Commission reviews first reading for 13-acre PUD rezoning on Highway 25 in Sulphur College

Chair opened a first reading of Ordinance 3 51 20 26 13 to rezone 13 acres on Highway 25 in Sulphur College from TR-2 to TR-PUD and asked planning staff to brief the commission.

"This is a little bit different than a traditional rezoning," Amanda Harrington, planning staff, told the commission, explaining the rezoning is accompanied by a preliminary master plan and the applicant is requesting 80 planned development units. She said the planning commission recommended rezoning with a stipulation that the legislative body require a traffic study because ingress and egress will be concentrated on Sulphur College.

Harrington said the PUD checklist in Article 7 of the county's recently adopted zoning resolution sets out requirements for a planned unit development and that a final master plan must be in "substantial compliance" with the preliminary master plan presented in the packet; minor changes (landscaping, parking tweaks) are allowed but substantial changes to density or additional buildings are not. She also suggested the county could require its own traffic engineer to review any developer-provided traffic study at the developer's cost.

Commissioners questioned the scale and timing of traffic analysis, who bears the costs and what conditions might limit future modifications. Jared Claiborne, the project's engineer, said the applicant is proposing rental townhomes and that a broader traffic study covering Sulphur College and Highway 25 is advisable to avoid surprises later. No final vote was taken—the matter is at first reading and will return for subsequent consideration.

The commission was told technical review items such as utilities, buffering and site layout are included in the packet and that final approvals will follow the two-reading ordinance process and planning commission review of the final master plan.