Colleyville City Council denies development after neighbors protest loss of rare forest
Residents who opposed a developer’s plans to build 19 homes on land with 100-year-old trees scored a major victory Tuesday night when the City Council voted unanimously to deny the plans.
After months of discussion and over 500 opposition letters from residents upset about losing much of Colleyville’s Cross Timbers forest, the council voted to deny a request to rezone 14 acres at Wilkes Drive and Pool Road from agriculture to residential use to build The Bluffs at Colleyville, where homes would start at $2 million.
Mayor Bobby Lindamood made the motion to deny the developer’s request without prejudice, meaning that the developer, WillowTree Custom Homes of Southlake, could submit another plan for the project, but it would have to go through the Planning and Zoning Commission before the council could decide whether to approve the new plans.
Council members said they told the developer that they wanted to see a plan with fewer homes on larger lots, but that the developer did not come back with the requested changes. The Northeast Tarrant County city of 26,000 has a mostly rural feel, with sprawling properties spaced between gated subdivisions. The median home listing was $980,000 in January, according to Realtor.com.
Council member George Dodson said after Tuesday’s meeting that he had questions and was concerned about the removal of trees.
Dodson said he was also concerned about the “dramatic slope” of the property from Wilkes Drive to Pool Road and that he asked for 10 homes to be built, but the developer said that it could not be done with the current plan.
Curtis Young, a principal with the urban design and landscape architecture firm Sage Group, represented WillTree Custom Homes during the meeting. Young said he wanted to have more discussion with the council to work out the details of the project.
“We didn’t get comments from the rest of you,” Young said. “We were waiting to hear some of those comments.”
City manager Jerry Ducay said that he met with the developer, but the developer did not provide new plans based on council suggestions.
“There was some very clear direction from the council but at some point you have to provide them with a plan to consider,” he said.
Neighbors who spoke during Tuesday night’s meeting said it is crucial to keep the trees and to preserve the remaining Cross Timbers forest in Colleyville. Many formed a group called Save Colleyville trees.
Charles Henderson, who spoke against the development, said the western portion of his property borders the heavily-wooded vacant land.
“Please, listen to Colleyville residents who’ve made it clear that it’s not more million-dolllar homes that they want. “They want green space,” he said.
Henderson showed photos of trees large enough for two adults to wrap their arms around the tree trunks.
Elizabeth Hearn and her husband Sam asked the council to deny the request and to work with preservation groups.
“Retaining walls and fewer trees aren’t going to hold back the water from drainage in the same way,” she said.
Another resident, Harold Ledbetter, said he expected the developer to bring changes to the council.
“I’m disappointed that nothing was done,” Ledbetter said.
He worried that more trees would be lost because of the retaining walls that were shown in the developent plans.
“We’re going to lose more trees than we think. There’s just no way around it,” he said.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 11:19 AM.