Temple council tables rezoning request for former community center after owner appeals for time to find buyer

Temple — The Temple City Council on Tuesday postponed a decision on a rezoning request for a single parcel at the corner of Honor Lane and Avenue Inn after the property’s owner asked for more time to find a buyer who would continue the site’s community use.

The item concerns a building originally constructed as a community center under a developer participation agreement between Habitat for Humanity and the city. City staff said the original participation agreement and a plan-development condition required the building to operate as a community center; deed restrictions on surrounding lots also prohibit commercial uses, city staff said.

City Manager Brynn Myers told the council that the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation and updated staff analysis take those legal and plan conditions into account. Myers said the commission’s record and staff recommendation required a supermajority of the council to approve any rezoning that departs from the commission’s recommendation. Mayor Tim Davis and staff emphasized the council did not have the four votes needed to approve a zoning change tonight and that only a denial could be adopted by the three members present.

Nikki Tharpe, who identified herself as the current owner of 1252 Honor Lane, told council members she bought the property in December 2023 “in good faith” and said she had no commercial real-estate experience. Tharpe said she and her husband were unaware of the developer participation agreement and related restrictions until recently, and she asked the council to postpone action so she could pursue a buyer who would continue the property’s community-serving function or otherwise resolve the issue.

Myers told the council the parcel sits within a larger plan-development that was granted with a base zoning of single-family attached and included a requirement for a community center. She said the city does not enforce private deed restrictions but must consider the plan-development condition and the developer participation agreement when making a zoning decision. Staff also noted there is not an established homeowners association for the development, which complicates private enforcement of deed restrictions.

Under staff’s recommendation, if the council were to approve rezoning this single lot to Office-1, the city should follow up with a city-initiated rezoning for the entire plan-development to resolve the outstanding plan condition (Myers said this would avoid leaving the rest of the development technically out of compliance). Myers said water and sewer are available, parking requirements for Office-1 could be met on site, but the future land-use plan favors locating office use on lots that front collectors rather than a local street such as Honor Lane.

Because three council members were present and approval would require four votes to override the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation, the council agreed to postpone the item to the July 3 meeting. Mayor Tim Davis told the owner that no final decision would be made tonight and that tabling would allow the owner and staff more time to prepare.

The council did not vote to approve or deny the rezoning at the workshop; the item was formally postponed to a future meeting with the notation that approval would require a supermajority vote if councilors choose to override the commission.

The council meeting packet and planning staff noted that the larger development consists of roughly 13 buildings and 26 units that were part of a veterans housing development; the community center was a promised amenity associated with that project. Staff said the record includes a mix of public input within the required notification buffer, with 11 notices returned in disagreement and two in agreement.