Bryan City Council on a majority vote approved RZ25-03, a rezoning that will allow a planned-development multifamily project on roughly 20.398 acres at the intersection of Boonville Road (FM 158) and Copperfield Drive. The decision came after a public hearing in which more than two dozen residents and property owners spoke and staff and the applicant presented traffic, drainage and design information.

Neighbors said the location is incompatible with surrounding low-density single-family neighborhoods and raised concerns about school overcrowding, traffic and stormwater impacts. “I just hope that you will keep their well-being and their education, ahead of big city developers tonight,” said Jennifer Ross, a parent and Sam Houston Elementary supporter who spoke during the public hearing.

The applicant — represented by Casey Oldham of Oldham Goodwin and Mark Stephenson of Slate Real Estate Partners — argued multifamily is the highest and best use for this site given topography and market conditions and contended retail demand is lacking near that corner. “Multifamily has always been an integral component of this development,” Oldham said, referring to the Miramont/Oakmont master plan. Slate described the project as a “luxury” multifamily product and presented a site plan and elevations that the company said reflect negotiated changes with adjacent property owners.

City staff told the council the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval (5–2). Martin Zimmerman, director of development services, outlined proposed PD standards that would set building height transitions, perimeter landscape zones, and lighting, fence and building-material standards that would be enforceable if the council approved the rezoning. “This is just something for you to consider,” Zimmerman said, noting the current PD dates to 2015 and that the city’s 2016 Blueprint 2040 future-land-use map identifies retail at the intersection but allows for context-sensitive transitions.

Kimley‑Horn traffic engineer Preston Jacks summarized the developer’s traffic impact analysis and updates. He reported that, by the modeling used, the project would increase average delay at the Boonville–Copperfield intersection by roughly one to two seconds in peak hours: “The impact from this project alone would be about 1 second additional at the intersection on average for every vehicle,” he said. He also said the engineers designed detention to ensure no additional post‑development discharge to the creek tributary and that the applicant submitted a floodplain/drainage report that staff had accepted for purposes of rezoning review.

Several nearby residents described specific local impacts they fear. Jim Morrell and Chuck Durr emphasized Hudson Creek’s role in neighborhood flooding and urged an independent drainage evaluation; Bob Hall and others raised parking and unit-occupancy concerns, noting testimony about unit counts and parking allocations at nearby recently built projects. Residents of the Carriage Inn assisted‑living facility and Copperfield homeowners repeatedly asked the council to preserve neighborhood character and the school capacity at Sam Houston Elementary.

Representatives for the property owner and developer said they had negotiated protections with immediately adjacent homeowners on Concordia Drive — including added buffer widths, lower two‑story building faces on the north edge and a nature-preserve area — and that the development team would continue to refine the site plan during the site‑plan review required after rezoning. Mark Stephenson said the plan shown to council is the site layout the developer intends to build and that staff and later site-plan review would finalize technical details: “The site plan you see, that's the site plan we're gonna build,” he told the council.

Council debate turned on weighing neighborhood concerns against the developer’s presentation that multifamily would generate fewer schoolchildren than a by‑right townhouse alternative and that retail is unlikely on this topographically constrained site given a much larger retail node anchored by an H‑E‑B planned nearby. Councilmembers who voted in favor cited the negotiated PD standards, the traffic analysis and the demand for housing; others urged deference to the 2016 comprehensive plan and stressed unresolved concerns about broader neighborhood impacts and permanence of developer commitments.

Council action: the council voted to approve the rezoning ordinance for RZ25-03. The motion passed and the mayor announced, “The motion passes.” The transcript records statements by council members both supporting and opposing approval; the roll‑call tally was not read in full in the portion of the public record provided.

What happens next: rezoning approval allows the developer to proceed to the required site‑plan and permitting stages. Those subsequent submittals will be reviewed by city staff for engineering, drainage, fire access, circulation and other code standards and may include additional council or administrative approvals where code requires.

Why it matters: the decision changes a long‑discussed corner of east Bryan from a PD district that envisioned lower‑density or commercial uses to a planned multifamily pattern with enforceable buffer, lighting and material standards. Residents said the change will affect children at Sam Houston Elementary, older residents at Carriage Inn, neighborhood traffic patterns and stormwater flow along Hudson Creek; the developer and some neighbors said negotiated protective measures and the planned product will limit those impacts.

Council documents and technical studies, including the traffic impact analysis and a preliminary flood/drainage report, were submitted to staff and referenced in the hearing. The site will continue through the city’s site‑plan process before construction permits are issued.

— Reporting for Bryan City Council meeting, transcript and staff presentations cited in provenance.