Wylie council approves 59.8-acre Country Club Estates rezoning with drainage, fence and tower-removal conditions

Mayor Matthew Porter and the Wylie City Council on Feb. 25 approved an ordinance to rezone about 59.755 acres at the northwest corner of Country Club Road and McMillan Road from Agricultural (AG-30) to Single-Family 10 (SF-10-24) to allow a single-family detached subdivision called Country Club Estates. The council voted 7-0 to approve the zoning as amended and directed a development agreement to include drainage and access provisions, an option for emergency-gated cross access, an 8-foot privacy fence and removal of existing radio towers prior to house construction.

The vote follows a developer presentation by Brian Holland of Skorberg Development Company and public comments from neighboring property owners who raised traffic, drainage and land‑use concerns. The project applicant said the site could yield up to 181 lots under straight SF-10 zoning but expects preliminary engineering to reduce that to roughly 73–76 lots; the developer told council a more likely build count is in the mid‑70s.

Why it matters: the site sits at the planned 6-lane right-of-way apex for McMillan and Country Club and is adjacent to existing subdivisions including Country Ridge Estates. Council and residents emphasized risks from additional impervious surface and existing localized ponding at the head of Sweet Gum Drive. The council attached conditions intended to require a traffic impact analysis and on-site detention sized to historic release rates, and to require development‑agreement commitments addressing a Sweet Gum drainage inlet and cross-access/emergency-gate options so neighboring connectivity and emergency access are preserved.

Developer presentation and project details Brian Holland said Skorberg Development Company has about 40 years of local single‑family lot development experience and presented a conceptual site plan for a 59.755‑acre site owned in part by Catherine Buchek and in part by the Crawford family. Holland apologized that mailed neighborhood notices were delayed and said, “we attempted but did not hit everybody that we could.”

Holland and his team told council the straight SF‑10 zoning request would allow a maximum theoretical lot count of 181—based on minimum 10,000‑square‑foot lots—but that preliminary engineering and floodplain/drainage constraints will reduce that number. They said home sizes discussed with prospective builders range from about 2,600 to more than 5,000 square feet, with price projections of roughly $700,000 to $900,000 and possibly above $1 million depending on options. Holland said horizontal construction (streets/utilities/storm) would likely take 15–18 months once engineering is complete and the full build‑out of single‑family homes would be a multi‑year project (he projected about five years for full build‑out at the stated price point).

Traffic and drainage commitments Developer representatives confirmed that a traffic impact analysis (TIA) will be required at the preliminary‑plat stage and that the project must follow whatever mitigation the TIA requires—turn lanes, median cuts or other improvements. Engineer Preston Crow described the drainage strategy: a north‑south ridge splits flow and the plan calls for detention in the southeast and southwest corners of the site sized to outfall to McMillan Road improvements. Crow said the team reviewed McMillan construction plans and the proposed box culverts and will design on‑site detention to match existing outflow capacity.

Multiple neighbors described recurring runoff and ponding problems at Sweet Gum Drive and the applicant said the development agreement will include constructing an inlet at the head of Sweet Gum and piping that flow into the subdivision storm network “at our cost,” a measure the developer said should “handle most of that water” and reduce ponding that now affects adjacent yards.

Neighbor concerns and public comment Several nearby residents urged careful scrutiny. Joshua Thromberg of 1423 Bear Paw Lane told council the city’s Envision Wylie comprehensive plan and the Wylie Code of Ordinances identified portions of the property as parks, open space or low‑density residential and asked that the council honor the comprehensive‑plan intent. He also asked that any proposed fence be extended along the full western perimeter for additional privacy.

Property owner and farm operator Catherine Buchek, whose family owns part of the site, said she understands the concerns but asked council to approve residential reuse rather than potential commercial uses. Jill Lowry of Newport Harbor spoke in favor, saying additional single‑family homes with sidewalks and drainage would “further beautify our community.” Several Country Ridge Estates residents and a homeowners‑association board member said they support a drainage fix and prefer single‑family housing to other uses; Peter Russell and Paul Kirkley said they would endorse the proposal if the developer addresses the Sweet Gum drainage issue.

Radio towers, buffers and HOA commitments Council and staff discussed three additional conditions the developer agreed to put into a development agreement: the towers on site must be demolished before any house construction can occur; an 8‑foot board‑on‑board fence will be installed at construction‑phase timing to screen adjacent neighborhoods and to be maintained by a mandatory homeowners association; and the developer will either provide a through‑street connection with a Knox‑style emergency gate (for fire/emergency access) or design engineered inlet/culvert drainage connections depending on which solution staff and engineers determine is best during the engineering review.

Council action and next steps Councilman Dave Strang moved to approve the zoning as presented with the developer‑agreement amendments described during the meeting; Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Forster seconded. The motion carried 7–0. Council directed staff to return an ordinance and a development agreement that reflect the council’s direction; the city attorney and staff said they anticipate presenting the ordinance and the development agreement for formal adoption at the upcoming meeting (staff indicated the ordinance and DA would be presented as linked items in two weeks). The developer said demolition of the radio towers is planned to be “the first thing we do” and estimated the tower demo at about $30,000.

What remains to be decided: final lot count, detention sizing and the precise Sweet Gum remedy will be fixed by the developer’s preliminary plat, engineering studies (including the TIA and flood studies) and staff review at subsequent hearings. Staff reminded council that plat approval, engineering and construction‑stage permits remain required before vertical home construction begins.