By Fawn Porter/Staff Writer

A divided city planning commission Tuesday night balked at supporting a planned unit development effort that would construct duplexes near single-family homes in the 800 block of North Czech Hall Road.

This is the second the time the property has appeared before the commission at the request of applicant, Sterling Property Management. Previously, the board recommended the City Council deny the rezoning application based on safety issues and noncompliance with the long-range comprehensive plan.

After their first appearance before the board, Sterling Property Management pulled their PUD application for rezoning before it reached the Mustang City Council and revised it to comply with some concerns voiced by commissioners.

Changes to the developer’s PUD plan included designing a cul-de-sac instead of a through street to Gladys Way and also reducing the number of dwellings — duplexes sharing a common wall — to 28 from 30.

The planning commission consistently split 3-2 in favor of denying the rezoning. It takes four votes of all members to formally recommend a motion to City Council.

Although the 3.3-acre tract in question is currently zoned R-4, or high-density residential, the city’s long-range comprehensive plan calls for low-density residential, or R-1, in this area, which is surrounded by low-density single-family developments.

Under a PUD such as the applicants are requesting, not all zoning codes must be met and applicants can ask for variances to city ordinances. In Sterling Property Management’s case, the applicant was requesting a minimum lot size of 3,000 square feet where city codes call for 4,200; 51-percent lot coverage on northern lots and 58-percent coverage on southern lots where city codes say 35-percent coverage is the maximum. Other variances include front and rear yard setbacks — the applicant is requesting a 15-foot front yard setback and a 10-foot rear yard setback where Mustang’s law dictate 30-foot and 20-foot setbacks respectively.

When this application was first presented to commissioners last month, some board members suggested a cul-de-sac approach to the property would earn more support from them.

City staff recommended approval of the application both times, saying the developers were proposing an R-2 type, or duplex, design while high-density, such as apartments, was allowable under current zoning.

Even so, three commissioners balked at the proposed rezoning.

“I don’t like R-4 for this area,” Commissioner Coeta Morrell said, adding she also was not in favor of the developer’s proposal. “I realize we need to work something out … I really don’t know the answer.”

Commissioners John Brand and Chairman Dan Cromwell echoed her opposition.

Brand said he kept coming back to neighboring single-family dwellings surrounding the property and its lack of compliance with the long-range plan.

Both Cromwell and Brand said they tended to be more accepting of apartments on the property that adhered to all codes for R-4 developments.

But Commissioners Brad Homer and Sam Curatola leaned toward recommending the PUD rezoning as requested by Sterling.

Curatola said he appreciated the applicants’ willingness to listen to concerns of planning commissioners and residents and re-tool their application to be more accommodating.

“They’re trying,” he said. “They’re going to do something” with the land, which could include building apartments.

In surveys prior to adopting Mustang’s long-range comprehensive plan, residents said they wanted less high-density residential developments, officials have said.

In Curatola’s opinion, he said residents had three options: buy out the developers, sell out or deal with it.
Homer said while he wasn’t “fond” of the application, he didn’t see many people protesting the development and the property’s unique design made it a good candidate for a PUD.

“That’s what PUDs are for,” he said. “And I sure don’t want apartments.”

In the past, PUDs have been called attempts to skirt Mustang’s standing codes by some city officials, but in a July planning commission meeting, City Planner Melissa Helsel said PUDs were designed to be flexible and should be either approved or denied on a case-by-case basis.

A motion to recommend denying the application was voted down 3-2 with Curatola and Homer the dissenting votes. A second motion to approve recommendation was also voted down with Brand, Cromwell and Morrell dissenting. However, neither motion passed as it takes four votes to approve or deny recommendation to Council.