The Planning Commission staff is again studying a request from Metro Councilman John Delgado to revise the city’s Major Street Plan and reduce the width of the right of way, or setback, on a busy stretch of Perkins Road near College Drive.
The staff decision, if upheld by the Planning Commission, could have implications for the development of the commercial portion of Rouzan, developer Tommy Spinosa’s traditional neighborhood development in Southdowns.
This is the second time in three months the Planning Commission has studied the issue. In January, it recommended against reducing the setback on Perkins Road between College Drive and Essen Lane for several reasons. Delgado, at the last meeting of the Metro Council Zoning Committee, asked the commission to instead consider reducing the setback on a smaller portion of Perkins Road, essentially the length of the road that runs in front of Rouzan.
“(Rouzan) drew their plans for the whole development and thought they could build their northern border along Perkins Road,” Delgado says. “Then they were told there is a Major Street Plan setback and they have to go back another 10 feet or so, so it throws off all their engineering.”
The city’s Major Street Plan is a more-than 60-year-old document that lays out the city’s street grid and also anticipates future road development. It calls for Perkins Road to be five lanes wide and have a 125-foot right of way. In the years since the document was written, however, Perkins Road has expanded to five lanes, and Delgado says there doesn’t seem to be any good reason why the right of way should remain at 125 feet.
“There are already five lanes, so you can’t expand that street anymore,” Delgado says. “So we need to let them know if the Major Street Plan is satisfied so the right-of-way can be returned to the property owner so they can build.”
The Planning Commission’s decision could have implications for the development of the Rouzan Village Center, which will comprise three buildings and include a 220,000-square-foot apartment building and a 30,000-square-foot Alamo Drafthouse movie theater. Though the buildings are set back far enough from Perkins Road under the current set of plans to comply with the Major Street Plan, should the requirements in the plan be relaxed Spinosa would be allowed to move his buildings closer to the street.
It is unclear when construction will begin on the Village Center. A Rouzan official declines to comment because Spinosa is out of town.
—Stephanie Riegel
