Commission to vote on Towne Center project

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March 17, 2013

Commission to vote on Towne Center project

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff The Herald-Banner Sun Mar 17, 2013, 05:42 AM CDT

GREENVILLE — A major mixed use development which would be built along the Interstate 30 frontage road in Greenville is the subject of Monday night’s meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The Commission intends to conduct a public hearing before voting on whether to recommend a change in zoning from light industrial, commercial and agricultural to Planned Development for almost 63 acres which is to be the site of the proposed Greenville Towne Center project, during Monday’s regular session, starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 2821 Washington Street.

It will be the second of three meetings set this month concerning the development, which is also expected to include the Splash Kingdom water park.

The Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) Advisory Board voted unanimously March 7 to recommend a planned development agreement for the Greenville Towne Center.

The Greenville City Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the project when it meets March 26.

In a memo to the Commission, Chief Building Official Steve Methven recommended the panel vote to recommend approval of the Planned Development zoning to the Council.

“City staff and the applicant have worked diligently to develop a product that is both beneficial to the community by fostering a sense of place and dignity and to the developer by providing predictability and flexibility,” Methven said.

Scott Steenson with III:I Emerging Market Partners in Plano said the water park was the only tenant lined up for the development so far, but that the company was “in discussion with several other tenants.” Steenson said ground could be broken on the project in May or June.

The center incorporates most of the elements required by the City of Greenville as part of its “overlay zoning” regulations, in terms of landscaping, building materials, architectural features and signage, while also offering the developers flexibility in terms of the layout of the property and other considerations.

The Greenville Towne Center is expected to include more than retail and commercial businesses and may also involve limited service hotels, private event/meeting halls and even multi-family tracts.

The project would stretch along the eastbound service road, starting just east of the Home Depot parking lot, with Center Point Lane as its western boundary.