PD-32 ordinance passes city council on a 5-2 vote

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September 13, 2010

By DAVID WILFONG Herald-Banner The Zope Gazette Mon Sep 13, 2010, 01:17 AM CDT

Rockwall County — Years of planning and debate over what is most likely the highest valued real estate in Rockwall culminated in a 5-2 vote to move forward with PD-32, a planned development above The Harbor near the IH-30 intersection with Lake Ray Hubbard on Monday night.

The issue had been delayed during the last city council meeting when Cliff Sevier, Mark Russo and David Sweet stated that they would not be supporting the motion to pass the ordinance. Facing a potential 3-3 deadlock, Councilmember Margo Nielsen withdrew her motion to pass the issue and opted to delay the vote until the following meeting when all council members would be present.

With all council members present, the item was brought forward again.

Part of the issue with the development’s detractors is the proposal to add 1,161 condominiums to the area. While condominiums are owned, as opposed to apartments that are specifically rental properties, Sevier pointed out that many of the existing condominiums in Rockwall are now rented out by their respective owners. Sevier also noted that the number of proposed units in the area exceeded the number of units at the largest current apartment or condominium developments in the city, in most cases larger than two of them put together.

“That’s eight complexes that don’t have as many units as we’re going to be putting in there,” Sevier said.

Sevier was also unapologetic for voting against the measure at a late date.

“A lot of (city money) you had to spend to see what it looked like,” Sevier said.

Councilmember Matt Scott recalled that PD-32 had been an issue for council since his first election. He stated that through the various phases of planning, the development had received 59 “yes” votes and only one “no.” He admonished Russo, saying that Russo was changing his position on the matter at the last minute. Russo made no response.

Scott said that he is normally not in favor of multi-family housing, but that he felt it was necessary in this case for the “long-term viability of The Harbor.” He stated that the number of units was much smaller than what was originally suggested. He also added that the $300,000 price tag on the prospective units made them more expensive than the homes of all but one member of the city council.

Councilmember David Sweet advised the council that his was not the one home on the council that exceeded such value.

Sweet also stated that he had studied the proposal since the last meeting and that his questions were answered. He said he would be supporting the planned development, and that it was part of the city’s commitment to The Harbor. Sweet said that currently The Harbor is only busy during peak hours.

“We’ve got to have an increased foot traffic during the rest of the day,” he said.

Nielsen has always supported the multi-family option in PD-32.

“The people I’ve been talking to for the last 10 years have been asking for changes in their options,” Nielsen said, adding that many people in today’s culture want “turn key” living where they do not have to worry about things like maintaining a lawn.

After discussion, the council passed the measure on a 5-2 vote with Sevier and Russo voting in opposition.

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