Haslet EDC relists 210 Main Street after church presentation, neighbors press concerns

The Haslet Economic Development Corporation (HCEDC Type B) voted June 4 to place 210 Main Street back on the active open-market listing after a night of public comment, a church-led presentation and a staff review of a concept plan for the site.

The action came after the board heard a conceptual site plan from city economic-development staff and a detailed pitch from Pastor John R. Slinker of Northgate Church (incorporated as First Baptist Church Haslet), who said the church would use the parcel to add a landscaped frontage, parking and a small events venue. "This development will complement the Old Town area," Slinker said during the presentation.

The decision matters because the 0.34-acre lot sits adjacent to single-family houses in Haslet's Old Town and had been the subject of a previous HCEDC vote to rescind acceptance of an offer in January 2024. In an executive-session statement read to the public, the board said it had rescinded that earlier acceptance because it concluded the prior offer did not represent fair market value and because the sale received limited time on the open market. The board cited Local Government Code 501.153 and Attorney General opinions raised during the executive-session statement in describing the legal context.

Neighbors objected to elements of the church's concept plan, citing driveway placement, parking, noise, tree removal and drainage. "I don't want a driveway there," Joel Bullard, a nearby resident, told the HCEDC. Bullard said the drawing shows the proposed driveway running directly in front of his house and expressed concern that additional impervious surface would increase runoff onto his property. Christina Reynolds, another adjacent homeowner, told the board she feared the loss of large trees and that a parking area next to her yard would reduce her property's value.

Other nearby residents raised similar points. Shay Romero said the proposed loop road would run around the back of her house, increasing traffic on First Street and reducing privacy. Stewart Shirey, who identified himself as a seven-year member of the church and a seven-year member of the Haslet Economic Development Board, urged the HCEDC to consider job-creation benefits and local multipliers, saying the project had already kept roughly 15 jobs in Haslet.

City staff summarized the concept plan and several mitigation features. "The driveway for this property does not start on the HCEDC-owned lot; it is almost as far west as it could be," said Mister Swanky, the city's economic-development staff presenter. Swanky described a proposed six-foot masonry screen wall along the property line, a 26-foot fire/drive aisle to meet fire marshal requirements, a 10-foot landscape setback, and a butterfly garden shown at about 954.57 square feet. He said perimeter lighting would be down-directed at site-plan review and that a photometric plan would be required by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Swanky also clarified several site technicals residents asked about: parking stalls were drawn at standard 9-by-18 feet, the HCEDC lot was shown by survey as roughly 53 feet wide at the front and about 60.5 feet at the rear (TAD records list the lot at 62 feet), and the masonry wall would be constructed and maintained by the commercial owner on whose property it sits. He said the back of the neighboring house would touch only a few parking spaces and that he had worked with the fire marshal on the drive radius and lane width.

Pastor Slinker described phased plans and timelines: asbestos abatement and foundation work on the circa-1920s chapel have been completed or are under way, he said, and the church hopes to finish chapel renovations by August to offer a small (roughly 20-person) venue for services and limited weddings. Slinker said the church currently serves about 38 students through affiliated educational programs and employs roughly two to three staffers; he estimated broader development (additional parking and a school building) would occur in a multi-year phasing plan over roughly four to 10 years depending on donations and growth.

Actions taken

- The HCEDC board voted 4-2 to "put the property at 210 Main Street back on the active open market listing" and to "resend the motion to convey this property to the city of Haslet to be deeded solely for the purpose of parkland," with future use to be determined by collaboration among the park board, city council and HCEDC. The minutes record four votes in favor and two opposed.

- Separately, the board unanimously approved a motion to extend its commercial-realtor contract with the Weitzman Group to May 31, 2026, with all other contract terms unchanged.

Discussion versus decision

Board members and staff emphasized that if the property is relisted or eventually sold, additional public processes remain. Swanky told the room that planning and zoning approvals and site-plan review would be required for any development, and that neighbors would have opportunities to comment at those hearings. A city official also noted that, if the board moves to sell the lot, a new offer would be required because the previous offer had been rejected.

What comes next

210 Main Street will return to the open market; HCEDC staff will continue marketing under the extended realtor contract. If or when the property is sold, the planning-and-zoning and permitting process will determine final site details such as driveway alignment, lighting orientation, landscaping and other mitigation measures. HCEDC members reminded neighbors that Planning and Zoning Commission hearings and subsequent City Council actions provide further opportunities for public input and formal approvals.

The HCEDC meeting packet and the executive-session statement also referenced prior legal guidance and two Texas Attorney General opinions in the board's review of fair-market-value standards; the board read that statement aloud at the meeting to explain its earlier January 2024 rescission of acceptance of a prior offer.