TOWN OF ARGYLE

UPDATE OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

AND CREATION OF MASTER PARKS AND OPEN SPACE PLAN


On Tuesday, March 24, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. the Town Council will conduct a public hearing on the proposed update of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, including a new Parks and Trails Plan.

The Argyle Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed plan update on January 6, 2009. Upon review of comments received at the public hearing, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted on February 3, 2009 to recommend approval of the proposed draft to the Town Council subject to modifications to the Future Land Use Plan in response to citizen input from the January 6, 2009 hearing. The following Future Land Use Plan map depicts the approved recommendations by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Parks and Trails Plan represents the Town’s first long-range parks and open space master plan. A copy of the proposed Comprehensive Plan update is available for review at Town Hall, 506 N. Highway 377, Argyle, TX.

PURPOSE STATEMENT

MESA Design Associates was hired by the Town of Argyle in August of 2007 to formulate a Master Plan Update for the incorporated land area and its associated Extra Territorial Jurisdiction. This is a total land area of about approximately 8,900 acres.



This Comprehensive Plan Update is a reflection of community sentiments, aspirations, goals, objectives, and vision. Community direction has been transformed into a graphic representation of that direction (called the Land Use Plan). The Land Use Plan is used to establish policies that address the many issues now facing Argyle and influence Argyle’s response to the future. As a result, this Plan becomes a management tool for addressing current and future growth and initiating change that will move Argyle toward the quality of life desired by its residents.



Key among those qualitative aspirations of the citizens of Argyle is the desire to maintain a smaller population than normal growth would precipitate in the regional context within which Argyle resides. This requires a visionary plan that anticipates the costs that a smaller population must bear as it provides an attractive quality of life. The Argyle Comprehensive Plan Update must address the need for non-residential development to close the tax gap between the total cost of services and the residential ad valorem tax revenues ultimately available to support that cost. The plan must also address the cost burdens of dealing with externalities of rapid and dramatic population growth within the surrounding areas (such as traffic inundation, etc.). Therefore, a balanced Land Use Plan that realistically sustains a limited population growth picture is the focus of this Comprehensive Plan Update.



In addition, the citizens of Argyle desire to preserve and creatively extend a physical image of Argyle that identifies its rural heritage and life style. Therefore, the Comprehensive Plan Update also identifies an image for the Town’s corridors and prescribes a pattern/form of development within each that will convey the desired visual qualities of Argyle. This will provide visual definition to the Town and its resident community.



Even though the preferred population build out of Argyle is small (12,025 to 12,950 people), it still needs to provide basic park and recreation opportunities to its citizens. Providing such amenities and opportunities allows Argyle to accomplish its desire to preserve and integrate its abundant natural assets into a vision of the future. Therefore, the Comprehensive Plan Update presents a Park and Open Space Plan that identifies needed recreational opportunities, important natural corridors that merit preservation, and an open space transect that arrays all the open spaces (from public urban to private rural) that will comprise Argyle’s future landscape.



This Comprehensive Plan Update will become the official policy of the Town of Argyle and guide its decisions regarding development and capital expenditure. The Comprehensive Plan Update is a guide and should not be construed as a rigid code. The Plan is an on-going process that will, in time, necessitate another reassessment and update.



The Plan aims to accomplish three main objectives set forth by the Town of Argyle:



· Limit the population capacity of Argyle to between 12,000 and 13,000 inhabitants

· Ensure the general fund capacity to continue to provide the level of service needed to maintain the current quality of life

· Maintain the visual, rural yet sophisticated character Argyle is known for



The Current 2002 Plan:

• Land Uses are envisioned in geographically specific and use specific terms that place rigid limitations on density only. In this way, the 2002 Land Use Plan limits the Planning Commission’s or City Council’s ability to address change without amending the Plan document itself.

• The overall set of recommended land uses presents a list of general land use designations that are spatially arranged to reflect existing zoning. As a result, existing zoning and proposed land use are very similar. This restrains Argyle’s ability to direct growth and establish a balance of residential and non-residential land uses.

• Non-residential land uses are envisioned as strips along major corridors.



The 2008 Plan Update:

• Land Use is envisioned in terms of geographically general, mixed use districts within which the pattern and form of development is distinctively recognizable.

