Analysis: City staff, developers met ‘dozens’ of times in the last 2 years; are things are back to square one?

Killeen Daily Herald
By Kevin Limiti | Herald
August 20, 2023

Developers and the city of Killeen have been engaged in an apparent cyclical battle over architectural standards, which dates back to at least two years ago.

At Tuesday’s Killeen City Council meeting, developers and homebuilding company representatives echoed a familiar message: the city’s ordinance on architectural standards — first approved by the council in 2022 — would make newly built homes in Killeen unaffordable.

City staff are defending the ordinance and say the architectural standards will make for better looking neighborhoods in Killeen, “where people want to live and maintain value over time.”

The City Council, which has multiple members in the real estate business, appeared to side with the developers, and ordered city staff on Tuesday to take the standards back to the review stage.

“Listen to them,” Councilwoman Jessica Gonzalez told city staff, referring to the developers.

After a lengthy discussion, Councilman Michael Boyd made a motion of direction to bring builders back to the table with city staff in an attempt to get resolution on the amendments as well as get a final interpretation of all portions of the design ordinance.

The motion of direction passed 7-0. Councilman Jose Segarra added an amendment to come up with separate ordinances for single-family homes and duplexes — or the R1 and R2 classifications.

Up until a couple of years ago, developers faced fewer restrictions on architectural design. It became an issue for the Killeen City Council once a consulting firm in 2020 recommended stricter guidelines to help improve the city’s image — something city leaders have prioritized with the passage of the Killeen Comprehensive Plan last year.

But progress seems to have been stifled after the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to send changes to the architectural design standards ordinance back to the city staff.

IMPASSE

During Tuesday’s council workshop, Wallis Meshier, the city’s assistant director of development services, stated that there was a “philosophical” opposition from developers to the ordinance.

Meshier told the Herald Friday that there have been “probably dozens” of meetings between city staff and developers since 2021.

She said the first stakeholder meeting with developers was in either late 2020 or early 2021.

“At one point we were meeting weekly about this ordinance,” Meshier said.

Meshier said the city discussed in April last year that the ordinance would need to be updated at some point.

“For any ordinance, you really don’t know what changes need to be made until you’ve lived with it for awhile,” she said.

Meshier said the intent of Tuesday’s council discussion was to update the ordinance.

But she said that is not what appeared to be happening on Tuesday.

“My sense at this point is that from what I heard on Tuesday it seems like there is less of a focus on making changes to the ordinance to improve on the part of the developers than it is just doing” away with it altogether, she said. “I think what I can say is staff would love to have clear and consistent directions (from the city council).”

She referenced a recent article in the Herald that reported that Killeen was the best city for first-time homebuyers in the country, according to a study.

“Clearly we’re doing something right with affordability. But the key is, affordability is important, but so is creating neighborhoods where people want to live and maintain value over time,” she said. “We can’t do that if we’re not creating neighborhoods that hold their value.”

Meshier said she is “hopeful” that sending the ordinance back to the city staff would improve things, but stated she was “cautiously optimistic” about it as well.

“We have had so many meetings at this point and the reality is we’re at an impasse. And that’s why we were seeking direction of the council on how to move forward,” she said. “I think that the council’s role is to set policy and our job is to implement that policy. And right now I’m not sure what policy we’re supposed to be implementing.”

One of the sticking points with the ordinance was in the area of repetition standards, which state that two adjacent houses must not be identical in design. However, what constitutes a design difference that qualifies for compliance has been a matter of interpretation.

“What they want is an ordinance that staff and the homebuilders are in agreement about, but my perspective is the homebuilders want an ordinance that helps them maintain the status quo,” she continued. “An ordinance that doesn’t effect change doesn’t serve a useful purpose.”

She said the developers’ demands about the ordinance don’t complement the city’s comprehensive plan.

The comprehensive plan, Meshier said, is to create and maintain visually sustainable neighborhoods that maintain value over time.

“It doesn’t make sense to water down (the ordinance) so they can continue building the same houses that have always been built,” she said.

CONTRADICTIONS

The council discussed publicly giving developers more stringent standards on Nov. 10. 2021.

The process had begun in May 2020 after consulting firm Verdunity — the company that put together the comprehensive plan — recommended the city apply greater standards for development in order to positively impact how the city is viewed.

