Council paves the way for four duplexes
They would be built on Byrne and Wilkes streets on land owned by council member.
The Smithville City Council has approved replatting and rezoning designations to make way for four duplex buildings on Byrne and Wilkes streets.
The Byrne Street property last year was at the center of strong opposition from neighbors after Byrne Street LLC, a company managed by Council Member Troy Streuer, proposed a 10-unit apartment complex on the property.
The City Council rejected the apartments last year, saying the lot (two city lots were combined into one) where the project was slated was 1,500 feet too small to be zoned multifamily, as per city ordinance.
Byrne Street LLC sued the city, asking a court to reverse the council’s decision, but in August it dropped its suit.
The company now proposes to build four duplex buildings — two on Byrne Street and two on Wilkes Street.
“This is what we wanted all along,” said Byrne Street neighbor Dana Tovar, who voiced her approval at the Jan. 2 Planning & Zoning meeting.
Tovar had been vocal in her opposition to the apartments last year, saying the project housed too many people in too small a space in the residential neighborhood.
Planning and Zoning Chairwoman Nancy Catherman also read a letter from Joseph Marquet, who stated his “full support” for the project at the Jan. 2 meeting.
No one spoke during the public hearing portion of the City Council meeting, and council members held very little discussion before approving the requested replatting and rezoning changes.
Both the Byrne and Wilkes street lots, which in the past had been replatted into one lot each, were split and replatted to face Second Street. On Byrne Street, the lot was split into two. It did not need to be rezoned for Streuer’s plans since the property was zoned as multifamily in 2015.
On Wilkes Street, the third lot in the middle of the block that resulted from the requested replatting will remain zoned as single family while the newly directed lots facing Second Street have been rezoned to SF-2 for duplexes.
Council Member Rhonda Janak was absent from the vote and Streuer abstained.
Aesthetics have driven the design and requested replats, according to Streuer, with plans being drawn up by Centex Blueprint of Cedar Creek. The duplexes are slated to be built in Craftsman style with only one driveway reaching Byrne or Wilkes out of those lots. The remaining six driveways will feed onto Second Street, he said. He plans to use the same design for all four buildings.
“My goal in designing these from the Wilkes Street side is that I wanted them to look like single- family homes on Wilkes and on Byrne,” Streuer said.
Streuer said he will retain ownership of the properties.
“I’m keeping them as an investment,” he said. “Being self-employed, I don’t have a 401K, so that’s why I’ve moved in this direction.”
During the Planning and Zoning meeting, Commissioner Caroline McClimon abstained from the otherwise unanimous vote to recommend the project to City Council, citing a conflict of interest.
According to paperwork she presented, she is a partner in the law firm Morris & McClimon, which represents Byrne Street LLC, and said that her abstention “was to avoid the appearance of impropriety.”