Celina City Council

City Council 8/21/23

Approved

This 641-acre development debate spotlighted the importance of community engagement in fast-growing Celina. While the City Council recognized improvements from the 2016 agreement, they hesitated upon hearing worries from residents about lot sizes, flooding, traffic flow, and land buffering. They went as far as conditioning extra infrastructure timing and residential fencing requirements to assuage some fears.

Philip Thompson from Hersh Family Investments reaped the benefits of earnestly meeting with impacted citizens. As one resident said after Thompson visited her property, "I felt like we were heard." Thompson committed to updating several residents about sewer alignment plans and providing upgraded fencing for properties abutting the development. This good-faith engagement likely strengthened the Council’s confidence to approve the plan.

Changes Hersh made to the new 641-acre development agreement compared to the 2016 agreement:

Zoning/Land Use:

• Includes community amenities like trails, parks, open space.

• Adds a designated school site.

• Reserves minimum 20 acres for commercial use.

• Allows single-family rentals (SF-R) product type.

• Limits estate lots to 30% of total single-family residential lots.

Infrastructure:

• Requires connecting G.A. Moore Parkway to Preston Road in first phase of development to improve traffic flow (per condition by City Council).

Buffers/Landscaping:

• Specifies wider landscape buffers, trails, and sidewalks.

• Commits to installing upgraded cedar fencing alongside Maria Ring's property (per condition by City Council).

The developer made these changes to align more closely with Celina's Neighborhood Vision Book standards and modern development practices. They worked to balance community feedback with feasibility. While holding firm on certain allowances like SF-R housing, they showed willingness to adapt proposals related to buffers, traffic flow, and density caps. This give-and-take helped gain the City Council's approval despite early hesitations.

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