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Council directs committee review of development-patterns and zoning updates to support fiscally sustainable growth
Summary
Staff presented options to update Burleson’s comprehensive plan and zoning code to encourage strategic infill, reduce infrastructure costs, and increase taxable value per acre. Council agreed the work should proceed at committee level with staff fleshing out specific zoning and comp‑plan amendments.
The council received a detailed presentation from Tony McElwain and principal planner Leighton Pierce on development patterns and tools to encourage fiscally sustainable growth — including incremental infill, accessory dwelling units, shared parking, reduced lot-size minimums in targeted locations, and preserving community character while targeting higher market-value parcels for denser development.
Pierce and McElwain emphasized this is background analysis and a set of options, not a recommendation to adopt citywide density changes. They suggested the following tools for council consideration: text amendments to parking and lot-size standards, targeted comp-plan adjustments or an addendum to the 2020 midpoint, incentives for infill and adaptive reuse, and shared-parking standards for commercial areas.
Council members emphasized the need to preserve neighborhood character and to match density to transportation capacity. Several asked staff to wait on any major ordinance changes until the Legislature concludes work that could affect local zoning authority. Council directed staff to take the concepts to committee for more detailed recommendations and to coordinate with Planning & Zoning for timing and public engagement.
Next steps: staff to draft committee-level recommendations, consider a phased comp-plan update/addendum, and prepare materials addressing traffic, infrastructure costs and community character for committee review.
