Developer seeks 468-unit planned development at Arlington and Duval; offers to fund a traffic circle

StoneHawk Capital Partners presented a request to rezone a 20.15-acre tract at the southwest corner of Arlington Road and Duval Boulevard from MF-16 to a planned development district to allow multifamily dwellings.

Planner Madeline Hawkes told the commission the site is currently vacant, is designated 'urban residential low' under the Tall City Tomorrow plan, and that staff recommended approval with conditions. Developer representative Griffin Parati described a two-phase project: a northern phase of 240 units and a southern phase of 228 units, totaling about 468 units under the proposed PD (about 24.6 units per acre). Parati said the development would use approximately two-thirds of the site for buildings and keep roughly one-third as open green space.

Parati said the developer would cover off-site infrastructure needed for the plan, including building and paying for a traffic circle at Duval and Arlington and donating a portion of the right-of-way. "We are proposing that we pay for the traffic circle in its entirety," he said. He also described a traffic study that adjusted recent counts by 15% then compounded 10% annually to 2029; with the traffic circle and the proposed units, he said peak intersection delay drops from about nine-to-ten seconds to about 6.1 seconds.

A nearby resident, Dwayne Fran, said he supports the project in principle but asked how the city and developer would address existing congestion and long-running water issues in the neighborhood. "We cannot get out of our neighborhood in the morning," Fran said, and asked whether the developer or city would resolve long-standing water-pressure and capacity problems.

City utilities officer Carl Craigo told the commission the city is designing a water main from the T-Bar pressure plane to provide a secondary water source for that area; construction of that line is likely about two years out. A city transportation staff member said the city is pursuing longer-range projects (Avalon/Thomason extension, a Doble west connection and an eventual overpass on 191), and that the MDC has provided funding for design work that the city will later seek state funds to accelerate.

Commissioner Cisnega moved to approve the rezoning request and Commissioner Martin seconded. The commission approved the zone-change request unanimously.

The decision sends the rezoning with staff-recommended conditions on to the next required procedural steps; staff will include the utilities and transportation notes in the record for council review.