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Resident urges Fulshear council to allow townhomes, not apartments, in Waters PUD
Summary
Ben Donahue, a Fulshear resident, told the council that development agreements require multifamily housing but do not force apartment complexes and urged the council to allow townhomes and duplexes and postpone the Waters PUD vote to renegotiate with the developer.
Ben Donahue, a Fulshear resident, urged the city council to allow townhomes and duplexes rather than apartment complexes on land included in the Waters planned-unit development (PUD).
"We can fulfill our legal obligations by creating a PUD that allows townhomes and duplexes, but not apartments," Donahue said, identifying himself and giving his address on the public-comment sign-in. He told council members he had read the development agreements and said the controlling language uses the term "commercial multifamily," which he argued does not necessarily require apartment buildings.
Donahue said he understood the city's legal counsel had advised the council that the old development agreements obligate the city to allow multifamily housing on the Waters land. "I've read the development agreements and there's nothing in any of them that says multifamily has to mean apartments," he said, and urged the council to consider a PUD allowing duplexes and townhomes as a legally compliant alternative.
He acknowledged that changing the PUD would require time and negotiation with landowners and developers and suggested the council might postpone action on the Waters PUD to allow further consultation with counsel and stakeholders.
The council did not take a public vote on the Waters PUD during the special session. The meeting moved into an executive session to consult with legal counsel on Waters PUD zoning and related jurisdictional matters; when the council reconvened it reported no action from the closed session.
The comment illustrates a central tension for local officials balancing developers' contract terms, the city's legal exposure and neighbors' preferences for lower-density multifamily housing.
