Planning Commission Recommends Rejecting Headway Estates Rezoning After Public Objections

The Freeport Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council reject a rezoning application submitted by Headway Estates LTD after public comment and staff concerns about missing documentation and acreage discrepancies. Commission members heard multiple public comments urging that long-planned residential use of the Urban Renewal area be preserved rather than converted to industrial zoning. Commissioners also raised procedural and technical deficiencies in the application that, in the chair’s words, made approval inappropriate at this time. Sam Rayner, a Freeport resident who identified himself during public comment, criticized prior city deals and called the proposed change “to rezone the residential area to industry” opportunistic. He said, “He paid pennies to the dollar for choice real estate, and that's what he's supposed to do. He's in business to make money.” Melanie Oldham, another resident, recounted historical plans for the Urban Renewal area, saying the parcel had been intended for neighborhood development and that prior agreements included commitments to housing, parks and other community amenities. She told the commission the property once promised for homes had instead been sold piecemeal and that “he stood up and promised housing… a minimum of 25, 30 acres just for housing,” but that promise had not been realized. The commission’s presiding officer noted that the application arrived without a legal description and that the survey documents submitted to the city did not match the acreage listed in the application. “There’s discrepancies in the acreage,” the chair said, noting the submission could reflect 312 acres or 291 acres and that “there's 21.404 acres unaccounted for. There's not a drainage plan. There's not a site plan.” The chair added that the proposed change was not consistent with an earlier development agreement and said the application could not be approved in its current form. After public comment and discussion, Commissioner Hayes moved to recommend rejection of the rezoning application; the motion was seconded and carried by unanimous voice vote. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council for consideration. The commission’s action does not itself change zoning; final authority rests with the City Council.