Killeen council takes firm stance on ordinance that affects developers

Weeks of negotiations surrounding a traffic impact analysis ordinance were negated in rapid order by a series of amendments made over the course of a Killeen City Council workshop Tuesday.

The ordinance, which was originally proposed in January by Killeen city staff, seeks to standardize the requirements for traffic impact analysis surveys and to force developers that impact local traffic conditions to participate in traffic mitigation plans if they would lower the overall level of service for the surrounding area as a result of development.

Since 2020, city staff has met with members of the development community to hammer out a proposed traffic impact analysis ordinance. However, it wasn’t until January that a draft ordinance was heard by the Killeen City Council, the fallout of which was a significant amount of outcry from the homebuilding community. As a result, the City Council tabled the item until Tuesday to allow for a series of “stakeholder meetings” between city staff and the homebuilding community. Developers such as Joshua Welch and Gary Purser, as well as engineers such as Ace Reneau and Anca Neagu attended the meetings. Over the course of five such meetings, the city reached compromises on several fronts.

Originally, the City Council requested that the surveys constitute a 10-year horizon; however, this number was lowered down to five years during negotiations. Developers explained that five years is the horizon required for traffic signal warrants, which appeared to be the primary focus of traffic mitigation plans. During Tuesday’s workshop, the City Council moved to increase this horizon back to 10 years for most developments; however, any development that would require signalization would still be required to submit a 10 year traffic impact analysis survey.

“I feel it’s better for our city planning,” Councilwoman Mellisa Brown said.

Likewise, Councilman Michael Boyd said that the 10-year outlook is “proactive” and “responsible.”

The motion passed 6-1 with Councilman Rick Williams in opposition.

Brown also successfully made a motions to require right-of-way improvements that are part of the impact mitigation plan be submitted prior to final plat approval and to require cash contributions for impact mitigation plans be provided as phased developments are completed.

Other changes

As part of the negotiations, developers will also no longer be required to submit a concurrent traffic survey at the time of a preliminary plat as was originally intended, and will instead be allowed to use an initial worksheet or an abbreviated report.

Brown also recommended, with unanimous support from rest of the City Council, that applicants be required to submit a traffic survey worksheet prior to any zoning requests.

During negotiations, city staff and members of the home building community left the question of the appeals process to the City Council, who decided Tuesday to create a new committee to handle traffic impact analysis appeals.

Boyd’s solution, which was originally proposed by Mayor Debbie Nash-King at a previous City Council meeting, includes the creation of a new committee that is made up of two City Council members, two members of the Planning and Zoning Commission and two members of city staff. Other possible solutions included allowing the city manager to handle all appeals and using a third party arbitration firm. However, Boyd stated firmly that appeals should not be handled by a single individual.

Other amendments to the ordinance included a requirement that developers submit an updated traffic impact analysis survey after two years if construction has not yet started and a requirement that “larger developments,” a term to be defined by city staff, extend the radius of any traffic impact surveys it conducts to a full mile, as opposed to the half-mile radius provided for in the current ordinance.

The City Council will return to this issue at this Tuesday’s council meeting, where it is expected to make a final vote.