P&Z Commission unanimously rejects Shell Spur mixed-use project
Georgetown’s Planning and Zoning Commission denied a Planned Unit Development request for a mixed-use multi-family and commercial proposal that would be located off Shell Road and Shell Spur.
The unanimous vote against the project – which would be built at approximately 2200 Shell Road in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction — was due to a lack of a traffic study that could show predicted traffic impacts. Members were also worried about the number of trees that would have been cut down for the proposal.
Before the P&Z vote, a representative from HD Brown Consulting told commissioners that the developer hadn’t planned a Traffic Impact Analysis as a way to save money.
“The reasons for the provisions with the Traffic Impact Analysis is that we have a very, very strong desire to annex into the city knowing exactly what our off-site improvements are going to be,” said Amanda Brown with HD Brown Consulting. “As a compromise, instead of doing a Traffic Impact Analysis, our civil engineers have identified the best way to mitigate our added traffic, which is to do right-turn [deceleration] lanes into the site both from Shell Road and Shell Spur.”
As presented, the proposed development would have a combination of low- and high-density multi-family housing, some commercial buildings and a gas station with a convenience store.
Georgetown Senior Planner Ryan Clark said city staff did not like the proposed design because it did not integrate residential and commercial zonings together well, He pointed to developments like the Rivery as an example of how both uses could work well together.
“It’s not necessarily an orderly and creative arrangement of [high-density multi-family] and [commercial] zoning nor is it really hitting at that vertical mixed-use environment you see recommended in our comprehensive plan,” Mr. Ryan said.
Both city staff and commissioners expressed concerns about the development, which where echoed by residents during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“It’s hard to get out of my driveway right now, there’s so much traffic that cuts through [my neighborhood] to get to Serenada,” resident Kirsten Lawley said. “We also need sidewalks on Shell Spur, because with a convenience store, all the kids from Logan Ranch and Berry Creek are going to want to ride their bikes up there, and if we don’t have sidewalks [or] wider streets, it’s going to be a real problem.”
Ms. Brown advocated for the plan. She pointed to what she said were ways the city could benefit from approving the PUD and annexing the property, including tax benefits, compliance with the city’s Future Land Use Map and not using a wastewater package plant to serve the development.
“[Wastewater package plants] are very expensive to build, they are very expensive to maintain, they take up a lot of land and most developers and most property owners are not utility companies and they don’t want to be utility companies,” Ms. Brown said.
Ultimately, P&Z voted against the PUD request.