Council approves PD‑30 zoning for mixed commercial site at Standridge and Memorial; bars self‑storage and asks staff to study gateway signage

The Colony City Council approved an ordinance to rezone about 6.5 acres at the southeast intersection of Standridge Drive and Memorial Drive from Business Park (BP) to Planned Development 30 (PD‑30) to allow a mixed commercial development, and separately approved the site plan for a 23,000‑square‑foot automotive paint and body facility proposed for the west portion of the site.

City planning staff told council the applicant sought PD zoning because some Light Commercial (LC) land uses would not be permitted under BP and because the site sits within the Gateway Overlay District, which can conflict with BP standards. The PD includes a compressed list of LC uses curated after Planning and Zoning review; the commission recommended approval 6–0. Staff said the plan shows two development tracks, one with an imminent high‑end auto body repair facility and a second track with a 10,000‑square‑foot building whose uses remain undefined.

Planning staff described specific development standards included in the PD: a reduced perimeter landscape buffer (5 feet in some places instead of 10 feet), roll‑up doors allowed to face the right of way as a PD deviation, a 1.25 parking ratio for the auto‑repair facility (reduced from the typical 2 per bay), and building materials and screening to meet gateway standards. "The ordinance defines the story as, having a height of 11 and a half feet," planning staff Isaac Williams said during questions about how the PD references building stories.

Don Blackwood, who identified himself as general partner for Standards 121 LTD, told council he holds contracts on the site and said tenants under contract include a 7‑Eleven‑style convenience store at Market and Memorial, a high‑end auto paint and body operator on the west track, and a high‑end self‑storage developer under contract for the mid‑track. Blackwood said he was willing to remove self‑storage if council preferred. "If it's the council's decision that they won't exclude that use, I will take it off the table," Blackwood said.

Council members expressed concern about self‑storage visible at a primary gateway into the city and about maximizing sales tax‑generating uses at the corner. One councilmember moved to approve the PD with the Planning and Zoning recommendations and to exclude self‑storage; the motion passed. Council also directed staff to study opportunities for gateway signage or landscaping tied to the upcoming Memorial Drive widening and to consider placement on this property or nearby properties where appropriate.

Separately, the council approved the site plan for Stewart's Paint and Body, a planned 23,000‑square‑foot luxury auto repair and paint shop shown on Track A of the PD. The approved site plan includes a walled and gated area for transient vehicles, a primarily masonry façade, and a requirement requested by planning commissioners for additional live plant screening in front of a wrought‑iron enclosure where transient vehicles will be stored. Council approved the site plan with that condition.

Planning staff and the applicant said detailed engineering, final site plans and any future land‑use changes (for example, adding a use removed from the PD) would require future PD amendments or specific plan approvals. The council did not record a roll‑call tally in the spoken record; the meeting record shows the motions passed.