The Argyle Municipal Development District on Nov. 4 approved up to $20,000 to prepare a concept and land-use plan for the Front Street/Eagle Drive property, a thin parcel adjacent to the railroad and near the sixth-grade center.

Staff presented aerials and historic imagery showing the former Eagle Drive alignment and floodplain areas that constrain development. Harrison (staff) told the board the study would include a feasibility plan, thoroughfare plan, land-use plan and topographic survey and said any development must account for floodplain limits.

Board members discussed likely uses for the parcel, including small office or retail condominiums, a restaurant, destination uses such as an Ace Hardware or a specialty plant nursery, and the potential for overflow or shared public parking to serve school events. Members noted the parcel’s narrow geometry and floodplain would limit building footprints and require careful design and setbacks. Harrison said the red-outlined sliver had already been rezoned to OT1 (Old Town zoning district), which allows both residential and nonresidential uses; a nearby larger parcel is still zoned agricultural and would require rezoning for nonresidential development.

During discussion, members raised school-access benefits: the sixth-grade center currently has a single egress and the board said a north–south connection to Crawford Road could ease parent/student circulation. The board also asked staff to consider locating any new alignment away from the railroad crossing to preserve potential grade-separation improvements.

After debate about procedure — whether staff should select a consultant immediately or return with proposed firms for board selection — a motion to approve an amount not to exceed $20,000 for staff to prepare the Front Street concept and land-use plan passed with an affirmative vote.

The consultant scope will evaluate floodplain constraints, parking options (including overflow for events), potential building footprints, and a recommended alignment for a road connection that minimizes impacts at the railroad crossing. Staff said property owners would be involved in the process and that any required rezoning would be a separate action.