Planning commission approves 180-acre Ladera sketch plan, including up to 700 homes

The Timnath Planning Commission approved a sketch plan for the Ladera Subdivision on a 5-0 vote, moving the project to the preliminary plat stage.

The approval covers a 179.74-acre tract owned by Connell LLC and proposed by TB Group; staff rounded the area to 180 acres during the presentation. The plan would divide the property into 10 planning areas with commercial, mixed-use, multifamily and open-space designations and include conceptual circulation and pedestrian routes.

The sketch plan matters because it establishes the development pattern that will guide subsequent review stages, including transportation, utility, and environmental design. Staff told the commission the plan conforms to the town’s zoning map and comprehensive plan and meets the town’s sketch-plan review criteria.

Chad (staff) summarized the application as “a conceptual layout for the future development, which contains land uses, densities, and major circulation,” and said staff found it in conformance with the criteria used for sketch-plan evaluation. Staff noted the property is zoned Regional Commercial with the Ladera planned-development overlay, approved in February 2024, and that the comprehensive-plan designations include employment, regional commercial and open space.

Applicant Grant Nelson, representing Ladera and Connell LLC, said the team had been working on the plan for months and described layout and access concepts. Nelson described the plan’s mix of uses and pedestrian connections and said the team envisions a signal mid-Whitesell to improve pedestrian crossings: “We think we have agreement on the locations of the access points. And what may be new to some of you is there's actually a signal now in the middle of Whitesell.”

The sketch plan allocates roughly 70–71 acres for commercial and retail, about 14 acres for mixed use, 21 acres for multifamily housing, and about 74 acres of open space. The plan calls for two reservoirs (an existing north reservoir and a proposed larger south-west reservoir), multiuse trails, two planned pedestrian crossings of Whitesell Street, and interconnectivity among internal drives. The applicant said the plan could include up to 700 residential units in planning areas 6 and 7, consistent with the regional commercial zone.

Commissioners asked about traffic and intersection improvements at Whitesell and County Road 5; staff and the applicant said access and intersection designs will be studied further at preliminary plat and that the town is working on a longer-term bridge and parkway plan for County Road 5. Staff indicated the bridge and intersection design work is in an alternatives phase and that design work is anticipated in 2026 with possible construction in 2027, depending on funding and final decisions.

The commission recorded a motion to approve the Ladera sketch plan; the motion carried on a 5-0 vote.

Next steps: the applicant will move to preliminary plat review, where staff and outside reviewers will examine utility capacity, traffic analyses and engineering details required to support future detailed plats and eventual building permits.