Title
Review and Consideration of a Request to Approve Modifications to the South Pointe Planned Development (PD) District Standards, Office Residential (OR) Sub-District; RUBY 07 SPMTGE LLC, developer (ZC#04-012C)
Requested Action
To review and consider proposed text revisions to the development standards for the South Pointe PD District concerning removing the requirement for a minimum of 50 acres to be developed as office in the OR Sub-District and to reduce the minimum lot area for townhomes in the OR Sub-District from 2,000 square feet to 1,760 square feet.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the request to remove the requirement for a minimum of 50 acres be developed as office in the OR Sub-District be amended to reflect a minimum of 15,000 square feet to be developed as office in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 of the South Pointe PD District Standards.
Staff recommends approval of the request to reduce the minimum lot area for townhomes in the OR Sub-District from 2,000 square feet to 1,760 square feet with the following additional development standards:
1. Each townhome be provided with a dooryard, stoop, or terrace building frontage in accordance with the standards established in Section 155.073 (K) of the Mansfield Code of Ordinances (i.e., the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District).
2. Each townhome, where the provisions of the South Pointe PD District Standards are silent, be designed and constructed in strict accordance with the architectural standards with the standards established in Section 155.073 (Q) of the Mansfield Code of Ordinances (i.e., the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District).
3. Each townhome be constructed to have a minimum height of three (3) stories.
Description/History
As envisioned, South Pointe is to be developed as and to exist as a “mixed-use community purposefully designed to facilitate quality development and livability” that is worthy of emulation.
The South Pointe PD District standards are administered to and applied across nine (9) different residential product types and a wide range of non-residential projects. The various residential product types include townhomes, with the considerations that townhomes are “appropriate as a transition from residential areas to non-residential areas and along arterial or collector streets” and that “no more than six (6) attached dwelling units can be included in a single building”.
The South Pointe PD District standards are further administered to and applied across five (5) different districts, including the OR Sub-District. As shown in Section 6 of the South Pointe PD District, the intent of the OR Sub-District is to “provide a location for offices, office flex, residential and related uses”.
Of the developed land within the OR Sub-District, some 45.03 acres of land are dedicated to the Charlene McKinzey Middle School; and another 33.44 acres of land are anticipated to deliver 92 detached single-family residences to the market (i.e., Phase 8B). This leaves a balance of approximately 29 acres of undeveloped land remaining in the OR Sub-District.
As requested, the developer is seeking to make text revisions to the development standards for the South Pointe PD District --- and in particular the OR Sub-district ---that will remove a minimum requirement for developing at least 50 acres for office use and to reduce the minimum lot area for townhomes from 2,000 square feet to 1,760 square feet.
The text revision requests may be reviewed with regards to the following considerations:
• Presently, the remaining vacant land assigned to the OR Sub-District is generally located north of the Tarrant County Water Containment & Improvement District No. 1 Easement and south of the Union Pacific Railroad. It is bounded to the west by Matlock Road and to the east by State Highway 360.
• The OR Sub-District still affords substantial opportunities to integrate office uses into the existing and proposed development patterns in South Pointe and the surrounding environs, including proposed projects to the north of the Union Pacific Railroad and to the east of State Highway 360.
• Reducing the minimum lot area for townhomes will not only improve land use efficiency, but it will also increase opportunities for the application of elevated standards for architecture and urban design. It should be noted that there are not any minimum lot requirements for townhomes in either the D, Downtown District or the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District. There has been interest from the real estate development community to construct townhomes under the standards in those zoning districts. Moreover, mandating dooryard, stoop, or terrace building frontages will stimulate visual interest while elevating standards for architectural design. Urban design standards for dooryard, stoop, and terrace building frontages should be derived from and inspired by the same as provided for in the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District. Further, the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District should inspire the architectural considerations for townhomes within the community, as there are limited provisions for architecture within the South Pointe PD District for townhomes.
• The last remaining tract of undeveloped land fronts State Highway 360. This provides an extraordinary opportunity to visually frame the highway with buildings and structures of meaningful height. Mandating that the minimum building height for townhomes be three (3) stories will leverage this opportunity; it will also enable and encourage creativity and innovation in site design and building design.
• With the remaining amount of vacant land dwindling within the municipal limits of Mansfield, the purposeful integration of employment, commercial, and civic uses into primarily residential areas will help create complete neighborhoods while expanding the tax base. Removing a minimum requirement for office or other commercial activity increases pressure to realize the same in other areas of Mansfield.
• The South Pointe PD District contains few provisions to direct and guide the architectural design of townhomes. Leveraging existing standards under the S, South Mansfield Form-based Development District will ensure that the architectural design of the townhomes is elevated; and it will also ensure architectural compatibility with existing and future development in adjacency.
• The development standards for the South Pointe PD District contemplate a balanced mix of uses that sustain each other in whole and in part. The absence of office in the OR Sub-district diminishes an appropriate land use transition to surrounding properties and the ability of South Pointe to develop as a complete neighborhood that is walkable and mixed-use.
Summarily, in removing the requirement that a minimum of 50 acres be dedicated to office diminishes the potential of South Pointe to develop and to exist as an exemplary mixed-use development. Development patterns in South Pointe that are efficient, mixed-use, and walkable should be reinforced and encouraged.
Reducing the minimum lot area for the townhome residential product will not adversely impact development patterns; rather, it will provide a suitable transition in land use intensity for future projects on adjoining properties, improve land use efficiency, and encourage elevated site and building design. Collectively, this will start to develop a coherent and cohesive visual identity along State Highway 360 and inspire future development.
Prepared By
Art Wright, AICP, Senior Planner
817-276-4226