Woodway plan calls for conditions protecting neighborhoods

The commission unveiled the plan earlier this spring, prompting the city to hold additional workshops and presentations with Kimley-Horn City of Dallas consultants.

With the commission's recommendation for approval Tuesday, the Woodway City Council is expected to consider the plan on June 10.

Woodway adopted its current comprehensive plan in 2004. A comprehensive plan generally looks 25 years into the future to consider what city leaders and residents would like their city to become, outlines the guide's goals, and makes recommendations on how to achieve them, according to Councilor John Williams. has said. Williams is a member of a city committee that put together the updated Woodway Forward plan based on resident input, council guidance and best practices recommended by Kimley-Horn consultants.

The two conditions the planning and zoning commission set Tuesday are designed to protect property owners.

The first condition is a recommendation to exclude several residential blocks from the boundaries of the Highway 84 Corridor, which would otherwise be dedicated to commercial development and redevelopment.

The corridor generally runs throughout the city, extending several blocks away from the freeway in both directions.

The neighborhoods to be cut off from the corridor are mostly between Estates Drive and Ritchie Road, including parts of Merrifield Drive, Sandalwood Drive, Ritchie Road, Wickson Road, Sunn Drive, Pioneer Drive, Creek Bend Drive, Oak Ridge Drive, Fair Circle and Westlane Circle, Mitch Davison, director of community services and development.

The second condition is a recommendation that all residential neighborhoods in other parts of the city be designated for maintenance and preservation and not for growth or redevelopment.

The updated master plan was built from input from residents, past and current planning and zoning commission members and city council members, City Manager Adam Niolet said.

“It's a guide for future zoning and development considerations, but more importantly, it sets the tone for protecting and preserving the aesthetics and charm of Woodway that makes this town the great place it is.” Niolet said via email.

The updated comprehensive plan calls for commercial, industrial and commercial districts and residential neighborhoods to generally stay where they are, Williams said. He said the plan talks about goals to make the city more walkable and bikeable.

The plan document also calls for the creation of sub-plans, including street and trail master plans. Other subplans would set standards for historic preservation and establish appropriate development density and sign size.

During Tuesday's deliberations, commission members expressed concerns about the plan, but also said they saw many good things in it, including recommendations for future land use.

Commission member Brent McKenzie said he doesn't want someone in a few years to see the plan document and believes that since it was approved in 2024, they are bound to follow it.

Commission member Nancy Pfanner said the plan has many good elements, but could do more to protect the rights of individual property owners.

It calls for more sidewalks, signs, lights and the overall theme is how to improve Woodway, said commission chairwoman Martha Agee.

“But to pay for these improvements that we all agree we want, the city is going to need more commercial development and more businesses,” Agee said.

A motion to approve the plan proposed by commission member Michael Habern died for lack of a second.

Commission member Caleb Loudamy proposed conditional approval, which he and his colleagues unanimously approved.