Commissioners approve modified Rosewood UMU expansion with ventilation and core‑retail phasing conditions, 6–1

The Planning and Zoning Commission on March 2 voted 6–1 to recommend changes to the Heritage Creekside Urban Mixed Use (UMU‑1) district proposed by Rosewood Property Company, approving an expansion of the district and additional residential units while adding two conditions intended to protect future residents and the mixed‑use character of the project.

Staff planner Molly Coriel described a complex application that would expand the UMU‑1 district by about 4.1 acres, add 51 townhomes (Block Z) and roughly 700 multifamily units, and modify the UMU mix‑of‑use caps so residential could rise to about 88% of the gross floor area while nonresidential uses fall to about 12%. Staff supported the geographic expansion but recommended denial of several mix‑of‑use changes unless the commission could make findings showing a substantial benefit to the public and immediate neighbors.

A central technical issue was an exception the applicant requested to environmental corridor (CECA) ventilation and separation requirements for multifamily buildings near the President George Bush Turnpike. The current ordinance requires outdoor‑air intake openings to be located on the side of buildings opposite a type‑A thoroughfare (or otherwise provide defined buffering) and applies a measurement up to 1,200 feet; Rosewood asked to limit the standard to 500 feet and allow intake openings on other non‑thoroughfare faces or interior courtyards for certain corner units. Staff and commissioners pressed for clearer language and filtration assurances; staff noted the project would still employ MERV‑13 filtration and that higher filtration beyond MERV‑13 has limited additional benefit per prior discussion.

Rosewood representatives — including attorney Bill Dahlstrom and Tim Harris of Rosewood — said the proposal responded to changed market conditions since the UMU was initially approved in 2014 and emphasized the project’s retail, restaurant and entertainment orientation along the creek. They and staff negotiated phasing language that would require at least 12,000 square feet of new nonresidential construction on specified central blocks before permitting the 700 additional multifamily units.

After deliberation about preserving mixed‑use character while allowing the project to proceed, the chair proposed specific clarifying language: for any multifamily building located within 500 feet of a type‑A thoroughfare, outdoor‑air intake openings must be on the side opposite the thoroughfare or within an interior courtyard; and the 12,000 square feet of required nonresidential space must be constructed on core blocks (A‑4, A‑5 and/or C) in the center of the development so the commercial/retail heart is delivered as the residential portion expands. A motion to approve the zoning with those exceptions passed 6–1.

Commissioners who voted against expressed concern that the application shifts the UMU substantially toward residential and that shelling nonresidential space (rather than building occupied commercial buildings) could dilute the long‑term urban mixed‑use intent. Proponents argued the phasing and clarified ventilation language balance market realities with public‑health and mixed‑use goals. The commission completed required findings in open session and adjourned at 9:06 p.m.