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Developers seek prezone on Cox Road; council balks over future‑land‑use conflict
Summary
A developer sought pre‑zoning for about 36.6 acres on Cox Road for 89 single‑family lots; the developer said sewer access and over 50% open space justify the request, but several council members said up‑zoning would contradict the adopted future land‑use plan and the item was withdrawn/failed.
A developer told Auburn City Council on Dec. 16 that a proposed plan for about 36.6 acres on Cox Road had been reworked to 89 single‑family lots with more than 50% open space and an off‑site sewer easement to serve the site. But council members repeatedly said approving the prezone would conflict with the city’s future land‑use plan, and the prezone request was not taken forward.
Brett Basquin of Foresight Group, representing the applicant, said the team reduced an original concept of roughly 130 units to 89 single‑family lots to lower density and lock the plan under a Planned Development District. “We removed about a third of that density. We’re only asking for 89 units… We’re only about 2 and a half units per acre,” Basquin said, adding the applicant had secured an off‑site easement to extend sewer to the site.
Council members raised traffic and planning questions. One asked whether a traffic study had been done for Cox Road; staff said none has been completed specifically for the road and that the matter will be evaluated as part of an upcoming citywide traffic study. Basquin offered a rule‑of‑thumb trip generation estimate: “Usually for single family residential … a house generates about 10 trips a day… if there’s 89 units, it’d be 890 total trips.”
Several council members said the request ran counter to the adopted future land‑use plan and said they could not support up‑zoning the property. One council member said, “I just can’t in all good conscience vote for the 89 homes that go against future land use like that.” Staff also noted a procedural problem: a PDD proposal cannot be applied without an underlying base zoning, and the prezone for the PDD therefore could not be considered and was effectively withdrawn.
Council did not approve the prezone; related annexation for Cold Place Phase 1 was postponed to Jan. 6, 2026, to allow more study of impacts.
The discussion highlighted a recurring planning tension in Auburn between development pressure along corridors with existing infrastructure and adherence to the city’s adopted future land‑use map.
