The developers of three major planned communities—Harveston, Long Farm and Rouzan—come before the Planning Commission tonight seeking approval for changes or additions to their plans. Though none of the requests signal a significant departure from the original plans, the items up for approval indicate the level of growth the three developments have experienced over the past couple of years.
At Harveston, a 1,200-acre planned unit development straddling the Bluebonnet Extension, developers Mike Wampold and John Fetzer are seeking approval to build a 32-foot fence line that will run along Bluebonnet. They are also seeking approval to erect a large sign at the intersection of Bluebonnet and Nicholson Drive. Fetzer says he does not anticipate any problems with the requests.
In the three years since construction began at Harveston, work has progressed quickly. The 95-acre first phase of the project—The Preserve at Harveston—is well under way. Some 93 lots in the first section of The Preserve are complete, as are the single-family homes constructed on them. The 124 lots in the second section of The Preserve are also complete and home construction has begun. Additionally, the developers recently completed The Preserve’s community center, which includes a fitness center and swimming pool, a mail center, and one mile of the nature trail that will snake throughout the development.
At Long Farm, developer Russell Mosely’s 237-acre PUD off Baringer Foreman Road near Airline Highway, the commission will consider approval of a previously announced complex of multifamily buildings. Arlington Properties is developing the 13-building complex of 276 units, which will be located in the third filing of the development. The first filing of 65 single family lots in the development is complete, and construction is under way on the second filing. Meanwhile, Rouses Supermarket has applied for permits to develop a 55,000-square-foot supermarket at Long Farm. Mosely says construction should begin as soon as permits are granted. The supermarket has previously announced a summer 2016 opening date.
Also on tonight’s Planning Commission agenda: Rouzan developer Tommy Spinosa is requesting an amendment to the city-parish’s Major Street Plan to allow a reduction of the designated right-of-way width on a portion of Perkins Road between Glasgow Avenue and Congress Boulevard, which is located along the southwest corner of his traditional neighborhood development.
The change, if granted, would enable Spinosa to relocate some of the commercial buildings in the TND. The Planning Commission staff initially recommended against the request, noting that the right-of-way may be needed for future improvements to the busy Perkins Road corridor. Earlier today, however, the city-parish Department of Transportation and Drainage, which had also recommended denial of Spinosa’s request, notified the Planning Commission that it no longer objects to the request. Planning Director Frank Duke says because the transportation department no longer has concerns, the planning department staff will change its recommendation in favor of approval.
“Transportation has been reviewing this and has determined they have no objection to it,” says Duke, who could not say why the division had changed its position on the issue. “Because this is a traffic issue as opposed to a planning issue, I have no basis for saying, ‘Oh this is a horrible thing.’ So we are in the process of updating our recommendation on the issue.”
The Planning Commission meets at 5 p.m. in the Metro Council chambers on the third floor of the Governmental Building, 222 St. Louis St. See the full agenda.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from a previously published version.