• Presents a transect that illustrates the gradient relationships between land use districts and spatially arranges them in a way that reinforces nodal clustering for non-residential uses and rural openness for residential uses.

• Envisions non-residential land uses as nodes at major intersections.

• Defines a future Town form built out of Centers, Corridors, Rural areas, and transitions between them.



Land Use Districts as Transect Zones

This Land Use Section of the Comprehensive Plan Update establishes the land use districts of Argyle as Transect Zones. These Transect Zones (T-1: Rural Conservation to T-6: Regional Center) are sequential and (starting with most rural and lowest density) reflect increasing levels of density, urban-ness, commercial dominance, and regional significance. Each of the Transect Zones permits a cluster of specific land use types (e.g. Bed and Breakfast) that would be encouraged (open) at certain densities, limited (subject to review) at certain densities, and not encouraged (restricted). The Transect Zones of Argyle are:



T-1: Rural Conservation

The Rural or Conservation Residential districts have very low density single family houses, with some public facilities. Conservation development, if used, cannot exceed existing density requirements and is subject to Town development review process. The projected target population is 415 to 515 residents.



T-2: Rural Residential District

Rural Residential district land uses are single family houses located on large lots. Some public facilities may be present in this district, which has a projected target population of 1,130 to 1,230 residents.



T-3: The Low Density Transition District

The Low Density Transition district is primarily residential, with some neighborhood commercial and public facility uses. This district is a transition zone from commercial to rural residential uses, and has a projected target population of 1,185 to 1,285 residents.



T-4: The Village Center District

Village Center land uses are a mix of residential and commercial, with some public facilities. This medium density, pedestrian oriented district will capture value from the intersection of FM 407 and US 377, and has a projected target population of 1,145 to 1,245 residents.



T-5: The Town Center District

The Town Center is the historic core of Argyle and is a potential transit site in the future. It is divided evenly between commercial and residential land uses, with some public facilities also present. The medium density, pedestrian oriented Town Center, offering services and amenities for Argyle residents, has a projected target population of 1,180 to 1,280 residents.



T-6: The Regional Center District

Regional Center land uses are primarily compact commercial, which provides significant tax revenue for Argyle. This district is regionally oriented and energized by its location at the primary I-35 interchanges. Some higher density residential and public facilities are also present in this regionally focused, mixed use district, which has a projected target population of 1,950 to 2,050 residents.



In addition to land use districts (as defined by the above transects) the Argyle Comprehensive Plan Update also envisions Corridors Zones. These zones are important because they:

• Present the image of Argyle as will be seen from its public domain

• Reinforce the importance of nodal clusters

• Preserve the rural quality of the landscape

• Define entry to Argyle and give the Town a distinctive identity

• Recognize current zoning entitlements but impose design guidance that will reinforce the Plan vision



Land Use Corridors



There are four Corridor Types in the Argyle Land Use Plan. Each of the Corridor Types permits a cluster of specific land use types (e.g. auto related uses) that would be encouraged (open) at certain densities, limited (subject to review) at certain densities, and not encouraged (restricted). The Corridor Types of Argyle are:



Regional Corridor

Regional Corridor land uses are primarily commercial, which provides significant tax revenue to Argyle. This medium density district is regionally oriented and energized by its location along the I-35 corridor. Some residential and public facilities are also present in these mixed use corridors, which have a projected target population of 1,815 to 1,915 residents.



Centers Corridor

Centers Corridor land uses are primarily commercial, with complementary residential and public facilities also present. This medium to low density district links the major commercial centers and has a projected target population of 2,740 to 2,840 residents.



Town Approach Corridor

The Approach Corridor district is primarily single unit residential, with some neighborhood commercial and public facility uses. This district provides a sense of arrival as an identity gateway for Argyle and has a projected target population of 390 to 490 residents.



Rural Parkway Corridor

The Rural Corridor has very low density single family houses, with some public facilities as well. This corridor is a culturally important identifier for Argyle. The rural landscape and views are protected by significant setback requirements, and the projected target population is 75 to 100 residents.



The following Land Use Section of the Argyle Comprehensive Plan Update presents the Transect Districts, Corridor Zones, permitted Land Uses for each district, recommended densities of such land uses, recommended lot occupation characteristics, recommended building setbacks, recommended outbuilding setbacks, recommended private frontages, and recommended building heights.