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Council approves Wilshire Urban Village planned development with limits on height, unit blocks and phasing
Summary
After a lengthy public hearing and developer presentations, the Burleson City Council approved a planned development (PD) for Wilshire Urban Village with written stipulations that limit building height, cap contiguous unit blocks and require retail infrastructure and phasing commitments ahead of residential occupancy. The measure passed 5-1.
The Burleson City Council approved a planned development ordinance for the Wilshire Urban Village mixed-use project on first and final reading, imposing several written stipulations on building form, unit block size and phasing.
The action, which passed 5-1, came after a public hearing in which the developer presented site plans, renderings and a written stipulation guaranteeing that retail infrastructure would be installed and pad-ready before occupancy of the single‑story build‑to‑rent townhomes. Developer Larry Miller said, “Our retail plan is that we plan on putting in the infrastructure for all the retail before any occupancy could be had on our single story townhome for rent product.”
The approved stipulations attached to the PD include: zone B limited to a maximum of two stories and a 30‑foot height limit with no more than six contiguous units per building; zone C (the rental single‑story townhome area) limited to one story and a 20‑foot height limit, with a maximum of 60 percent of residential units in contiguous six‑unit buildings and the remaining units limited to four or fewer per building; and a requirement that open space, dog park, sport courts and other amenities be in “substantial conformance” with the site plan shown to council. Council also directed that the phasing language discussed in the meeting (identified in the packet as item O) be incorporated into the PD ordinance.
Staff and developers spent more than an hour answering council questions about unit configuration, parking, amenity sizing and phasing. Tony McElwain, Director of Development Services, described staff concerns that without phasing the retail frontage could be delayed and the property could develop predominantly as residential farther from Wilshire. Landscape architect Mike Levkulich and architect Eric (last name not provided in the record) described amenity plans including two pocket parks, a pool courtyard and a roughly 16,000–17,000 square‑foot dog park; they emphasized connectivity between residential areas and planned retail.
Several residents spoke during the hearing opposing the density and urging stronger guarantees for commercial frontage. Councilmember Larry Scott, whose written statement was read into the record, said the application “only partially aligns” with the adopted comprehensive plan and urged denial. Councilmembers who supported approval cited demand for townhome products and the developer’s commitments to build retail infrastructure up front.
Councilmember Dan McClendon moved to approve the PD with the stipulations read aloud at the dais; Alexa Bedecker seconded the motion. The vote was 5 in favor, 1 opposed.
The ordinance, with the stipulated language, will be drafted by staff and returned as the controlling PD document. Council instructed staff to ensure the stipulations and the referenced site plan exhibit are attached to and incorporated in the final ordinance language.
The vote concludes the first‑and‑final reading action recorded in the meeting; council did not adopt additional amendments at the time of the vote.
