Neighbors urge bigger buffers as council approves Crystal Valley Ranch rezoning amid objections

Mayor Gray opened the public hearing on the Crystal Valley Ranch zoning amendment and planning staff summarized the item as a second reading of a rezoning tied to a previously negotiated memorandum of understanding.

Tara Vargas, a town planner, told council the action before them was limited to rezoning the 45‑foot strip discussed in an October agreement and that “the details of that site development plan, all the increased buffering, the tree plantings, all of the mitigation elements, that will come at the site development plan step.”

Resident Susan McAfee, who said she represents neighbors in Crystal Valley, urged a larger buffer between new lots and existing homes. “The developer should be providing at least a 45 foot wide buffer, if not more,” McAfee said, and presented an alternate layout she said would reduce cut‑through traffic and better protect adjacent properties.

Council members debated whether the rezoning vote was the right phase to require the layout changes McAfee proposed. Some members said the memorandum of understanding and prior council direction already set the broad parameters and that detailed lot layout and increased buffer obligations belong at the site development plan stage. Others urged taking a fresh look at the neighbors’ plan before final approvals.

After discussion and a brief, unsuccessful attempt to tie specific conditions to the rezoning, council approved the ordinance on first reading by a 5–2 roll call vote. Supporters said the action honored prior agreements while leaving room for staff and the council to consider additional buffering and mitigation when the site development plan is filed.

The ordinance advances the rezoning step; detailed lot layout and buffer widths will be addressed at the site development plan and subsequent review stages, where staff and the council will have occasion to consider the alternate layout residents proposed.