Planning commission rejects rezoning for 51-acre tract at Frankfort and Woodrow after residents raise safety, drainage and notice concerns

The Lubbock Planning and Zoning Commission on Nov. 6 declined to recommend rezoning roughly 51.3 acres west of Frankfort Avenue and north of Woodrow Road from low-density single-family (SF-2) to Heavy Commercial (HC), after more than a dozen residents urged the commission to deny the request.

Jamie McGar, a planning department staffer, told the commission the applicant (Hugo Reed & Associates for Storelight Development LLC) requested HC for a 51.3-acre tract; staff noted 26 mailed notices and reported 10 opposition letters from within the notification area and 126 opposition letters received from addresses outside the notification boundary, representing 78 unique properties. Staff said the property was voluntarily annexed in August 2021 and that Woodrow Road is designated a principal arterial in the city's 2018 Master Thoroughfare Plan.

The request sparked sustained public comment. Mackenzie Welch, who identified her address as 5819 Woodrow Road, said, “We are in strong opposition to the zoning change to heavy commercial,” and raised…