City approves Windsor Oakmont subdivision over neighborhood objections

The Graham City Council voted 4–1 on May 11, 2021, to approve a special-use permit and related major subdivision for Windsor Oakmont, a proposed 59-acre development that would create 179 lots consisting of 109 single-family detached homes and 70 townhomes. The council’s majority said the plan met the city’s standards and the six conditions required for a special-use permit; Council Member Jennifer Talley voted against the proposal, saying it was not consistent with the Graham 2035 Comprehensive Plan.

The hearing was conducted as a quasi-judicial evidentiary proceeding: the applicant’s attorney, Amanda Hodierne, introduced expert witnesses — a planner, engineer, traffic analyst and appraiser — who testified about site design, traffic impacts, buffers and property values. Planning Director Nathan Page summarized staff findings and said the application met the ordinance criteria when conditioned as proposed. Residents who live adjacent to the site expressed loud and sustained opposition in testimony submitted and read into the record, citing increased traffic, stormwater and loss of neighborhood character.

Applicant testimony emphasized buffering and open-space protections in the proposed plat and noted site-specific measures including landscape buffers and a planned greenway connection. Council members who supported the permit said the conditions, landscaping, open-space commitments and proposed trail would address impacts and that the development advanced goals in the city’s comprehensive plan for managed growth. Talley said the project’s principal use and density were out of step with the plan’s expectations for harmonious character and that she was not persuaded by the evidence that the development met the standards for approval.

Following the motion to approve the special-use permit, Council also approved the major subdivision (S2102) adopting the applicant’s proposed plat; the subdivision motion passed 4–1. Council required the developer to satisfy all Technical Review Committee (TRC) conditions and to comply with the landscaping and buffer commitments the applicant presented during the hearing.

The applicant’s representatives said they would work to address TRC comments and finalize engineering. Several residents asked about future appeals and next steps; council and staff explained the permitting and plat-recording schedule that follows final engineering sign-off. The decision concludes the quasi-judicial process at the municipal level; any separate legal appeals would proceed under the procedures established by state law and local ordinance.

The City Clerk’s record of the May 11 proceeding includes sworn testimony, a staff report with recommended findings of fact and the council’s adopted Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. The council meeting adjourned after finishing other agenda items related to public safety property acquisitions and consent business.