Commission split over UDC zoning map; parks designation fuels stalemate

The Addison Planning & Zoning Commission's longest discussion on June 17 centered on whether and how to apply the new Unified Development Code (UDC) zoning map to town-owned parks and public properties.

Leslie Knipe, Director of Development Neighborhood Services, presented the zoning-map conversions staff recommends to implement the UDC (adopted by City Council on March 25, 2025 and effective Sept. 1, 2025). Knipe said staff consolidated several industrial districts, proposed Commercial General for many office properties, and recommended R1 or R2 for a collection of town-owned parks and facilities including Beltway Park ("Sam's Club Park"), Addison Athletic Club, Dome Park, Rawhide Park and Trail, Quorum Park, Addison Circle Park and the Town Hall site at 5300 Beltline Road. "We provided notice to every single property owner within Addison," Knipe said, adding that staff had not received public feedback specific to this hearing item.

Several commissioners expressed concern that applying some non-park districts (for example M4 or mixed-use zones) to park parcels could leave parks legally vulnerable if the parcels had no dedicated park zoning. Commissioners proposed options including: (1) tabling the vote to allow staff to study creation of a parks zoning district; (2) adopting the map while removing zoning from town-owned park parcels and returning later with recommendations; or (3) adopting the map as proposed. Staff and the commission’s legal advisor cautioned that removing zoning would leave parcels without regulatory rules and could create liability and unintended nonconformities for adjacent development. Knipe noted that creating a parks district would require reopening the UDC process, additional public notice, consultant work, and potentially months of delay.

Multiple procedural motions were made. A motion to table and study a parks district failed to reach the four-vote threshold the commission requires for a formal recommendation; subsequent motions and attempts at partial adoption likewise failed to produce a clear four-vote recommendation. Commissioners debated trade-offs between speed (to meet the UDC effective date) and extra study to protect parks. At one point a motion to approve the proposed zoning map produced recorded ayes and nays but did not resolve the commission's split; staff advised that if no recommendation is reached the matter will advance to City Council without a Planning & Zoning recommendation.

Commissioners raised alternatives such as using planned-development (PD) overlays or deed restrictions for individual parks; staff noted deed restrictions already exist on Addison Circle Park and that a PD approach could replicate district protections but would still require additional process. The meeting record shows no final, adopted recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission on the zoning map; staff said the file will move forward to City Council for action with the commission unable to reach a clear recommendation.