P&Z forwards Panda Express rezoning request to council

No official word on plans for remainder of Washington Street property

Advertisement

By AMANDA KIMBLE
TheFlashToday.com

STEPHENVILLE (March 1, 2017) – The city of Stephenville continues to taking steps toward growth and development. Most recently, a request by Drini Real Estate Investments received the support of the city of Stephenville’s Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission.

P&Z approved the request to rezone two parcels of land at 2865 West Washington Street in Stephenville, which are currently vacant undeveloped. The property is adjacent to Pastafina and currently in the Private Club (B-4) District, but P&Z is forwarding a favorable recommendation to rezone two parcels to the Commercial Business (B-2) District to the Stephenville City Council.

The property in question was recently divided into three parcels. They were once part of a single parcel where a hotel – the old Holiday Inn and later Comfort Inn and Deluxe Inn – and The Cutting Horse Nightclub were located.

Introducing the item to P&Z, Deputy City Administrator Jeremy Allen said he was happy to share the news that one of the two parcels was the proposed future site of Panda Express, which dubs itself a “fast casual Chinese restaurant.”

Heidi Olsen, realtor with Brooks Real Estate, confirmed Wednesday that the property is currently under contract.

Dirt is expected to begin turning on the property soon, and while there is some speculation about a business looking to develop next door, Allen said nothing has been made public at this time.

Elaborating on the issue, Allen later told The Flash the property at 2865 West Washington Street remains under the ownership of Drini Real Estate Investments. He said, while there has been some information about ongoing contract negotiations, the city will not become officially aware of development plans until the permitting process is initiated on the future construction.

“I don’t know where they are with that or if they (the investment firm and its realtor) will be able to close on that (deal),” Allen told the P&Z at the commission’s February 23 meeting.

He also said a third parcel to the back of the property will maintain the B-4 zoning. Allen said he isn’t aware of plans for a business that serves alcoholic beverages, but he also explained that rezoning the remaining parcel to B-2 in the future would be less complicated than attempting to go back to B-4 if the entire property was rezoned to Commercial Business District at this time.

While nothing is official, it appears the property owner has big plans for the site, which Allen said is ideal for future development due it frontage on bustling West Washington.

Per a previous request of the property owner, the city and Stephenville Economic Development Authority (SEDA) recently partnered with the Texas Department of Transportation to establish a new traffic signal at the intersection of West Washington Street and Christy Plaza to encourage redevelopment and improve traffic flow in the area.


Advertisement

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.