Speakers at Colleyville’s final City Council meeting of the year could agree on one thing: Much has changed about WillowTree Custom Homes’ development proposal since it was first introduced last year.
The luxury subdivision on the edge of Colleyville and Grapevine would include nine homes rather than the original 19. Traffic would run only through Pool Road rather than the more heavily residential Wilkes Drive. More than 5 acres of native forest would be designated for preservation, about 40% of the 14-acre site.
But, with hundreds of residents expressing concern over green space preservation and construction near Big Bear Creek, one crucial element hasn’t changed. For the third time since February, Colleyville City Council members voted to deny WillowTree’s rezoning of 2417 Wilkes Drive from agricultural and residential estate to higher-density residential.
“This is a vastly superior plan than what they started with,” said council member Chuck Kelley, who voted to deny. “To me, the fact that we’ve had to go through 18 months of gyrations of this shows that this, at the end of the day, is probably a piece of property that shouldn’t be developed.”
The 4-3 vote on Dec. 19 was the closest yet, with Mayor Bobby Lindamood, Mayor Pro Tem Callie Rigney and council member George Bond opposing the denial. Because more than 20% of adjacent land owners registered opposition to the rezoning, the housing proposal needs supermajority approval — or six votes in favor — to pass.
Lindamood raised concerns about how much the city could regulate tree preservation if the land remains zoned as agricultural. He pointed to legal uncertainty surrounding how the city could enforce its ordinances under a new Texas constitutional amendment protecting the right to farm.
If the landowner wanted to, he could begin cutting down trees less than 10 caliper-inches wide tomorrow under the current ordinance, Lindamood said.
“We (would) have over 5 acres of protected area that the city and (homeowners association) can protect,” Lindamood said. “We have teeth. We have the law with this because it will be in the ordinance that we can preserve those trees. For that reason, that’s why I say this is a good idea.”
More than 300 residents submitted letters opposing the revised development proposal. Their ideal solution would see some of the property purchased for permanent public green space, with potential support from the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, said Tim Waterworth, a leader of the Save Colleyville Trees opposition campaign. Remaining acreage could then be developed for housing.
Get caught up
Colleyville’s planning and zoning commission first voted on WillowTree Custom Homes’ zoning change request to build the Bluffs at Colleyville in November 2022. Since then, neighbors like Tim Waterworth have formed the Save Colleyville Trees campaign and rallied hundreds of neighbors to submit opposition letters.
City Council members denied plans from the developer in February, June and December. The February and June decisions were unanimous denials, while three members voted against denial Dec. 19. The denial was without prejudice, meaning WillowTree has no restrictions on when it can return with a new plan.
“I don’t want nine multimillionaires being the only ones that can enjoy this,” said Bob Egan, who lives near the proposed development. “If there’s an opportunity for an extension of Parr Park and we’ve got a walkway behind there, and eventually it can connect over to Kimzey Park, it’s a win for the public.”
Waterworth’s group facilitated conference calls between property owner Mark Goodwin and Trust for Public Land representatives, but those conversations have not resulted in an appraisal or offer, said Curtis Young of Sage Group Inc., a representative for the developers.
“To me, that is just a nonpractical solution here that is not moving forward,” Young told council members. “(Residents) talk about delaying this until it can be worked out. How much longer do we have to delay this? We’ve already been at this for well over a year.”
More than 50% of the property’s trees would likely be preserved because homeowners will want to keep trees on their home lots, too, Young said.
“I’m a little bit surprised that there’s not more support for it from our neighbors,” he said. “It seems to me that we’re doing what they asked us to do, maybe not precisely the way that they asked for it.”
The Trust for Public Land is not at fault when it comes to putting a deal together, Waterworth said. The organization would help facilitate a purchase of the acreage using a mixture of private donations and potential grant funding before giving the deed to the city for parkland.
Colleyville officials have refused to engage with the trust while Goodwin was at least willing to consider a compromise, Waterworth said.
“We’ve tried so hard to get the city to acknowledge the Trust for Public Land and do something with it,” Waterworth said. “Quite frankly, we’ve been stonewalled, and I’m so disappointed in that.”
WillowTree Custom Homes has the chance to return with a revised application in the coming months. The council could have prevented developers from submitting a new proposal for at least a year.
Young and Goodwin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their future plans.
Waterworth isn’t sure what comes next. But he hopes city leaders, neighbors and developers can come together and find a solution that would benefit community members as well as the landowner.
“I want everybody to win, but winning includes having a significant conservation area where it’s needed most,” Waterworth said.
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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