Killeen council approves rezoning of 87-acre Feather Line site after months of debate

The Killeen City Council on Dec. 3 approved a request to rezone roughly 87.44 acres near Feather Line Road from agricultural to R‑1 single‑family residential, moving a proposed 300‑home development a step closer to construction after extended public hearings and detailed staff presentations.

The council’s decision followed more than three hours of testimony, including a city presentation on utility capacity, traffic and floodplain considerations and a sustained citizen campaign opposing the change. City planning staff told council the location complies with the city’s comprehensive plan and that water and sewer capacity exist to serve the proposed subdivision. City engineer Andrew Zegers said the city submitted a required lead/service‑line inventory earlier this year and noted that planned thoroughfare and utility projects are underway to accommodate growth.

Residents and neighborhood leaders urged the council to delay rezoning until Feather Line Road improvements are complete. James Rogers, a nearby resident, said the area’s narrow streets and existing driveway configuration create safety risks, and he described previous votes by Planning & Zoning that recommended disapproval. A widely circulated petition and multiple speakers said the volume of resident opposition warranted postponing the proposal until major roadwork is finished.

Developer representatives and the applicant’s engineer said the proposal was consistent with the comp plan and that the developer had taken steps to address residents’ concerns. Garrett Nordyke of TCG Engineering said buffering, tree preservation and standard engineering controls for stormwater would be required at the development stage and that the applicant offered measures to reduce impacts along property lines.

City staff outlined the timing for off‑site work: design for Feather Line improvements is anticipated to begin in 2025 with construction starting in 2027, though staff said certain permitting processes or external approvals could affect the schedule. Staff and several council members emphasized that any subdivision construction must meet the city’s engineering and fire‑safety standards — including required access points and traffic‑mitigation measures — before lots would be cleared for building permits.

Council members asked detailed questions about unit counts, fiscal impacts and sequencing of road construction versus development work. Staff said the draft capital plan and recent utility analyses indicate sufficient capacity for the project at the proposed scale, subject to standard design reviews and a traffic impact analysis at the subdivision stage.

The council approved the rezoning by majority votes recorded after the public hearing. The developer still must satisfy subdivision platting, engineering review, and any traffic mitigation or offsite improvements required by city code before any construction starts.

What happens next: The rezoning clears the land‑use hurdle but does not approve engineering plans or building permits. The developer will return to the city for preliminary plat, utility design and traffic analysis, which council members said will be scrutinized against the city’s standards and aligned with Feather Line improvements.