Plan commission recommends Richardson West Middle School redevelopment despite neighborhood traffic concerns

The Richardson City Plan Commission on Feb. 3 recommended approval of a Planned Development for Richardson West Middle School, a three-tract redevelopment that will swap the existing baseball field and build a new three-story, roughly 200,000-square-foot middle school.

Staff presented the PD request and the proposed amendments, including raising the maximum building height on Tract A from 50 feet to 60 feet to allow a three-story building, a proposed minimum parking allocation of 833 spaces across Tracts A–C, and stadium lighting up to 80 feet for the new baseball facility. Staff said the new middle school is expected to open initially in 2028 with an enrollment estimate of 927 students, from a current enrollment of about 709, and a maximum capacity of about 1,000 students.

“The circulation plan is designed to keep vehicle queuing on-site as much as possible,” staff planner Miss Peters told the commission, describing parent drop-off Drive A, a buses-only Drive C and reduced on‑street queuing through driveway closures at the northeast corner of the site.

Applicant James Watson and the project architect said the site design flips the building and the baseball field to improve on-site queuing and safety and to separate bus and parent drop-off flows. Architect Greg Estes described design goals to resolve local congestion, celebrate magnet-program spaces and bring daylight into a large central cafetorium.

Neighbors told the commission the plan did not yet address several neighborhood impacts. “The project information shows daily trips increasing by 38% — from 1,500 trips per day to about 2,100,” said Chrissy Cortez Mathis of 1309 Magnolia Drive, who lives directly behind the proposed north parking lot. She and another neighbor, Rob Hopper of 1315 Magnolia Drive, urged postponement and asked that final buffer, staging and traffic-mitigation plans be required before approval.

The applicant acknowledged those concerns and said Track C (the northern lot) will serve as a construction laydown area with construction fencing, screening and contractor logistics; he also committed to ongoing neighbor communication and to developing photometric lighting constraints and other mitigation measures as construction documents are completed.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant for further traffic analysis and enforcement strategies for nearby residential streets. Staff said the full traffic impact analysis contains predictive (background plus development) LOS tables and that the summary included with the packet shows only a small net traffic increase to studied approaches; staff also said the city may move the school zone north or implement additional measures if the bypass behavior persists once the school opens.

After discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval of zoning file 25-22 with the special conditions presented by staff. Chair Brian Marsh reminded the public the commission is a recommending body and said City Council consideration is tentatively scheduled for March 9.

The commission’s recommendation includes special conditions addressing PD development standards, the concept plan and the listed site elevations; staff will provide the full draft ordinance and conditions to City Council.