Highland Village approves patio home development

The Highland Village City Council on Tuesday held a public hearing and approved a zoning change to allow for a  proposed development for 25 new patio homes near Heritage Elementary School.

DJB Development requested the zoning for 4-acre tract at 102 Barnett Boulevard to be changed from from SF-40 to a Planned Development District. The concept plan calls for 25 homes at the proposed “Magnolia Village,” as well as the preservation of existing trees on the western property line. According to the meeting agenda, the patio homes would be a minimum of 1,647 square feet and there would be a homeowners’ association and a masonry screen wall along Barnett Boulevard.

In July, Highland Village Planning & Zoning commissioners voted 4-1 to recommend approval of the zoning change. It was scheduled to go to City Council in August but the applicant requested a continuance until Tuesday’s meeting. The city has received mixed feedback from neighboring residents; more than half of the submitted feedback before the P&Z meeting was positive, but since then, staff has received eight additional emails/letters opposed.

After the P&Z meeting, the applicant requested the ordinance be revised to require an 8-foot-tall cedar fence be built along the western property line instead of the 6-foot-tall one in the application approved by P&Z, a change that is “consistent with requests made by the owners of the property adjacent to the western line of the property,” according to the meeting agenda. Town staff also recommended adding language to expressly place a one-story height requirement on the lots on the western edge of the property, as the concept plan calls for.

City Council on Tuesday night added two amendments to the ordinance: one, to require a 20-foot distance between garage faces and sidewalk edges; and two, requiring the east screening wall and west fence be constructed before the city issues any building permits. All but Council member Rhonda Hurst voted to approve the ordinance.

This is not the first time that a planned subdivision has been submitted for approval on this property. In August 2022, a PDD for 60 townhomes was denied. In March 2023, a proposed PDD for 39 townhomes was denied.