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Plan Commission approves landscaping and parking variance for 320 W. Interstate 30 to allow concrete upgrade
Summary
The Garland Plan Commission granted a hardship variance to reduce required parking-area and perimeter landscaping at 320 West Interstate 30 so the property owner can replace an aging asphalt lot with concrete without losing critical parking spaces.
The Garland Plan Commission voted unanimously Aug. 25 to approve a development-variance request that reduces required nonresidential parking-area, site and perimeter landscaping at 320 West Interstate 30 so the owner can upgrade an aging asphalt lot to concrete.
Staff and the applicant told commissioners the 0.6-acre site is fully surrounded by light-commercial development and currently has an older asphalt parking surface. Under the Garland Development Code (GDC), voluntarily upgrading an existing parking surface to current standards would normally trigger new landscaping requirements — frontage landscaping, interior islands and perimeter planting — that the owner says would remove many existing spaces.
Planner staff said the site has limited space for required plantings because of underground equipment and right-of-way constraints. The applicants proposed planting a line of shrubs in the right-of-way along Aldwyck Drive under a city license agreement and one large canopy tree to help screen transformers near the front. Staff reported building-inspection feedback that an asphalt overlay is a possible lower-impact option, but the owner and tenant prefer a full concrete upgrade to meet Garland Technical Standards.
Property owner David Block said he has been pursuing permits for about 11 months and wants to invest rental income into a higher-quality concrete surface for his tenant’s carpet store; he said the project would use most of the next year and a half’s rental income for construction. Block said the plantings will be drought-tolerant varieties and that he plans a drip line to a hose bib for watering; staff clarified there is no proposed underground irrigation but code enforcement will require replacement if landscaping dies.
Commissioners discussed alternatives such as slightly narrower stalls to retain more planting area and confirmed limits on plantings where TxDOT controls frontage. Staff said if the owner upgrades to full GDC concrete standards it would trigger the landscape requirements and—without the variance—would eliminate roughly 14 parking spaces; building-inspection staff indicated that an asphalt mill-and-overlay would not trigger the full landscaping requirements.
Commissioner Abel moved to close the public hearing and approve the hardship variance for parking and landscaping; Commissioner Paris seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
The variance allows the owner to proceed with a concrete upgrade while providing shrubs in the city right-of-way and a canopy tree as proposed; the item concluded with the commission’s formal approval of the variance.
