SANGER — About 50 residents put off their weekend plans for a few hours Saturday morning to see how the city’s new comprehensive master plan was coming along.

Such a plan gives the city zoning authority, Dan Boutwell, of Mu­nicipal Planning Resources Group, told the crowd. It also helps the city secure parks and impact fees from developers, and provide a framework to work with other governmental bodies for better roads.

During his informal presentation in the Clear Creek Inter­me­diate School cafeteria, Boutwell dispelled some common myths about development as he focused on proposed land use, historic preservation and more parks for the city.

To encourage quality home construction, people often think that big lots bring big houses, but that isn’t necessarily true, he said.

Instead, cities can make plans for parks, trails and other amenities that increase the value of residential lots. Since the cost of the lot makes up one-fifth of the cost of a house, an increased lot value factors into builders’ plans to turn a profit.

“So a $10,000 lot gets one kind of house and $25,000 another — it really depends on the market,” Boutwell said. “It’s a way to in­crease the value of land in your community.”

In showing areas proposed for commercial use, Boutwell cautioned attendees not to think of the thin strips of land along Interstate 35 or FM455 as synonymous with strip malls.

“We learned with a problem we had in Bedford that if you make the commercial too deep, the back part doesn’t develop,” Boutwell said, adding that 300 feet in from the frontage was about enough.

Thoughtful development codes encourage quality commercial construction and sustain property value, he said.

Commercial use also was proposed at the intersection of major thoroughfares all around the city. Projects there could be a simple as a grocery or convenience store, he said. Several residents suggested commercial could be added in several other pockets, such as along the north end of Fifth Street. 

Boutwell also tackled the backlash against multi-family housing, which has been common in other cities.

“That’s probably not a wise decision,” he said. “You need to have a good mix of entry-level land uses.”

Quality apartments and townhomes can serve as a buffer between single-family homes and commercial areas, or in spots where other kinds of development aren’t feasible, he said.

For example, Sanger’s proposed plan includes one such multi-family spot along Ray Roberts Lake, where both the watershed and thoroughfares make development a challenge.

One resident questioned whether Sanger could exercise such authority, since the spot was in Sanger’s extra-territorial jurisdiction, and the rest of the area was planned for rural residential use. But Economic Development Director Cecile Carson said that, while the city shares information with the Ray Roberts Lake Planning and Zoning Commission, much of the land around the lake would eventually become part of the city and was Sanger’s responsibility.

Mayor Joe Higgs also questioned whether apartments made good buffers next to schools. He pointed specifically to another spot on the map where Dan Tomlin of Land Advisors, who proposed a large-scale, mixed-use, planned development, plans to build apartments or other multi-family housing across the street from a new elementary school.

With so many developers now proposing planned, mixed-use developments in area cities, another resident asked why mixed-use couldn’t be drawn in specific areas on the land-use map.

Planned developments are usually evaluated to see whether, in their entirety, they reflect the city’s comprehensive plan, since they are often built as a smaller version of the whole, Boutwell said. City leaders also must evaluate a planned development to see whether the city has the infrastructure to support it, too.

But, from time to time, cities do identify unique areas that are suited to that, he said.

“Often, that’s what you do with your historic downtowns,” Boutwell said. “If you have a two story building, with a business on the first floor, and a residence on the second, you want to encourage that mixed-use.”

Residents also had many questions and suggestions for the thoroughfare plan, particularly to relieve congestion on FM455. Boutwell said that he would incorporate all the suggestions he heard in two ways in the coming days.

First, a draft of the land use plan would go to the plan’s advisory committee in about two weeks. Then, it would go to the city’s planning and zoning committee for review.

Second, he would take some of the thoroughfare suggestions directly back to planning and zoning. Since the thoroughfare plan has already been adopted, the process to amend it was more formal and took a little longer, but it was still doable, he said.

It was up to city leaders when a formal public hearing would be held about the final comprehensive plan, which incorporates all elements of the plan. It could be held either at planning and zoning or at council level, Boutwell said.

Carson said that city leaders and Boutwell hope to be finished with the entire process by December.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .