Board approves preliminary site plan for Water Tower District Phase 2 despite neighbor safety and screening concerns

The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen on April 28 approved the preliminary site plan for Shilling Farms Phase 79 (Water Tower District Phase 2), a 13.13-acre multi-family phase that would add 246 rental units to the Water Tower District subject to approximately 37 conditions from the Planning Commission and Design Review Commission.

Project and capacity: Assistant town planner Quetta Singleton said the property is in Area 2 of the Shilling Farms planned development (PD). The PD caps standalone apartment entitlements; once this phase is approved, the town would be about 94% built out of standalone apartment entitlements for Area 2. The proposed phase and the previously approved phase 1 together would total 502 units within the Water Tower District, producing a combined density of about 5.49 dwelling units per acre for Area 2 — below the PD maximum of 15 units per acre.

Design, landscaping and screening concerns: The applicant proposes multiple building types with masonry and accent material; the Design Review Commission required…