Planning commission approves reduced side-yard setbacks in Hidden Creek Phase 3 after resident objection

The Red Oak Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 3 approved four separate zoning changes to allow reduced side-yard setbacks in the Hidden Creek Phase 3 subdivision.

City staff said the requests would convert individual lots from RAE zoning to a plan development (PD) district so all RAE standards remain in place except the side-yard setback, which would be reduced from 25 feet to 15 feet. Ben, the city’s director of development services, told the commission the lots are “large, over a half acre,” and the applicants are proposing single-story homes with wide footprints and side-entry garages that require more lateral room than a two-story plan would. The commission approved the four items individually: case ZAsInZebraCAsInCat25-01 (Lots 6 and 7, Block E; 304 and 301 Whispering Way) was approved 3–1; ZAsInZebraCAsInCat25-02 (Lot 10, Block E; 321 Whispering Way) was approved…