Neighborhood opposition stalls Keller development of $2.4 million homes
The Keller City Council will meet Tuesday to determine whether the developers of Armstrong Hills can move forward with 49 homes that would start at $2.4 million.
The project is led by Terry Holmes, president of Holmes Builders, in a partnership with Barron Stark Engineers. The 49 homes would sit on 48.34 acres east of Davis Boulevard, south of Creek Road and North of Rolling Wood Lane. Each home would be 3,000 square feet or more on a lot of between 20,000 and 36,000 square feet. The homes are estimated to cost a minimum of $2.4 million.
Leading up to the April 1 council meeting, 59 property owners within 300 feet of the 8740 Davis Blvd. property were given notice that the property’s zoning could be changed to allow the development. Just under one third of those living within 200 feet opposed the change.
Those 15 property owners said they feared worsening traffic along Davis Boulevard, water drainage issues and property values resulting from the proposed million-dollar homes.
Four resisdents spoke out against the development during an April 1 public hearing. They cited concerns about traffic and drainage.
Will Schoonover, from Barron Stark Engineers, said the added traffic from the development would merely be “a drop in the bucket,” according to a traffic analysis studying the proposed build out year of 2027.
“The issues exist today and will not be made worse by what we’re doing here,” he said.
If the development were to be approved, a 125-foot deceleration lane would be added at the entrance of the neighborhood. Schoonover also said there have been discussions about an acceleration lane for cars leaving the neighborhood to help keep traffic moving.
Drew Guthrie, of the same engineering firm, said the drainage would be improved with development of the property as the construction would include a curb and gutter system and three drainage areas.
One drainage point, on the southwest side of the property which coincides with the Rolling Wood Lane neighborhood, would decrease drainage by 29.6%. The drainage point on the north side of the property, which bumps up to the Creek Road neighborhood, would decrease drainage by 0.26%.
The council members were concerned with the existing traffic issues along Davis Boulevard and said they would make an effort to work with Texas Department of Transportation to alleviate the problem.
Ultimately, the council voted to table the zoning change because two council members, Tag Green and Chris Whatley, opposed approving the changes before the residents surrounding the property were given more time to understand the development’s impact. The 5-2 vote was not enough to approve the zoning change as the 30.9% opposition from surrounding residents imposed the need for a supermajority. A supermajority would be six votes in favor.
Mayor Armin Mizani said he was upset at an email sent out by a resident who was previously on city council because it spread misinformation regarding Armstrong Hills.
In a Facebook post on April 10, the mayor said “I do have a problem … when citizens are misled on proposals that come before the City Council by folks whose intention is to rile up enough discontent to trigger a ‘supermajority’ vote.”
“Unfortunately, this has become a repeated pattern leading to some residents, who relied on the validity of this misinformation campaign, to email their opposition to Council,” Mizani said in the post. “Ultimately, when presented with the facts at the Council meeting or soon after, many of those same residents change their viewpoints but often too late to unwind the supermajority threshold or vote that already took place.”
Mizani the city has worked hard to recruit home builders.
“But denying a quality proposal like this one negates years of purposeful work aimed at attracting quality development that helps preserve Keller’s existing character — while giving our community the best chance to continue keeping taxes at historic lows, improve our amenities, and repair our infrastructure,” he said in the post.
The council will have another opportunity to approve the zoning change on Tuesday.
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 4:39 PM.