Harlingen Commission approves conditional variance for Horseshoe Point subdivision; annexation, drainage and lift station tied to next steps

The Harlingen City Commission on the evening of a November workshop approved a variance to allow the proposed Horseshoe Point subdivision to use one entrance onto Morris Road instead of the two access points required by the city subdivision ordinance, with the approval made effective only upon annexation and further phase and PDD approvals.

The vote followed more than an hour of public comment and technical presentations in which residents pressed the commission to delay approval until the city secures infrastructure commitments. “It’s too many houses for the residential road, Morris Road,” said resident David Barraza, summarizing neighbors’ traffic concerns. Several speakers from Water’s Edge, including Kate Pope and Sylvia Gonzalez, argued the proposed lot sizes and projected home prices would undermine existing neighborhood standards and property values.

City planning staff said the developer initially proposed entrances spaced roughly 160 feet apart and later revised that spacing to about 200 feet; the subdivision ordinance requires the two entrances be separated by at least half the diagonal length of the subdivision (about 494 feet in this case). Anna (city planning staff) told the commission the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the variance previously, and staff recommended conditional approval “subject to the following conditions” intended to mitigate the reduced spacing.

Roberto Fernandez, Harlingen’s city engineer, presented the project’s stormwater approach. The developer and staff propose converting Horseshoe Lake — a roughly 60‑acre resaca bed owned by Irrigation District No. 1 — into a regional detention facility and adding multiple…