Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves revised Harvest Grove master plan after developer drops multifamily north of Santan area
Summary
After months of revisions and public comment, the Town Council approved a minor general-plan amendment and a planned-area reszone for Harvest Grove, reducing units and removing multifamily in sensitive Santan-area locations; final approval passed 4–3 with conditions including design and traffic stipulations.
The Town Council voted to approve a revised Harvest Grove general plan amendment and planned-area rezoning for a 311-acre master-planned community after the developer substantially altered the project in response to council and neighborhood concerns.
Planning staff and the applicant described major changes that reduced the residential unit count from an earlier ~1,676 units to about 1,116 and lowered overall density from about 5.39 to 3.55 dwelling units per acre. The developer removed multifamily zoning from the Santan character area and replaced proposed multifamily parcels with single-family attached and detached product types, added roughly 45 acres of new commercial designation at two corners, extended Coronado Road to improve circulation and increased lot sizes and single-story buffers where the project borders existing amenities such as the Gilbert Youth Soccer Association fields.
Planning staff said the revised plan met Santan character-area objectives through lower densities (3.15 du/acre within the Santan portion), agrarian-themed entry landscaping, agrarian-style fencing and layered planting, and preserved more than 64 acres of open space with multiple pocket parks and trail corridors. Town traffic engineers reported the anticipated daily trips dropped from an earlier 27,000 estimate to about 21,580 with mitigation commitments including dual left-turn storage, right-turn enhancements, three new traffic signals and other corridor upgrades; some off-site mitigations are tied to the developer's improvements and regional CIP coordination.
Supporters told the council the plan adds missing-middle product types and new commercial tax base, while opponents — including several adjacent Stratford and Leighton Lakes residents — said the project still represented an unwelcome increase in density and raised concerns about traffic, compatibility with existing lot sizes and potential impacts on property values and schools.
After several hours of presentations and public testimony, the council approved the general-plan amendment and the reszone ordinance with conditions; the final roll call recorded the measure carried 4–3 (dissenters identified on the record). The council directed staff to ensure required design, setback, screening, traffic mitigation and final plat stipulations are met as the developer advances preliminary platting and engineering.
Provenance: Staff presentation, applicant revisions and public hearing: SEG 2930–SEG 5713; council final action and vote recorded SEG 5694–SEG 5713.
