Monday, September 16, 2024
SPRINGTOWN — Springtown City Council turned down a rezoning request that would have made way for a Mexican restaurant on Goshen Road.
In July, Springtown Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend the city council change the zoning at 301 Goshen Road from single family residential to commercial. The property is behind Taco Bell, south of the Goshen Road and South Birch Street intersection and is surrounded by a mix of residential and commercial zoning.
The council discussed the rezoning proposal at its August meeting, and generally, members asserted that 301 Goshen Road is not the right place for that kind of zoning. Mayor Pro Tem Ted Martinez questioned how the change could affect the commercial density by State Highway 199 and Goshen Road. Likewise, council member Richelle Pruitt described the area as “messy” in terms of traffic.
“That type is not really a good fit there,” Martinez said during the meeting.
Council member David Martin pushed the discussion forward by saying the commercial zoning does not adhere to the city’s land use maps, which call for single family residential zoning west of the fire station on the south side of Goshen Road.
“This could very easily be a commercial corridor, but our planning documents, part of our comprehensive plans, do not show this as commercial,” Martin said during the meeting. “We might be putting the cart before the horse in this case.”
The council also took into consideration that two neighboring property owners opposed the zoning change primarily because they had concerns about their land being used for access. Assistant City Administrator and City Secretary Christina Derr said during the meeting that access to 301 Goshen Road from its neighbors would not be required.
The council’s decision to deny the rezoning was unanimous.
“If that house were on the north side of the street, it would be different,” council member Michele Chandler Kelley said following the vote.
