Council holds first reading on Paddock at Jennings Farm rezoning and annexation; concept plan draws questions about density and horses

Georgetown City Council held a first reading Feb. 24 on a major zone-change and annexation request for about 178.9 acres around Paynes Depot Road known as the Paddock at Jennings Farm.

The application asks to rezone agricultural land to a mix of B-5 (general commercial PUD), C-1 (conservation), R-1C PUD (single-family residential) and R-3 PUD (high-density residential) and to annex portions of the property into city limits. Planning staff presented the project as a PUD concept plan that pairs commercial and quasi-public amenities — including walking paths and proposed “green-belt” connectivity — with multi-family and single-family residential neighborhoods. The project is intended to align with the city's 2024 comprehensive plan and the Pains Depot Road neighborhood center vision.

Planning staff stressed the submission is a concept plan tied to the rezoning; final lot layout and development details will be vetted again during development-plan and preliminary-plat reviews before the planning commission and council. Multiple councilmembers asked whether the concept could still change substantially at later development-plan stages and whether the mix of multi-family and single-family units cumulatively would alter the city's character. Staff and the applicant said the single-family portion will be the initial phase and that major deviations from the concept would be reviewed and could prompt a staff recommendation of denial at the development-plan stage.

Council members also raised questions about an area shown for horse paddocks and whether horses would be permitted inside the city once annexed. Staff noted parts of the project already have development approval (a distillery site and an earlier development plan for a parcel) and that annexation is required in part to provide urban services for the phase now proposed. An annexation ordinance for a roughly 120.38-acre portion was read concurrently for first reading; staff explained the zoning change and annexation are typically considered together under the city's annexation policy because the property is agricultural and will move into the urban service boundary.

The planning commission recommended approval in December 2024; council deferred final action after the first reading and asked staff and the applicant to provide additional clarifying materials before the next meeting.