FORNEY, Texas — UPDATE [Sept. 25] — The Forney City council voted 5-1 to lower the permissible multi-family units from 5,000 to 3,250. Read more, here.
FORNEY, Texas — UPDATE [Sept. 25] — The Forney City council voted 5-1 to lower the permissible multi-family units from 5,000 to 3,250. Read more, here.
ORIGINAL [Mar. 5] — A discussion during a Feb. 26 joint council meeting to clarify language between a 2009 development agreement and current zoning ordinances sparked a greater discussion about the Gateway development and, more specifically, its plans to build additional apartment units in Forney.
The joint meeting included quorums from the Forney City Council, the Forney Economic Development Corporation Board, the Forney Parks and Recreation Board, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Forney TIF Board. The boards met to discuss a general overview of the Gateway development, a proposed “Northside Park” and parkland dedication, infrastructure projects for the Gateway development, conflicting language in the development agreement and zoning ordinances, and current development projects in the City of Forney.
The Gateway development, also known as Meadow Ridge Farm, agreement covers 663.510 acres of land north of U.S. Highway 80 and east of Farm-to-Market (FM) 548 along Gateway Boulevard.
So, were 5,000 apartments approved by the Forney City Council during the Feb. 26, 2018, meeting?
The short answer is no. The only action taken during the meeting was to accept and approve 50.204 acres as parkland dedication from Meadow Ridge Farms to the City of Forney. The land was purchased, contingent council approval of its acceptance, by Meadow Ridge Farms from the Forney Economic Corporation.
Are 5,000 “residential units” or “dwelling units” approved in the Gateway development's Meadow Ridge Farm?
Yes. However, those plans were approved in May 2009 and amended in Feb. 2013. Those residential units include multi-family apartments, duplexes, triplexes, single-family detached, single-family industrialized homes, single-family townhomes, single-family zero-lot line patio-style homes, assisted living facilities, retirement homes, and nursing homes – in addition to live-work units or lofts as permitted in mixed-use tracts.
Are the 5,000 residential units in addition to what is already built at the Gateway?
No. The 5,000 units includes approximately 650 multi-family apartments already built in the Gateway Oaks and the Gateway Cedars, the 340 proposed in the Gateway Pines and currently under construction, and a approximately 340 units in a fourth phase of proposed apartments with an estimated completion in late 2020 or early 2021. That number also includes residential units in the Silver Springs active-senior living facility on Reeder Lane and another 120-unit retirement facility currently under contract for nine acres. In summary, through 2021, there are already built or proposed to be built approximately 1,550 of the 5,000 residential units.
Will you “soon” see 5,000 apartments from the “Bridge to Nowhere?” – as claimed by The Forney Post.
Tough question to answer. If it's “over the next year,” according to The Forney Post, then, no. The developer says they have no further plans for multi-family other than those through 2021. However, they do plan to “assess where the market demand and conditions are when we are nearing completion of [their] 4th phase to determine if [they] move forward with any more multi-family residential units,” according to a letter from the developer to Interim City Manager Wendle Medford aimed at responding to “inaccurate and false information that has appeared in The Forney Post articles and Mayor Rick Wilsons social media posts.”
This also takes into account no other residential uses are considered by the developer and they change their historical development pace. The initial 680 multi-family units were developed over eight years.
“The only way we would increase activity to bring on more residential units in this area would be if the market demand was present for another product type like townhomes, single family homes, etc. however we don't see that as a viable option.” (sic)
Has the area “once promised as retail” been replaced with high-density, multi-family dwellings? – as claimed by Forney Mayor Rick Wilson.
No. The developer's current plans are to build multi-family next to their current Gateway apartment offerings.
“This phase will be located next to the existing apartments, not near the bridge and not on the proposed commercial land,” the developer stated in their letter to Medford.
The approved planned development agreement allows for multi-family only uses in Tract No. 3 of the development which, according to the development's concept plan, is generally located in the area of the current multi-family apartment complexes – south of Reeder Lane and west of Reeder Road.
The concept plan does however allow for mixed-use development around Reeder Road, south of Windmill Farms, and along Gateway Boulevard with the exception of the highway frontage that is planned for general retail and commercial. Mixed-use development permits horizontal and vertical mixed-usage with examples indicated in the planned development documents as commercial structures with at least one of the upper floors designated residential such as live-work units or lofts. This does not outright replace the retail area with high-density multi-family dwellings as claimed.
Did Mayor Pro-Tem Mary Penn “make motion to approve an ordinance allowing the developer to build an excessive amount of multi-family dwellings' (sic) on the property located directly behind Antique Row?” – as claimed by The Forney Post.
No. The only action during the meeting was to accept the parkland dedication on a Penn motion which was seconded by Council member Shaun Myers. Wilson was the lone nay vote. Council member Robbie Powers was absent.
The original discussion to clarify a discrepancy between the planned development agreement and the current zoning ordinances stemmed from language in the zoning ordinance that requires a minimum 2,000 per square foot dwelling unit.
The discrepancy arose during negotiations between a third party and the Gateway development to sell one of the apartment complexes.
The approved planned development documents allow the developer to cluster multi-family uses together in densities greater than the city's current base zoning of MF-15, or 15 residential dwelling units per acre, so long as the overall development does not exceed an average of 15 residential dwelling units per acre.
With the 2,000 square foot requirement, the density in the Gateway development is capped at 21.78 units per acre — a number currently being exceeded in the first three phases of apartments, according to Alan Bain, a representative of the developer.
“We thought this was very clear,” stated Alan Bain, a representative of the developer. “We built the first one and it was approved. We built the second one, it was approved.”
Now, with plans once again approved by the City of Forney and the city council, a third apartment development, Gateway Pines, is undergoing construction and going vertical, stated Bain.
“Maybe it was a misinterpretation on both parts,” Wilson responded. “Because we approved it one way, you interpreted it another way.”
“But, you approved it that way,” stated Bain. “We were told to go build it.”
Bain says construction will continue as planned on the Gateway Pins but, acreage may have to be added to the site plan to meet the minimum requirements.
The language in the ordinance is proposed for Planning and Zoning review before being brought before the Forney City Council.
Tomorrow night, during a regularly scheduled meeting, the Forney City Council will further discuss ordinances, agreements, and other regulations related to the Gateway development and its associated tax increment reinvestment zone.
In the meantime, Wilson has started a petition to, according to the petition's description, “call on the City of Forney Councilmen to Repeal, Amend and Adopt City Ordinances and/or other means to regulate both Multi-Family and High density residential developments past, current and future that will protect our communities quality of growth within our city limits and /or the city's ETJ boundary.” (sic)
Gateway developer's letter to City of Forney by inForney.com on Scribd