Planning commission hears staff recommendation to approve Ranch Hands Rescue group‑home permit on Fort Worth Drive

Julie Wyatt, the city’s principal planner, told the Planning and Zoning Commission that S26‑4 would allow a supportive and protective residential facility for adult males at a roughly one‑acre property on the east side of Fort Worth Drive. Staff framed the proposal as a transition‑to‑independent‑living model that would combine counseling, case management and animal‑assisted therapy with six bedrooms in the existing dwelling and a separate office for counseling.

“Staff is recommending approval based upon the criteria for approval with conditions,” Wyatt said during her presentation, citing the Comprehensive Plan and the Denton Development Code. She told commissioners the property is bisected by the city boundary (about 37,000 square feet inside the city) and that prior approvals and the site's history of equine‑assisted therapy inform the recommendation.

Wyatt described recommended conditions that would cap occupancy to the current six bedrooms unless the applicant provides dimensioned floor plans to justify additional occupants, require all life‑safety and certificate of occupancy items before any new occupancy, limit counseling for non‑residents to a separate office requiring its own CO, and require fence repairs to meet residential fence standards if more than half the fence is destroyed. Wyatt also noted one written opposition that pushed the matter to a council supermajority (six of seven members) should council review the case.

The presentation touched on state law for general agriculture and livestock, which staff said is permitted where it does not create hazards identified in the Texas Agriculture Code. Wyatt said staff did not expect the proposed animal‑assisted therapy to produce environmental, infrastructure or fiscal impacts inconsistent with surrounding agricultural and residential uses.

The commission’s approval later in the evening included an amendment to the occupancy wording (see separate article on the vote). The item will go to City Council for final action, and because staff reported opposition within the 200‑foot notification area that exceeds 20% of land area, council would require six votes to approve the SUP.