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Council narrows REDC variance: allows EDC parcels to keep overhead lines but removes private properties from exemption
Summary
Rockwall City Council approved a modified variance that permits existing overhead lines to remain on Rockwall Economic Development Corporation (REDC/EDC)‑owned parcels but removes private properties from the blanket exemption; the original REDC request sought to allow the corridor’s overhead power lines to remain in perpetuity.
The Rockwall City Council on April 21 approved a modified variance request related to utility placement along Corporate Crossing and State Highway 276. The REDC (Rockwall Economic Development Corporation) had asked the council to allow overhead power lines in the corridor to remain in place in perpetuity; the Planning & Zoning Commission had recommended denial.
Staff said the REDC’s February request cited a roughly $9,000,000 estimated project cost for burying the corridor’s power lines (with about $500,000 already expended on design). The request argued that allocating a large amount of public‑sector funding to burying lines would reduce resources available for broader economic development initiatives.
At the meeting, the council debated whether a corridor‑wide, perpetual exemption would in effect allow private properties to avoid the city’s undergrounding requirements. Councilmembers agreed to a narrower approach: they approved a motion to grant a permanent variance for EDC‑owned parcels in the technology park area but to remove privately owned parcels from the exemption. Under the approved motion, EDC‑owned property along the corridor will not be required to underground existing lines; private landowners in the corridor will remain subject to the city’s standard requirements and may need to underground lines at redevelopment or seek their own variances.
Planning staff had noted the variance mechanism in the Unified Development Code and Municipal Code of Ordinances and said the Planning & Zoning Commission (on Feb. 25) recommended denial of a blanket, perpetual exemption. The council’s modified approval preserves the EDC’s ability to market and develop its parcels without committing public funds to underground private corridors while leaving private property owners subject to existing development standards.
The council’s motion to modify the variance and restrict the exemption to EDC‑owned parcels passed unanimously.
