SPIN2025-01 - 1835 Shady Oaks Dr.
SPIN MEETING REPORT
SPIN Item Number: SPIN2025-01
City Case Number: ZA25-0005
Project Name: 1835 Shady Oaks Dr.
SPIN Neighborhood: 5
Meeting Date: February 11, 2025
Meeting Location: 1400 Main Street, Southlake, TX
City Council Chambers
Total Attendance: 19
Hosts: Bora Sulollari
Applicant Presenting: John Huffman / Curtis Young
City Staff Present: Madeline Prater, Business Manager / Ryan Firestone,
Planning Technician
FORUM SUMMARY:
Property Situation: 1835 Shady Oaks Dr.
Development Details:
• Original Concept Plan – Single-Family Residential and Office Commercial
o 19 residential lots and 4 office buildings with detention pond
• New Concept Plans (Options) – All residential
o Concept Plan A
28 residential lots
Access points from Shady Oaks Dr. and SH 114 Frontage Rd.
Detention pond and drainage channel feature
o Concept Plan B
28 residential lots
Access points from Shady Oaks Dr. and SH 114 Frontage Rd.
Detention pond and drainage channel feature
o Concept Plan C
29 residential lots
Access point from Shady Oaks Dr. only
Emergency access from SH 114 Frontage Rd.
Detention pond and drainage channel feature
Presentation:
Comments, Questions, and Concerns:
Q: Currently zoned AG (Agriculture)?
A: Correct.
C: No one contacted us about the master plan and what we want there.
Q: How can you rezone this piece of property without our input first - based off the
guidance from master plan?
A: This here tonight is the input process. Anytime there is zoning that does not match up
with the current zoning or a master plan element that does not currently meet the
requirements, there is a process to legally change those.
With zoning, when the land was incorporated into the City of Southlake, it received a
zoning designation – in this instance AG (Agriculture) as a holding pattern until future
development comes along. The master land use plan is updated every five-ten years
and is voted on by city officials as to what their vision is for the city as a whole. This
property has been designated as Office Commercial on the land use plan for a long
time.
Q: How do we get these all-residential plans, specifically the one with no access from
SH 114 to be used as a cut-through, in front of people who vote?
A: That is what we plan to do in front of the Planning & Zoning Commission. If the
directional input we receive is to switch to all residential, we will require that input from
you at P&Z and City Council as well.
Q: Would that include placing a wall up to help with sound?
A: Yes, we would place a retaining wall around the property fronting SH 114.
Q: On the south side, where the six lots are located, my property abuts up to that. Will
you place a fence along the property line?
A: These lots will be the same size as your lots, and we talk to the current homeowner
about the existing fence and if it should be replaced or not.
C: There are a lot of trees in that area that helps with sound buffering. My concern is
losing these trees; so, will you have any green belt between these six lots and Fox
Glen?
A: We can look into that as part of the landscape plan / tree preservation plan.
Q: The road in the middle of Concept B, does this one have the “emergency access
only” attached to it? My concern is that traffic will use this as a cut-through.
A: It could, but not right now. Concept C has the “emergency access only” point.
Q: Would this include a 4-way stop sign or just a normal stop between two streets?
A: Not a 4-way stop. Two-way only.
Q: The land between the bank and this development, what is that going to be?
A: That is master planned as Office Commercial as well. We are unsure what this will
become.
Q: The tiny portion that comes down to Dove Rd. – that parcel sold. Do we know what is
happening with that?
A: That is all floodplain, so it will be difficult if not impossible to develop.
C: We certainly want residential over office.
Q: On Concept Plan C, by removing the access point from SH 114 frontage road, this
means that 100% of the traffic will be offloaded onto Shady Oaks Dr. - this is a concern.
Is there a plan that doesn’t make the cut-through so accessible (like on Plan B), but
maintains both access points on Shady Oaks Dr. and SH 114 frontage road?
A: A thought would be to add a gate feature that determines who can enter and exit.
That allows the residents of this neighborhood to access that gate only. This will help
with funneling onto Shady Oaks Dr. and deter people from the highway using this as a
cut-through.
Q: Will you have a gate at the Shady Oaks entrance as well?
A: No, just at the freeway access point.
Q: If this is a gated community, doesn’t that add value to real estate?
A: There are advantages and disadvantages. Depends of the voter’s stance on the
issue. If we want to explore the gate topic we can (and you can express that at P&Z),
but gates are unusually controversial on City Council.
Q: You can make the egress onto SH 114 so people cannot enter the neighborhood,
only exit.
A: That is a good point, it makes sense. We want to avoid this becoming a convenient
cut-through.
C: Vote for all residential.
A: It would be helpful for the voting individuals to make your preference known at those
voting meetings – P&Z and City Council. You can write an email or attend the meeting.
Q: What is the realistic chance of this becoming all residential?
A: It is realistic – the most people at stake (gaining or losing) are the developers and
surrounding property owners. The comments and suggestions from you will be
persuasive.
Q: Is there a difference in the tax revenue to the city for commercial vs. residential?
A: For some commercial, yes. Retail commercial garners sales tax, but this would be
office commercial. The ad valorem taxes in Southlake are very high.
Q: A lot of us experienced disappointment when the bank was developed, based on
what they did and did not do. Are we here tonight to talk about conceptual plans only,
no other details?
A: A little bit of both, but at this stage in the process it is still conceptual. We would like
feedback from everybody on the residential portion. The more detailed items will require
more discussion.
C: All residential plans are strongly preferred. Preserving the natural environment and
landscape is also very important to the neighbors.
C: I would like to see the detention pond as more of an attractive feature. We’d also like
to see a retaining wall along SH 114 frontage road to help with sound.
Q: What is the plan on selecting builders that would do the vertical build?
A: We have not explored this yet, but we would like some of the best custom builders to
develop this.
Q: Is there a way to work in walking paths into this plan?
A: Absolutely. We would have a trail along Shady Oaks Dr. which would connect into
sidewalks on each side of the internal streets.
C: Concern about tree preservation and wildlife preservation.
A: We can work to enhance the natural drainage area into a feature that promotes
greenbelt connectivity through the site for wildlife to use.
C: Concerned about the drainage.
A: I can show you the concept options after the meeting – the drainage runs through the
site and into a detention pond/water feature. This gives a place for the drainage to go
and be detained for a while until it drains out at a slow rate.
SPIN Meeting Reports are general observations of SPIN Meetings by City staff and SPIN Representatives. The report is neither
verbatim nor official meeting minutes; rather it serves to inform elected and appointed officials, City staff, and the public of the issues
and questions raised by residents and the general responses made. Responses as summarized in this report should not be taken
as guarantees by the applicant. Interested parties are strongly encouraged to follow the case through the Planning and Zoning
Commission and final action by City Council.
Southlake Connect Results for February 11, 2025 SPIN Town Hall Forum