development that comes with straight zoning for a long time, out there in particular, because I’ve seen developers take advantage of the cheap land that’s available to them out East to build rows of houses such as Waterleaf, Post Oak and all those other subdivisions down 150 that I consider to be inferior compared to the standard that we have for our community,” Mitchell said.
