Planning commission recommends denial of Argyle Marketplace site plan after debate over variances, parking and tree preservation

Argyle Planning and Zoning Commissioners voted 6-0 on Oct. 1 to recommend denial to Town Council of a site plan and variance package for SP-25007, a proposed three-building, 23,500-square-foot “Argyle Marketplace” development along U.S. Highway 377.

The vote follows a public hearing and more than two hours of staff presentation and public comment focused on several variance requests the applicant sought from Office Retail zoning standards, including building facade articulation, front parking limits, landscape buffer reductions, lighting spillover and reduced parking counts.

Town planning staff told the commission the project is proposed for a 1.97-acre parcel currently zoned Office Retail and includes a 13,600-square-foot building facing 377 and two smaller rear buildings under 5,000 square feet. Staff said the Municipal Development District already approved up to $300,000 of funding connected to the project, and that the town is negotiating a separate development agreement with the applicant that could require shared off-site parking and other commitments.

The staff report identified multiple variance requests: facade articulation (the code requires a minimum 3-foot change in building footprint every 80 feet), a reduced front landscape/buffer yard (Buffer Yard E on Highway 377 would normally require 50 feet and tree/understory/shrub minimums), a front-parking maximum exceedance (16% proposed vs. 10% allowed), a parking…