Planning commission approves Plantation Village site, landscaping and replat with screening stipulation

The City of Lake Jackson Planning Commission approved administrative reviews and a replat for multiple changes at Plantation Village Subdivision Section 12 on motions taken during the meeting. The actions covered a site-plan amendment for Lot 1A (retail/Hobby Lobby area), a separate site plan and landscape plan for Lot 1C (Take 5 oil-change parcel), and a replat showing the redrawn lot lines.

Commissioners approved the administrative review of the alternate site-plan amendment for Plantation Village Subdivision Section 12, Lot 1A (as modified by Outparcel 125, West State Highway 332). The commission later approved an alternate landscape-plan amendment for the same lot with a stipulation that the frontage screening be updated to present code.

The commission was told the overall parcel acreage changed as the developer subdivided the property; the site area dropped from “8 point something” acres to 7.798 acres after carve-out of the Take 5 tract, which required recalculation of landscape-area and tree-count requirements. Planning staff noted the landscape percentage requirement moved from roughly 7.5 percent under an older requirement to about 12.5 percent under current code, and that the applicant met the site-tree count in Section 97.83 (the staff summary shows the site meets the required site tree count of 37).

Planning staff explained some of the required screening trees sit outside the property line within the TxDOT right-of-way and therefore are not currently counted as on-site trees. Matt (not otherwise identified in the record) pressed the commission to require the property owner to update screening now rather than grant repeated alternates. “I would like the screen to be updated to present code,” Matt said, arguing the city should not keep issuing alternate plans instead of bringing sites up to current standards. Dawn Haywood, who identified herself as with Edifice Group and said the firm manages the property, responded that TxDOT’s right-of-way removal of trees is part of the complication and asked how the commission should treat screening located in that right-of-way. “Screening is to block the view…the whole thing’s ugly,” Haywood said, adding that existing trees currently benefit the property because they were planted decades ago prior to the right-of-way change.

For the Take 5 parcel (Lot 1C, Parcel 129, West State Highway 332), staff said the parcel is under two acres, that parking and civil plans were updated to reflect the new lot line, and that the site exceeds parking requirements. Staff also noted a proposed change to the sanitary connection: the applicant proposes connecting on Lake Road instead of at the rear of the building; staff said they are reviewing whether that connection would require boring under Lake Road rather than an open cut.

The replat approved administratively shows the new lot configuration and was drawn to avoid creating a flag lot while preserving frontage access for both lots. Staff said the applicant will return next month with final plats and that the administrative reviews were preliminary.

Votes at a glance: The commission approved by voice vote the administrative review of the alternate site plan for Lot 1A; approved the alternate landscape-plan amendment for Lot 1A with the stipulation that screening along the Highway 332 frontage be updated to present code; approved administrative review of the site plan and landscape plan for Lot 1C (Take 5); and approved the administrative replat to show the carved Lot 1C. Each item passed on motions and voice votes during the meeting; recordings show the commission voiced “Aye” for approval on each action.

The commission’s approvals were administrative reviews only; staff told the commission applicants will return with final documents. The action leaves open two items staff said they will continue to review: the location and method of the sanitary sewer connection for the Take 5 parcel, and final engineering checks on stormwater and hydraulic grade-line calculations for the larger Plantation Village area.