Terrell planning commission approves construction plat for 933,656-sq.-ft. distribution center pending annexation and zoning

TERRELL, Texas — The Terrell Planning and Zoning Commission on April 20 voted to approve a construction plat for a 933,656-square-foot distribution center on Airport Road, subject to the city council’s final adoption on an annexation agreement and a zoning change scheduled for June.

Planning staff said the applicant, owner Terrell HRC LP, submitted a construction plan for a roughly 123-acre tract proposing a 933,656-square-foot distribution warehouse. Staff recommended approval of Construction Plat CP25-07 contingent on the city council’s June 3 final action on annexation and the pending rezoning from agriculture to light industrial.

Staff told the commission the site plan identifies 1,105 trailer parking spaces and 1,036 associate parking spaces, and that typical operations would run 24 hours with two primary shifts. The planning presentation and accompanying traffic-impact summary described typical peak-hour movements and a larger seasonal peak between Oct. 1 and Dec. 24. The traffic-impact analysis concluded there are no major traffic deficiencies at the State Highway 34/Airport Road or FM 429/I-20 intersections through about 2035–2036 and recommended directing truck traffic to FM 429 and Interstate 20.

"There won't be 600 semis entering. There will only be 19 trucks entering, and that's only in the peak hour of the morning," Mary Solomonson, the civil engineer who oversaw the traffic-impact analysis, told commissioners in response to concerns about heavy truck queues. Solomonson said the majority of the peak-hour vehicle count is employee (associate) traffic rather than trucks, and described two full-access entrances and deceleration lanes on Airport Road designed to reduce queuing on the highway.

Jonathan Stites, a representative of Siegfried Industrial Properties, the developer working with the owner, said the facility is an active distribution hub — with automated material-handling systems and multiple shifts — and that facilities like this typically employ "hundreds and hundreds" of people and generate substantial tax value. "This is an extremely technologically high-tech, operation on the inside, processing and managing packages, and, hundreds of employees," Stites said.

Commissioners asked about stormwater detention; staff said the plan includes two detention basins, one along Airport Road draining under proposed culverts and a second closer to the floodplain configured to discharge at predevelopment rates. Staff also described a required screening wall and enhanced landscaping along Airport Road to limit views of truck parking from the roadway.

A commissioner moved to approve CP25-07 pending final adoption of annexation and zoning; another commissioner seconded. One commissioner abstained, citing traffic concerns, and the motion carried. The transcript records the abstention but does not include a roll-call tally of “yes” votes.

The commission’s approval allows the developer to proceed with the construction-plat sequence in the city’s review process; however, staff said building permits and site work would depend on final annexation and zoning actions and any additional conditions that the city council or other reviewing agencies may impose.

Background: Planning staff said the proposed zoning is consistent with the 2017 future land-use map for that area and that similar industrial uses already line Airport Road, including fabrication and logistics facilities.