Residents urge caution as rezoning for 361-home Trace Ridge development is withdrawn

Residents recorded public comment after the applicant withdrew a rezoning request for roughly 361 single-family lots at the northeast corner of Cosby Road and Old Airport Road (case ZCH 240001).

Pat Larkin of 102 Crestridge Court told the commission the property has not been annexed into the city and urged officials to resolve water-supply planning before approving annexation. “My water this last week has just been horrid. It tastes like dirt,” Larkin said, and she said staff told her the development would rely on the Lake Worth watershed. Larkin asked how the city would provide water for the 361 homes and whether planning accounted for recent shortages.

Jenny Wilson (510 Lockwood Lane) warned that streets now functioning as dead ends could become through-routes if the new subdivision connects into existing neighborhoods, increasing traffic where children play. “I think a lot of people … in the Trace Ridge development … don't want Lockwood to be a thoroughfare,” she said, and asked what feasibility studies the city requires before annexation (water, sewer, utilities, roads and traffic signals).

Joseph Scarborough (101 Crestridge Court) asked the commission to protect the cul-de-sac and existing homes from new cut-throughs, noting parked cars and children playing in the neighborhood. Karen McCormick (2110 Sagewood) said cumulative new housing—townhomes and subdivisions elsewhere along BB Fielder—will add drivers and worsen already poor road conditions, and she expressed concern that higher water costs could push older residents out.

Chair Brian McCown said the applicant has withdrawn the item and it will not be considered that day, but that the speakers’ comments were recorded and would be part of the record should the application return to a future agenda or go before city council.