Planning and Zoning Commission approves regional retail rezoning for 4600 Crestfield

The Midland Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of a rezoning request for 4600 Crestfield Street, changing the property’s zoning from PD (planned development for housing) to RR (Regional Retail). The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to Midland City Council for final action.

Staff planner Lori Elliot told the commission the property at 4600 Crestfield is currently vacant and zoned PD for housing, and that the Tall City Tomorrow comprehensive plan designates the site for “civic” uses. Elliot said staff considered the proposal incompatible with the plan and the adjacent residential neighborhood and therefore recommended denial. She said one written objection was received the day of the meeting, citing traffic, noise, trash and a potential reduction in property values.

Applicant John Newton of Newton Engineering, representing property owner William Rogers, argued the commission should approve the rezoning. Newton provided maps and excerpts from the Tall City Tomorrow plan and said the Loop 250 corridor is identified in the plan as a location for higher-intensity commercial development. He told commissioners the 2019 zoning-code update now requires screening when retail abuts residential and said, “the 2019 zoning code update ensure[s] screening and landscaping protections, making PDs unnecessary.” Newton also cited multiple local examples where regional retail zoning abuts single-family neighborhoods and said the parcel was purchased in June 2024 with the intent to market it for retail. He acknowledged a specific plan of use was not known at the time: “We don't know for sure what the plan of use is at this time.”

Commissioners asked questions about compatibility with surrounding land uses, the parcel’s recent replatting, and whether a straight RR zoning would allow high-intensity uses by right. Staff clarified that a straight RR zoning would allow more intense commercial uses without the site-plan controls typical of a PD and noted the applicant could reapply if the commission denied the request. After discussion, a motion to approve the RR rezoning as requested carried 7-0.

Because the Planning and Zoning Commission does not make the final decision on zoning changes, the recommendation will go to Midland City Council for a final vote. The commission record reflects that if the commission had denied the request, the applicant would have been required to wait one year to reapply unless at least 75% of the commission agreed otherwise within six months.

Votes at this meeting on the item were recorded as a 7-0 approval by the commission; individual roll-call votes were not read into the record.