Developer Seeks to Amend Rental Stock Agreement | New

Strack applied for the 16.06-acre White Wing Estates development off the West Loop in August 2019, spending the next two years refining its vision and receiving approval. The approved plan promises at least one window on each house facing the road, built-in decks on the mobile home like structures after the wheels are removed, storm doors, dawn-to-dusk security lights, landscaping landscaping, baseboards within 14 days, concrete bases on sheds and more.

At that time, the plan was for potential residents to bring their own home and place it on rental lots. Now, Strack’s company can buy the houses outright and furnish them, 80 in all.

The development will not go as planned, according to El Campo planner Krystal Hasselmeier.

Five units were placed, with two failing electrical inspections.

“Individual sites with prefabricated houses placed on them are currently … not in line with the planned development area … approved by the city council on December 13, 2021 with regard to landscaping, the porch and the windows on the walls facing the street… Currently, none of the five structures have bridges, but the two initially placed have steps,” Hasselmeier said in his report.

There is no window facing the street and the landscaping remains to be determined. “But there are some concerns about the ability of the smaller lots to be able to meet the minimum landscape requirements,” she said.

Strack calls its proposed changes minor.

“There is no change in the intent of the project, just a few minor details. In hindsight, we may have added too much descriptive material in the DP (Planned Development). I just want to be sure that the community is able to thrive for many years to come and provide a much needed housing option here in El Campo,” Strack said in its 2022 Proposed Amendments.

He wants to remove all the points mentioned above as well as the requirements for storm doors and high-quality roof insulation.

The staff recommendation is to hold Strack to the originally planned development agreement.

Placing a water well in the development for irrigation purposes is also a new part of the plan with Strack asking the council to change the current ordinance. Currently, the council allows well irrigation on lots of at least 25 acres. Generally, these serve a detached house well, not a rental stock.

At the last council session, however, the council indicated its willingness to see an ordinance proposed lowering the requirement to 15 acres and waiving any revenue White Wing Estates might produce for the utility fund.

No action has yet been taken on the proposal.

“I suspect council and planning and zoning will be very careful when considering future proposals,” City Manager Courtney Sladek said of the proposal.

The Planning and Zoning Commission meets at 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 16 in the council chambers, 315 E. Jackson. The meeting is open to the public.

Other items on the agenda include proposed changes to restrictions on machine shops and smoking rooms.