The proposed rezoning of 51 acres on the north side of Woodrow Road west of Frankford Avenue angered nearby residents who came out in force Thursday night to oppose it during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting at Citizens Tower.
Developer Thomas Payne and his company Starlight Development LLC asked for the area – now listed as low density single family – to become a heavy commercial district.
The commission voted it down 1-5. It now goes to the City Council on December 2, which can overrule the commission.
Payne described his plan as an office/warehouse concept with deed-restricted masonry or stucco facades. He cited his recent project near Liberty High School as an example of what it would look like.
“Several of these are million-dollar properties,” Payne said while showing pictures of businesses with masonry or stucco facades.
Neighbors are upset at the prospect of living near a diesel mechanic shop or industrial warehouse. But Payne said that’s not going to happen. And he said he already informed neighbors of that in a recent town hall meeting.
“I said specifically that although those things are allowed in heavy commercial that they will be deed restricted, and I will not allow those things,” Payne said.
“Those restrictions will be much more restrictive than the city’s heavy commercial zoning,” Payne.
LubbockLights.com reached out to Payne via text message the day after the meeting to offer him a chance to comment. He did not get back to us before this article was published.
Some of the neighbors objected – saying nothing would stop Payne from getting the zoning change and then putting in whatever he wants regardless of his promises. The deed restrictions haven’t been filed yet, according to information presented in the meeting.
“I’ve made it very clear what my intentions are,” Payne said.
Attorney Charles Chambers was among the residents to speak out against the zoning change.
“Traffic – everybody’s talked about traffic, and you bet that’s an issue,” Chambers said.
He described Woodrow Road as narrow.
“It scares you to death when you meet an F250 with a six-horse trailer coming behind it. It’s narrow. It has zero shoulder,” Chambers said.
Payne thinks his idea for commercial property along Woodrow Road between Frankford and Milwaukee will have less impact on traffic than residential which is what the current zoning allows.
Maps of proposed location and images of a similar development
Click an image to enlarge.
A total of 12 people spoke to the commission in opposition to the zoning change. Payne and his representative from a local engineering firm were the only two in favor.
Jamie McGar, a city employee, presented the case to commission, saying the property was voluntarily annexed in 2021. The city compared the proposed zoning to Lubbock’s land use plan.
“The property is suitable for the proposed zone change,” McGar told the commission.
The city was required by law to send 26 notifications to nearby landowners about the proposed zoning change. Ten letters came back – all in opposition, McGar said.
But then 126 more letters of opposition came in from outside the notification zone. These were folks who were not officially notified by the city but heard about the zoning change anyway. Eight of them were outside the city limits.
“To the north is vacant land. To the west is unincorporated single-family homes. To the east is a mix of single-family homes and unincorporated vacant land,” McGar said.
“The properties to the south are unincorporated and include single-family homes with one property that would be classified as heavy commercial use,” McGar added.
Complicating the matter is an Atmos Energy gas line easement across property. Payne said Atmos will not allow anything to be developed on top the gas line.
Payne said, “Although this request covers approximately 51 acres, there are only 32 acres of it that are not included in the Atmos Gas Line easement.”
A zoning map showed any development will need to be relatively close to the road to avoid the gas line.
Commission member Robert Wood mentioned the gas line easement and said, “I do think it will be commercial at some point. It’s on Woodrow Road and you can’t go deep. … It’s going to be on the road. And so, that’s going to be commercial at some point. … That’s what it’s going to be.”
Commission member Tanner Noble said he understood the concerns about having commercial near residential.
“There is commercial next to residential everywhere you look,” Noble said.
He mentioned a Walmart next to the Orchard Park development.
“And I don’t think their values were impacted by that,” Noble said.
“Having said that, in this particular case, my issue is the length of that commercial [property]. … To have it running across the whole mile, to me, seems excessive. That’s the part I’m struggling with the most,” Noble said.
“I want us to think about the zoning that is going from minimal to the highest zoning,” said commission member Renee Cage.
She wondered if there was a way to offer a compromise – something higher than residential but lower than heavy commercial. City Attorney Matt Wade said the two sides would have to negotiate that kind of a deal – it could not come from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
