Public hearing held on PD‑32 rezoning at 605 O'Villa Road; neighbors raise traffic, drainage and screening concerns

City Council held a first reading and public hearing on a rezoning request (Ordinance O‑10‑25) for roughly 33.36 acres at 605 O'Villa Road to establish Planned Development 32 (PD‑32), a mixed‑use site with commercial frontage along Yule Road and multifamily and storage behind it.

Parvis Porozizian, director of planning and development services, described the proposed PD as two districts: District 1 for commercial uses (fronting Yule Road, with potential grocery and retail pads) and District 2 for multifamily and mini‑storage. He emphasized the item before council was strictly a zoning question; no specific tenants or store names were before the council. Staff noted the developer has provided a list of allowed uses and that items not on the lists would require a specific use permit and additional council review.

Developer Michael Neary said the project team had adjusted the multifamily portion—reducing building heights to three stories (capped at 45 feet), rotating buildings to face east‑west to reduce views into the Magnolia Farms neighborhood, expanding setbacks (to roughly 72 feet and more with parking and landscaped buffers) and committing to an 8‑foot masonry wall, 30‑foot tree spacing and additional landscaping along the northern property line. Neary said storage would be single‑story, limited in height (about 18 feet), largely climate‑controlled and internally accessed, and sited to the rear with screening; he said his team had met with the adjacent homeowners association and the church.

Residents at the public hearing opposed the zoning change. Crystal Jones of 526 Magnolia Lane said she collected a petition she said contained signatures from about 25 nearby residents and asserted the city’s ordinance requires a three‑quarters council majority if written opposition exceeds 20 percent of acreage within 200 feet; she asked the city to confirm the notification and opposition counts. Delandro Payne told the council he feared the development would harm neighborhood character and increase crime and said residents had not received adequate notice.

Planning and Zoning recommended approval despite resident opposition. Porozizian said the South Yule Road widening project — with a planned signal and lane additions — is expected to begin soon and would increase capacity; the city will require the developer to provide detention per code. Staff and the applicant have included multiple design commitments to address privacy, drainage and screening.

This was a first reading and public hearing; council did not take final action tonight. Porozizian said council and staff will return the item for a second reading and vote at a future meeting, and he invited council to submit changes to the allowed‑uses list before that second reading.