Council approves 27-townhouse planned development with 25-foot rear setback and design conditions

The Cedar Hill City Council approved a planned development to build 27 townhouses at 20208 North Joe Wilson Road, voting 5–1 to adopt PD6882024 with additional conditions intended to protect adjacent single-family neighborhoods.

Planning Director Sowell told council the site consists of 3.51 acres and that the applicant’s PD concept plan proposes 27 two-story, three-bedroom townhouses, five HOA lots, visitor parking and a minimum 14% open space with playgrounds and benches. The plan calls for screening along North Joe Wilson Road, including a masonry wall and landscaping, and a mix of brick and fiber-cement siding in building elevations. Sowell said staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval subject to the development standards and exhibits in the packet.

Neighbor Mitchell Aldridge, who lives at 100 Marshall Drive directly behind the site, urged council to deny the rezoning. Reading from a submitted letter, he said the project would “permanently transform a valuable green space that currently provides privacy, natural beauty, and a buffer between existing homes and surrounding development” and noted local market listings that, he argued, undercut a need for this product.

Applicant Gabriel Ekpo, the property owner and broker, presented a comparative market analysis and described design concessions he said were made to respond to neighbors’ concerns, including larger setbacks and a reduced density compared with what by-right development could allow. Ekpo said he intended the townhouses to be sold to owner-occupants and that the project was revised after multiple plan reviews.

Council discussion focused on rear-yard setbacks, building placement relative to existing lots, masonry percentages and pedestrian access along Joe Wilson Road. Staff clarified that the PD base townhouse district requires a 15-foot rear yard minimum but that the concept plan included 25-foot rear setbacks in practice. To address neighborhood concerns, Councilmember Alice Simms moved to approve the PD with staff stipulations plus a minimum 25-foot rear setback, a requirement to reduce façade monotony and an increase in masonry to 85%; the motion, seconded by Councilmember Nazin, passed 5–1.

Council and staff noted the need to ensure the PD ordinance language explicitly records the 25-foot rear setback so it applies where homes abut adjacent residential lots. The council’s action changes the zoning for the property from SF-7/SF-22 to a Planned Development with townhouse as the base use; details such as final elevations and HOA maintenance responsibilities remain to be finalized under the approved PD exhibits.

The ordinance and related PD exhibits will be revised to reflect the council’s conditions and returned as the official development record.