Planning panel denies five subdivision waivers for Deccan Mulkey development

The Pflugerville Planning & Zoning Commission voted to deny five subdivision-waiver requests for the Deccan Mulkey development, concluding the applicant had not shown the ‘undesirable situation’ required under the city’s Unified Development Code to justify cutting planned road and pedestrian connections. Commissioner (speaker 3) moved to deny all five waivers; the Chair (speaker 1) seconded and the motion passed.

Staff planner (speaker 6) had urged denial, saying the waivers would reduce multimodal connectivity and create dead ends. “Based on the criteria of the UDC, staff does not believe that the applicant has provided evidence of an undesirable situation that would be contrary to the public interest and destroy the intent of the provisions of the UDC,” staff said during the presentation. The staff summary described five requests: removal of the Trinity Settlement Lane stub and four 15-foot mid-block pedestrian pass-through easements required for block lengths of 1,000 feet or more.

Developer representatives and supporters urged flexibility, arguing the changes would allow the developer to provide a larger on-site All Abilities Park and that the project team had neighborhood backing. Amanda Swore of Runner Group (speaker 8) said the team had “about 24 letters of support” and told the commission the developer was prepared to pursue an on-site accessible park. Several residents and disability-advocacy professionals — including a special-education teacher and a former adaptive-program coordinator — described the community benefit of an All Abilities play area.

Opponents, many of them nearby residents, warned extending Peach Vista and opening the stub street would increase high-speed cut-through traffic on neighborhood streets. Michael Lang (speaker 7), a resident of Boone Valley, said the existing Peach Vista corridor already attracts dangerous driving and worried opening the roadway would worsen the problem. “We get people cutting through the neighborhood… they’ll come zooming down to Boone Valley and then shoot across to Peach Vista,” he said.

Commission discussion centered on enforceability of voluntary park commitments and the difference between paying a fee-in-lieu for parkland and providing on-site parkland. Chair (speaker 1) and other commissioners said fee-in-lieu payments and the city’s 2020 park bond ($1,600,000 earmarked for a destination All Abilities Park) did not substitute for the UDC findings required to grant a waiver. The commission concluded the record did not justify removing the planned connectivity features and denied all five waiver requests. The commission adjourned at 8:09 p.m.