Council denies zoning change on downtown property

In a unanimous vote Monday, Aug. 15, the Waxahachie City Council denied a zoning change request by Big Blue Truck LLC for 1.98 acres of property located at 206 and 208 N. Jackson St.

The property is currently zoned Single Family Residential-2, and Big Blue Truck had requested a change to Central Area zoning, allowing for uses like indoor amusement, restaurants and more.

The zoning change request was presented Aug. 9 to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which recommended approval by a 5-1 vote. City staff had recommended denial to both the P&Z and the city council, saying they believed a change to CA would bring uses unfit for downtown.

Greg Nehib, managing partner with Big Blue Truck, asked the council to fix the zoning issue. He said the property has never been used for residential and was shown as retail in comprehensive maps.

“In almost two acres with multiple buildings, this is one of the largest and most diverse underutilized tracts within two to three blocks of the courthouse downtown,” Nehib said.

Big Blue Truck’s potential tenants for the 18,000 square foot building on the site are the owners of Reindeer Manor, a haunted house in Red Oak. After recently losing their lease in Red Oak, the owners want to relocate in Waxahachie.

They would run a haunted house during the month of October and an indoor skatepark the rest of the year.

Alex Lohmann, owner of Reindeer Manor, recently moved to Waxahachie. He said he wants to bring entertainment to the city, something he believes is necessary in everyone’s lives.

“I want to open here,” Lohmann said. “I live here. My home is here. I don’t want to set up somewhere different. I want my customers to come here, and I want their tax dollars, their money, to improve my community not somebody else’s.”

Council members expressed their support for a haunted house and skatepark, but said they feared the zoning change would offer no protection for the future of Waxahachie.

“There are three buildings,” council member Travis Smith said. “It is 2 acres of land, and asking for us to rezone, whether fairly or unfairly, from residential to CA, that’s going from 0 to 100 quick because that adds in a whole can of worms that will never be able to be brought back in.”

Smith said there are options for a haunted house and skatepark to be put into the property if Nehib is willing to work with city staff through a different route of zoning that would give the city protections in the long run.

Nehib said he believes Central Area zoning gives them the best way to lease out the property to new business owners. He said if they went the Planned Development zoning route preferred by city staff, they would need site plans and floor plans for three different buildings and, possibly, up to three different uses.

Coy Sevier served previously on the city’s Parks Board, and he expressed how the community wants a skatepark.

“The No. 1 thing that came up every single year – and I’m talking 10, 12 plus years that I was there – was the kids wanting a skatepark,” said Sevier. “I think this would be a tremendous asset, especially right around from the splash park we built.”

Realtor and business owner Brett Hess spoke against the change. Hess owns property north of Big Blue Truck’s and voiced his concern for what the zoning change could bring to his property.

“I’m very concerned about parking,” he said. “I’m concerned about traffic. I know where they’ll be parking.”

Hess said his property holds 85 parking spots, and he fears the customers for Big Blue Truck’s property will use their spaces.

Nehib said their backlot can hold 100 cars, but they have no plans to make a parking lot.

With the request for a CA zoning denied, Big Blue Truck can request a different zoning change in the future.

Originally published August 16, 2022 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/business/council-denies-zoning-change-on-downtown-property/article_82bfa77a-1dbc-11ed-a070-1b016f10c76d.html