“These standards are intended to encourage higher development standards overall,” Meshier said at the time.

Boyd, in 2021, was in favor of pushing through the development standards.

“There were a lot of reservations, from those that did this sort of construction,” Boyd said at the time. “Ultimately, we have the last say, and it will be rough … we have got to be the ones to drag this thing through.”

This contrasted with his statement Tuesday when he proposed a motion of direction to send the architectural standards back to city staff.

It was also suggested that two proposed ordinances be brought back to the council — one from the developers and one from the city — after which the council would decide how best to proceed.

Mayor Pro Tem Nina Cobb has stuck to her guns these past two years, arguing in 2021 that homeowners have the right to choose the design of their home, and arguing virtually the same thing again last Tuesday.

DEVELOPERS PROTEST

At a joint city council and Planning and Zoning meeting on Jan. 24, 2022, local developers and the city council found themselves at a similar impasse voiced at a recent council meeting.

Developer Joshua Welch argued at that meeting that Killeen was unique in trying to regulate development heavily.

Then-Councilwoman Mellisa Brown shot back that other cities, such as Frisco and Waco, had design requirements similar to that Killeen was introducing.

Local developer Gary “Bubba” Purser was also in attendance at that meeting and spoke out against the ordinance, just like he did Tuesday.

“What we’re talking about here tonight is all subjective, and that becomes a very bad position to take,” Purser said. “Just because you like something, don’t mean the next guy will.”

Last week, Purser took issue with the 80-foot porch guideline from the recent ordinance, which City Manager Kent Cagle said was not a requirement.

Purser said he doesn’t have the right to tell home buyers what to buy.

ORDINANCE

The design standards ordinance was approved in April 2022 after a 4-2 vote from the City Council. Boyd, Brown, former Councilman Ken Wilkerson and Councilman Riakos Adams voted to approve. Cobb and Gonzalez voted against it.

In late May of that year, city staff started enforcing the ordinance, requiring home and commercial builders to include elements from a set of design options into their projects.

The ordinance largely focuses on sets of “menu items” of which developers must meet a certain number. For example, section 31-904 governs single-family and two-family structures. Menu options for this section include: Side or rear entry garages, a covered front porch, enclosed patio, enhanced windows, variable roof design and others options.

Under the ordinance, single- and two-family home developers would be required to select at least three of the options.

Since its passing, the seven-member City Council now has more real estate professionals on the governing body, which may explain the more friendly tone toward developers and homebuilders.

Segarra is a broker and owns a local real estate company. Segarra and his wife, Laura Segarra, run Homevets Realty in Killeen. She is shown on Zillow.com as the listing agent for a house that Purser sold earlier this year.

After Purser protested a proposed increase to developer inspection fees last month, Jose Segarra made a motion to slash the proposed increases in half, which the rest of the council also approved.

Also on the council now is Ramon Alvarez, a local real estate agent.

DEVELOPER REACTION

Developers and homebuilders, on May 1, 2022, reacted to the council passing the ordinance, with Welch saying his opinion remained unchanged.

Welch and other developers at the time were upset that the city and private companies had worked on amending the ordinance before its passage, but the council ended up voting to approve the unamended ordinance.

“There’s a lot of people who put a lot of time and effort into these meetings over the last several months to come up with that ordinance, and for council to change it last minute ... What was the point of having all those meetings if they’re going to change what we did, anyways?” Welch said in 2022.

Welch, last month, similarly complained about last-minute changes in developer inspection fees.

An editorial from the Herald on May 1, 2022, argued that Killeen having stricter rules on architectural standards will ultimately help with the city’s image.

“While the goal of the ordinance is to provide higher-quality homes, the stricter building standards are also likely to result in higher-priced homes, which may be pushed out of the reach of some potential buyers,” the editorial reads.

“However, if Killeen is to take a step toward attracting high-end buyers while also providing a range of housing options at all price points, adoption of this ordinance was essential,” it continues.

SQUARE ONE

The struggle between the city of Killeen and local developers now appears to be back at square one following a motion of direction by Boyd that sends the ordinance back to the city staff.

Gonzalez called for “flexibility” when it came to the architectural ordinance and suggested the city should drop the “80 square foot front porch” option.