Waxahachie council approves planned-development for Broadhead/Garden Valley with safety conditions after resident opposition

The Waxahachie City Council on a unanimous voice vote approved a planned-development rezoning known in staff materials as ZDC 2425 but attached multiple safety-focused amendments requested by council members and residents. Council members said the conditions — street lights at major corners, minimum 8-foot-wide striped crosswalks at Broadhead and Garden Valley and a revised sidewalk configuration — were intended to reduce nighttime safety risks and address neighborhood concerns about a proposed 24/7 convenience store operation.

Trenton, planning staff, summarized the applicant's changes in architecture, landscaping and circulation that were intended to respond to last year's public concerns; the proposal includes a 4,800-square-foot building and required sidewalks, landscaping buffers and revised lighting plans. Trenton said Planning & Zoning recommended approval with additional conditions and noted staff mailed notice to property owners within 200 feet (40 notices mailed; five returned opposed, two in support).

Residents who live adjacent to the site told council they opposed a 24/7 operation near a school and neighborhood. "This will draw all kinds of people in there, at very strange hours to cause very strange things to happen," said Scott Quirin, who identified his Bear Trail address. Ryan Young, another nearby resident, told council the round-the-clock schedule was the central concern because a school is across the street and the site is on a major thoroughfare.

Councilman Smith moved several amendments to the staff-recommended conditions; among them were a requirement for street lights on the four to eight main corners meeting the city's neighborhood lighting standard (roughly a pole every ~50 feet on new development), widening crosswalks across Garden Valley and Broadhead to at least 8 feet and adding the sidewalk configuration diagram presented by public works into the PD exhibits. Council accepted minor additional clarifications to the off-site improvements language in the development agreement before approving the development agreement that implements the PD conditions.

Public-work staff described a feasible alternative sidewalk configuration and suggested thermoplastic (reflective) striping for crosswalks to increase visibility. Staff also said the city would coordinate future signal warrants and potential signal or roundabout options as the area develops; one staffer estimated a traffic signal project could cost in the mid-six figures and said current warrants support four-way stops rather than a signal.

After council added the stated conditions and incorporated the new sidewalk exhibit, the council voted to approve the rezoning and the associated development agreement. Mayor Billy Wallace said the changes represented a compromise that improved walkability and safety without preventing the corner from being developed. The motion carried.