Proposed massive mixed-use community might come to Flower Mound
FLOWER MOUND, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A proposed development in southwest Denton County would turn more than 1,000 acres of ranch land into a massive mixed-use community.
The Flower Mound Council took a critical vote on the project's future Monday night, approving the development 3-2.
The 1,066-acre property is at the intersection of Cross Timbers Road and U.S. Highway 377, on the west side of Flower Mound.
"The development is going to come no matter what," said Tim Whisenant, a Flower Mound resident. "We just want it to be smart development."
The owner wants to bring retail, restaurants, office space, apartments and houses to the site.
"This is an opportunity," Jack Furst, the property owner, told the Flower Mound Planning & Zoning Commission last week. "It's a legacy for Flower Mound and it's a legacy for my family."
The planning commission voted to approve the plan, but the town council had to sign off on the zoning change.
The plan allows for 3,000 single-family homes, 5,000 multi-family units, and 1,000 residences for seniors.
Critics say the density of the development is just too high, and they're worried about infrastructure and traffic problems.
"You're taking a city and putting it inside a city," Whisenant said. "They'll be 20,000 people inside this development when it's completely built out."
Supporters believe it will be an economic driver for Flower Mound.
"In my opinion, that multi-family housing is just the right number to make that development viable and also bring people, taxes, employees into the western edge of Flower Mound, said Nicole Smith Woodard, a Flower Mound resident, realtor, and board member of the town's Chamber of Commerce.
The property is one of the town's largest remaining development sites.
"You can either embrace change and growth and help be a quality part of that, or you're going to be roadkill," said Scott Tarwater, a longtime Flower Mound resident who wants council to approve the zoning change.
Both sides feel whatever the land becomes has the potential to shape the future of Flower Mound.
The property is known as Flower Mound Ranch, but the developer plans to ultimately change the name to Furst Ranch.
