TEMPLE, Texas — Steven Patterson lives just down the street and around the corner from the intersection of Midway Drive and Hickory Road where the City of Temple is considering rezoning for a gas station. He has plenty of objections to the project, and is starting a petition against it, but he only found out about the project because of a post on a Temple-area Facebook page.
“There was a post on the city of Temple City Watch Facebook page, the only people who got notification of any kind of construction were those that lived 200 feet from the site,” Patterson said.
The large south Temple neighborhood has no gas stations and virtually no businesses except for near the edges of that neighborhood. Midway Drive serves as a through-street for the area. Patterson, and other neighbors, worry about the increased traffic in the area, the lack of sidewalks, and the effect on drainage the new business would have when the area floods. He said most people agree, although a few are fine with the addition.
But to have a debate on whether to support the new project, people need to know about that project. That, Patterson said, is where the problem lies.
“I’d say most people have no idea except for the people who live in the two hundred foot radius,” Patterson said. “The vast majority of the responses I got through Facebook and email most people didn’t know anything about till I started posting on it.”
A city notification map shows the City of Temple notified around 20 residential properties around the property in question. 6 News was able to obtain a copy of the documents provided from a local homeowner Sunday, although the information may already be outdated.
What’s really happening?
Documents state the city would hold a public hearing on the zoning case Monday, May 18, at 5:30 p.m. It states the Planning and Zoning Commission will “Hold a public hearing to discuss and recommend action on a rezoning from Neighborhood Services and General Retail zoning districts to Planned Development Neighborhood Services with a Development / Site Plan for a convenience store and fuel station…addressed as 3305 Hickory Rd. located in Bell County Texas.”
The documents stated the item was tentatively scheduled for a City Council public hearing on June, 18, 2020 and the city Council would make a final decision on the second reading on July 2, 2020. It asks the public to call 254-298-5668 to verify meeting dates when planning to attend.
When Patterson emailed the city about his objection and petition however, the city emailed back that the Planning and Zoning schedule had already changed.
A message from Planning Department Principal Planner Mark Baker stated, “Please note that the applicant has requested that this be tabled at the May 18th meeting and will be rescheduled for consideration by the Planning & Zoning Commission on June 1, 2020. Feel free to share this information with neighbors that may be under the impression that action may be taken on the May 18th meeting as this is being rescheduled.”
The documents also stated that citizens could find more information on the case at this website, with the caveat that the information would not be updated on the site until four days before the meeting. That means, if the zoning case is now being discussed on June 1, residents will not be able to see current meeting data until May 28.
How can residents oppose or support the zoning case?
According to city documents, the Temple City Council will require a 4/5 super majority vote to approve the zoning if 20 percent or more of property owners within the 200-foot notification buffer oppose the zoning case. In order to make that happen residents will need to do the following:
Keep track of when the meeting is happening
Either go to www.ci.temple.tx.us/212/Board-Commissions, or call 254-298-5668, regularly to keep track of when the meeting is taking place. Citizens will need the Zoning Application Number to track the case. That number is: FY-20-20-ZC. The physical address of the zoning case is 3304 Hickory Rd.
Find the toll-Free phone number to participate in public hearing
Meetings are currently being held by teleconference, and city documents state that members of the public can participate in the meeting with a toll-free phone number that “will be available on the homepage of the City of Temple Website at least 24 hours before the meeting time.”
So go to Templetx.gov to find that number the night before.
To sign the community petition opposing the zoning case, contact Patterson at Stevenpatterson00@yahoo.com.
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