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The development site is tucked between Cameron Park and the Waco Center for Youth.

In this 2022 photo, a gate on Park Lake Drive provides access to the property where developers hope to build a subdivision bordering Cameron Park.

The Waco Plan Commission approved the final plat Tuesday on a hard-fought 151-unit pocket neighborhood bordering Cameron Park, seen first by the commission for planned unit development zoning in May 2022.

The developer, Turner Brothers Development, will go ahead with the by-right development in an R1-B zoning district to create single-family housing on some 36 acres between the Waco Center for Youth and Cameron Park. Due to an amendment to the city’s subdivision ordinance in June, the plan commission will be the final stop for subdivision plats rather than city council approval.

The development first came to the plan commission and city council last year with a request for PUD zoning, which would have allowed the developer more flexibility than the site’s single-family zoning, in exchange for additional requirements requested by the city.

“One thing I think that’s interesting about this case, just kind of editorializing my personal opinion or take on it, is because they had submitted a PUD initially there was this like interesting opportunity to have a more collaborative process … but it seems like because of a lot of neighborhood pushback they stepped out of that process,” plan commission Chair Ross Harris said. “It’s just an interesting example of where a lot of people care about a place a whole lot, and because of … the way the response occurred, it seems like that drove the developer to go an avenue where there was less opportunity to collaborate.”

A public hearing in June 2022 drew concerns from the Cameron Park Neighborhood Association about the development’s potential traffic, drainage and other environmental impacts on the neighborhood and park. After a continuance of the public hearing, the developer withdrew its PUD application and commenced with platting by right.

Harris said he perceived the neighborhood’s misunderstanding to be that if the PUD was not granted, the development would not happen, although the development was allowed by right under current zoning.

The neighborhood association later proposed an ordinance change that would have expanded the Brazos River Corridor District overlay to encompass the new development, though it would have been grandfathered in under unexpanded requirements since it was already in the platting process. In May the city council approved amendments to the overlay to include tree and lighting requirements, but denied the district’s expansion.

The plan commission Tuesday approved the final plat for 151 lots with conditions relating to utilities, traffic and engineering. The plat also currently includes nine lots that are about 15 square feet smaller than the minimum lot area requirements, which will be corrected before full approval.

The approval with conditions means the plat will not have to be reviewed again by the plan commission and instead it will be reviewed by city staff, per a change to Waco’s subdivision ordinance in accordance with recent state legislation.

Since the development does not involve custom zoning, the platting process becomes administrative rather than discretionary, and “if they meet all the comments then the city has to approve it,” Waco Planning Director Clint Peters said.

“For zoning changes, special permits, abandonments, it’s subjective with feedback from the public, staff, and you all have more subjectivity to it,” Peters said in response to a question from Commissioner Taylor Allen about the group’s ability to influence the plat at this point. “The plats, by state law, if it meets all the ordinance requirements then cities are required to approve them.”

Peters said the developer intends to incorporate many of the same features proposed in the original PUD, including preservation of open space, sidewalks on every street, rear-loaded alleys and trail connectivity, but there is no exception to minimum lot size. The current zoning actually allows for a higher lot density than the PUD would have, he said.

Runoff detention and retention areas bordering Park Lake Drive will hold groupings of trees, Peters said, and construction traffic will come into the site through Park Lake Drive rather than through the surrounding neighborhood.

Turner Brothers Development, led by brothers Shane and Cody Turner, said in a statement it is excited to be able to work within the current zoning and still create a unique neighborhood. The goal from the start of the design process was to include green space and walking trails in the neighborhood.

“Cameron Park is such a landmark for Waco that we wanted the neighborhood to feel a part of the park,” partner Shane Turner said in the statement. “People will have the ability to use our neighborhood trails that are connected directly into the park trail system.”

The location also offers easy access to other Waco assets, Cody Turner said.

“Not only is it great to be near Cameron Park but also near the HEB, close to 19th Street for easy access to get into downtown or out to Lake Shore,” he said. “This just seemed like a great opportunity to utilize one of Waco’s greatest assets while still providing convenient access.”

The plan commission considered an ordinance amendment allowing new accessory dwelling units, also known as in-law suites, in residential areas. The commission considered and approved the ADU ordinance in March, but pending state legislation that would have impacted the ordinance put the conversation on pause.

After a lengthy work session discussion, the commission voted Tuesday to continue the item to its next meeting, citing issues with the wording used in the ordinance that could cause problems with code enforcement and future owners once a house with an ADU is sold. The proposed language requires an affidavit from the current owner certifying that they live on the property and a covenant “providing notice to future owners or long term leases of the subject lot that the existence of the accessory dwelling unit is predicated upon the occupancy of either the accessory dwelling or the principal dwelling by the owner of the property.”

“I believe the language under ‘Section 8 Occupancy’ needs to be revisited, specifically the existence of the ADU and then the requirement of a covenant in addition to an affidavit be required,” Commissioner Dominic Braus said before the vote. “And I also think we need to determine whether the definition of ADU encompasses the spirit of what I believe the ordinance is trying to promote in regards to renting the ADU separate from the ownership.”

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