Haslet planning commission recommends council approve preliminary plat amid resident opposition to warehouse plan

The City of Haslet Planning and Zoning Commission voted July 29 to recommend City Council approval of the Hicks Harmon Addition preliminary plat after hearing more than a half-dozen residents oppose warehouse development adjacent to the Carraway subdivision and asking the city to negotiate road improvements.

Residents said they bought homes expecting retail and town-center amenities, not industrial uses, and raised questions about tax deals, traffic and school siting.

The decision matters because the land in question lies in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), where state law limits a city's ability to control land use. A city staff member told the commission that under the Local Government Code —7212.005 the commission must approve a preliminary plat that meets the city's subdivision regulations and that the commission has 30 days to act before a plat is administratively approved.

At the meeting, a string of Carraway-area residents urged the commission to reject or delay action. Jean Doss, who identified herself as living at 1482 Silver Sage Drive, asked why a developer would seek annexation before starting a project and asked about tax and sales-tax agreements: "Why would a developer Want to be annexed. Before they start the project. Why would they want us pay be subject to your permits, city inspections, avoid their property taxes or or pay property taxes, their fees appear that I have to pay." Laura Schlatteroff said she bought in 2021 after the builder promoted a town center; she said the land was rezoned for industrial use in 2019 and that discovery was "crushing." Michael Winslow told the commission residents want "grocery stores. We want amenities." Multiple speakers raised vehicle- and semitrailer-traffic concerns on Harmon Road and Keller Hicks Road and questioned impacts on a planned Northwest ISD school.

City staff and a staff presenter explained several relevant points to the commission and the public: the preliminary plat shows the developer intends to extend water and sewer lines and to dedicate about 40 feet of right-of-way on the south side of Keller Hicks Road for potential future improvements; the developer has said it will direct truck traffic toward I-35 rather than through local neighborhood streets; the developer is not proposing a public improvement district (PID) as part of this project; and a pre-annexation agreement is being drafted with the developer, with a community facilities agreement or development agreement possible later.

Commission discussion acknowledged limited legal authority over land use in the ETJ. A staff member said: "property that's in the extraterritorial jurisdiction, the ETJ can develop in whatever form or fashion they want to. It has the city has absolutely 0 control of that." Commissioners discussed asking the developer to limit access or gate an ingress point on Keller Hicks Road to emergency use only, and asked staff to pursue wording in annexation/developer agreements that would require road improvements.

A motion was placed before the commission to recommend City Council approve agenda item 6(a) (the Hicks Harmon Addition preliminary plat) with an additional request that the city review and amend the preliminary annexation agreement and any developer agreement to include improvements to Keller Hicks Road for the length of the project to Montclair. The motion was seconded and the commission voted to pass the recommendation unanimously.

The commission and staff noted next steps: the recommendation will go to City Council for final action, a site plan and more detailed plans could come later (preliminary plats typically expire after about two years), and staff will continue to negotiate the annexation and any development/community facilities agreement terms with the applicant. No final building approvals were granted at the meeting.

Ending: Because state law constrains land-use control in the ETJ, commissioners said they preferred to work with the developer to apply Haslet development standards where possible rather than have the subdivision proceed outside city oversight; the commission's recommendation and the requested road-improvement language will be forwarded to City Council for its consideration.