Flower Mound council declines to override Planning & Zoning on large self‑storage at town gateway

A proposal to amend PD 120 to allow a three‑story, 117,474‑square‑foot self‑storage facility at the northwest corner of Flower Mound Road and Old Orchard Lane failed to secure the four votes needed to override a Planning & Zoning denial.

Planning staff summarized the applicant’s revisions — lower parapet heights, a larger landscape buffer (raised to about 23.5 feet), an eight‑foot masonry screening wall on the residential side, limits on allowed activities for mini‑warehouse use, and a public‑facing design that includes up to 10 floral mural panels with controlled backlighting. The applicant said the revisions reduced the variance requested from 100 feet to 58 feet and moved mechanical equipment to ground level to lower rooftop height.

Moniel Gray, presenting for the applicant, described the design and community outreach and said, “We’re gonna backlight those murals,” positioning the art program and landscaping as part of the intent to make the site a framed entrance to Flower Mound.

Public comment stretched for more than two hours. Speakers living immediately behind the site split on the project: some Orchard Flower residents and the subdivision’s HOA president said outreach and concessions persuaded them that a single, well‑screened tenant would generate far less traffic and fewer nuisances than other by‑right retail uses; others said a large mini‑warehouse at the town’s gateway would harm property values and set an undesirable precedent. Gary Noll, a supporting speaker, told council that “a well planned, well screened, self storage facility is unlikely to significantly lower surrounding residential property values.” Opposing speakers argued that the site should be reserved for lower‑profile commercial or civic uses and cited the unanimous Planning & Zoning recommendation against the amendment.

Councilmembers debated the competing considerations: the project’s large footprint (the applicant noted it replaces an approved pair of 11,000‑ and 12,000‑square‑foot retail buildings), its potential as a noise and visual buffer to Flower Mound Road, the need to preserve the town’s gateway character, and the risk of worse uses arriving under the existing zoning. One councilmember noted the town’s master‑plan language that entrances “should be prominent and provide an adequate sense of arriving” in Flower Mound and said that standard weighed against a warehouse‑style use at the gateway.

A motion to approve the rezoning — amended on the floor to include a condition prohibiting the use of fill to alter base elevation and narrowing gate hours to 7 a.m.–9 p.m. — required four affirmative votes to override Planning & Zoning’s negative recommendation. The roll call showed Council members Drew, Martin and Taylor in favor and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Schistel and Council member Warner opposed; the motion therefore failed.

Because Planning & Zoning recommended denial, the council’s failure to muster four votes means the amendment will not be adopted at this meeting. The applicant may decide whether to revise the proposal and return for another hearing; the council did not take further action on the site tonight.

Council also approved two appointments to the Cultural Arts Commission later in the meeting.

What happens next: the Planning & Zoning record and council’s minutes will document the substance of tonight’s testimony and the conditions discussed; any revised application would require a new docketing and another public hearing.