The Collierville Planning Commission on Thursday recommended approval of a planned-development amendment and a companion rezoning that would convert roughly 45.58 acres of forest agricultural residential land to shopping-center commercial, mixed use and medical-professional-office districts, but commissioners required that an updated traffic-impact study be revised and approved before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) acts.

Planning staff presented the proposal as two related requests: a major PD amendment to allow retail, office and mixed-use development on about 45 acres of the northern track and a rezoning to align base zoning districts with the revised PD outline plan. The subject property lies on the west side of Houston-Levy Road north of State Route 385. Maria, a planning staff member presenting the item, told commissioners the applicant originally received PD approval in 2022 for a larger mixed-use development and that preliminary subdivision infrastructure approvals had not yet been installed for this northern tract.

The commission’s recommendation follows staff findings that the PD amendment and rezoning are consistent with the town’s 2040 land-use plan and with earlier rezoning within the development, but the town’s traffic engineer flagged the applicant’s May 2025 traffic study as incomplete. “The traffic study that was provided by the applicant in May 2025 was reviewed by the town’s traffic engineer, but it was found incomplete. So they need to revise that traffic study before this request can proceed to the BMA,” Maria said.

The applicant, represented by John McCarty, said the development team has been working on the matter for more than a year and will update the study before the BMA hearing. “We’re actually working with our traffic engineer to get that all wrapped up so it’s updated before it goes to the BMA,” McCarty said. Developer representative Steven Williams said the project team’s goal is growth that fits the town: “we want people to come to our community selfishly, but we also wanna uplift the town.”

Key elements of the proposal: about 15.65 acres would be rezoned to shopping-center commercial, about 10.04 acres to mixed use, and about 19.89 acres to medical-professional-office. The PD amendment includes a mixed-use district that would prohibit ground-floor residential, a detached senior-housing design district with modified bulk requirements, and a pattern book update that would govern architecture, connections and design standards. The applicant requested two PD waivers — modified bulk standards for detached senior housing and permission to apply a mixed-use district outside the downtown small-area plan — and proposed specific setbacks and garage-location standards for senior housing.

Traffic and access were central issues. Staff noted the applicant’s traffic analysis omitted a planned church site and several access points shown on the outline plan; the town engineer recommended the applicant remove one access point to mitigate unsafe left-turn movements. The commission approved a condition changing that access to a right-in, right-out movement. Jamie, a planning staff member, clarified the town engineer — not the commission — will determine when the traffic study is complete and said deferral to another meeting is an option if commissioners want to review a revised study.

Commissioners and staff discussed several conditions in the draft resolution, including a provision limiting subdivision transfers before infrastructure is in place. Staff expressed concern that allowing large tracts to be transferred or subdivided before required easements and cross-access were secured could complicate construction of the planned road network and shared improvements; the applicant indicated willingness to accept the staff wording. Staff recommended approval of resolution 2025-30 (PD amendment) and ordinance 2025-07 (rezoning) subject to conditions and the revised traffic analysis.

The planning commission made two separate motions: one to recommend approval of the PD amendment (case 250791, resolution 2025-30) with item 14 changed to require a right-in, right-out movement at the identified access, and a second motion to recommend approval of the rezoning ordinance (case 250834, ordinance 2025-07). Both motions passed on roll call with one commissioner recorded as abstaining from each recommendation and the remaining votes recorded in favor.

The commission also heard staff announcements about a new public-facing development activity map and an update on the town’s comprehensive-plan procurement. The rezoning and PD amendment will next appear before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen; staff said the traffic study must be revised and approved by the town engineer before that body considers final action.

Votes at a glance: the Planning Commission recommended approval of resolution 2025-30 (PD amendment) and ordinance 2025-07 (rezoning) and forwarded both recommendations to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen; each recommendation passed with a single abstention and the remainder of the roll call in favor.