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Planning and Zoning Commission approves rezoning at Legacy Drive and First Street with added open‑space and design conditions
Summary
The Prosper Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7‑0 July 15 to rezone 18.7 acres at the northwest corner of Legacy Drive and First Street to allow a convenience store with gas pumps and additional commercial buildings, approving staff recommendations and adding conditions including a 10% usable open‑space minimum and design amenities.
The Prosper Planning and Zoning Commission on July 15 approved a rezoning request for 18.7 acres at the northwest corner of Legacy Drive and First Street to allow a convenience store with gas pumps and additional commercial buildings, voting 7‑0 on case zone‑25‑0004 with conditions.
Town staff told the commission the current zoning, Planned Development 14, allows convenience stores with gas pumps only at intersections of major thoroughfares; First Street is classified as a minor thoroughfare under the town's Master Thoroughfare Plan, so the rezoning is needed to permit a fuel station at that corner. Staff recommended approval in part because the proposed PD eliminates a number of undesirable uses allowed under the existing zoning and includes a development agreement addressing building materials.
The proposal includes modified setbacks and development standards: increased front setbacks (25 to 30 feet), side setbacks of 15 feet (30 feet if one‑story adjacent to residential; 60 feet if two‑story), and an increase in minimum lot depth from 90 to 100 feet. The plan calls for masonry‑forward building materials (clay brick, stone, stucco) with a 20% allowance for nonmasonry materials. Landscape buffers would include a 30‑foot easement on Legacy Drive, a 25‑foot landscape easement on First Street, a 15‑foot buffer adjacent to residential, and a six‑foot masonry wall where the site abuts the Star Trail subdivision.
Hector Leon, the applicant's representative, said the fuel station at the hard corner is the one element the developer expects to proceed first; other buildings shown on the concept plan are high‑level and would be finalized with subsequent preliminary site‑plan submittals. Leon said the developer has coordinated with town staff on access, parking and fire‑marshal concerns and intends to submit an SUP (specific‑use permit) for the fuel station parcel soon if the rezoning is approved.
Commissioners raised design and operational concerns during their discussion. Comments focused on: the concept placement of a grocery store and other buildings near existing homes; parking counts and how they will be verified at the preliminary site‑plan stage; location of dumpster enclosures close to residences; potential stacking and adjacency of multiple drive‑through lanes next to a gas station; and the need for stronger landscape and screening to reduce light and visual impacts on nearby homes. Several commissioners said the concept images were acceptable but that the site plan will need refinement to be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
Commissioner Hamilton moved to approve the rezoning per staff recommendations and to add conditions; Commissioner Carson seconded. The motion, which passed 7‑0, included three explicit conditions added by the commission: increase aggregate usable open space from 7% to 10% for the development; require the developer to include at least three of five specified public amenities (public art installations; gazebos or pergolas; shaded seating areas; water features such as fountains or naturalized stream banks; or stone terracing/low masonry seating walls); and change the proposed use classification for a farmers market from allowed by right to allowed only by SUP.
The town attorney/staff noted that if the rezoning is approved tonight, the item would appear on the Town Council agenda; staff said the council meeting will be Tuesday, Aug. 12 if the council agenda follows the town calendar. The applicant and staff will return with a preliminary site plan and a specific‑use permit application for the fuel station parcel that will include the detailed parking, grading, and stormwater review required during civil permit review.
The commission's approval does not approve a final site plan or building permits; it changes the PD zoning to permit the uses described subject to the town code, the development agreement provisions presented and the additional conditions the commission added.
Next steps: the developer must submit a preliminary site plan and the SUP for the fuel station; civil engineering, parking and drainage will be reviewed in subsequent permit stages; and the council will consider the zoning on its upcoming agenda if scheduled.
