How should Killeen houses be built? Design standards on tap for City Council

Killeen Daily Herald
By Kevin Limiti | Herald
December 4, 2023

The Killeen City Council will once again be discussing architectural design standards Tuesday ahead of a public hearing the following week.

City staff had made numerous changes to the city’s design standards after meetings with developers which are meant to be a compromise between the city of Killeen and developers.

Some of these changes include:

• Separate standards for single family, and two-family homes.
• Allowing five unique elevations instead of the three previously allowed.
• Allowing the repetition of home floor plans as long as roof lines and elevations are noticeably different
• Three-car garages are now allowed to compromise 60% of the elevations as long as they are at least 12 inches back from the sidewalk.
• Reducing the minimum size of a covered front porch entry to 40 feet.
• Adding eyebrow roof over window or garage door as an option.

The city staff’s conclusion was that these changes would make it easier for developers to comply with the architectural standards in place since it provides more options and makes them less strict.

The current architectural standards were originally adopted in April 2022 by the City Council.

The architectural standards were a topic that caused some heated reactions from local developers at council meetings this year.

On Aug. 15, after local developers voiced their frustrations with the architectural standards, city staff were directed by the City Council to go back to the drawing board on the architectural standards and hold stakeholder meetings with developers. These meetings were held on Sept. 11, Sept. 19 and Oct. 5.

According to the presentation attached to Tuesday’s agenda, the appeal process for architectural standards was overhauled, allowing city staff “to approve special exceptions administratively” as long as the proposed building “meets the intent … of the standards.”

City Manager

The City Council on Tuesday will also hear an evaluation of City Manager Kent Cagle during the Workshop meeting.

In the past, evaluations have led to a pay raise for the city manager.

Cagle has been praised by the council members during meetings which have had citizens’ petitions asking for his removal.

Councilman Jose Segarra said during a meeting last month that Cagle was the best city manager he’s ever seen during his time serving as councilman and mayor.

Tuesday’s meeting is likely to bring back those critics of the city manager, encouraging them to speak during the citizen comments section of the meeting.

Also on the agenda is an agreement with the Central Texas Alcohol Rehabilitation Center for substance abuse counseling and treatment for $143,130.

This allows for people to be treated who don’t have insurance and will allow treatment for up to 180 days.

This item is part of Killeen’s Homelessness and Mental Health Strategic Plan. The City Council previously authorized $70,000 of American Rescue Plan Act money, federal funds for COVID relief, for the project, the overall goal being to reduce homelessness.

Eight items are up for discussion on the agenda, including:

• $461,000 for a service agreement in the design of the General Aviation Terminal Building at Skylark Field.
• A replacement carpet for the Killeen Civic and Conference Center at $263,392.05.
• An application for a Justice Assistance Grant along with an interlocal agreement between Killeen and the city of Temple and Bell County.
• Purchase of e Fusus Enterprise Package software for $125,000 per year for five years.

The council meeting begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers in City Hall, 101 N. College St., Killeen.

For those unable to attend the meeting in person, it will be web streamed live and archived for playback on the city’s website, KilleenTexas.gov. It will also be broadcast live on Spectrum Cable Channel 10.