The owner of Sparr Building and Farm Supply along State Road 44 south of Brownwood apparently hopes to cash in on the fast-paced development in the surrounding area.
Samuel Howard, owner of the Wildwood store, wants to develop a portion of the store’s large parking lot and adjacent property for a bank, restaurant and some industrial uses.
The project on 14.5 acres calls for maximum development of 354,578 square feet of industrial space, such as warehousing and storage, as well as 76,230 square feet of commercial space.
It would be developed in three phases, according to a development agreement with the city. The first phase would add 4,000 square feet of commercial space with another 13,000 square feet in the second phase. A wireless communications tower would be built in the third phase.
Construction must begin within two years or the agreement will lapse.
Special Magistrate W. Grant Watson recommended approval of a land use amendment and rezoning from industrial to commercial at a meeting Tuesday of the Wildwood Planning and Zoning Board. The proposed amendment and rezoning likely will be considered by the city commission later this month.
Before the commission takes it up, Watson said language must be added to the agreement that the project will stress energy and water conservation.
Sparr, once the only store of its kind in the area, has been confronted with competition from the Lowe’s Home Improvement store that opened more than a year ago at Trailwinds Village along County Road 466A.
Two retail strip malls have opened east of Sparr and a hotel is under construction across the highway. Freedom Plaza, another commercial development, is less than a mile west.
City planner Ryan Houser said the project would serve as a transition from the industrial park to the south and retail north of SR 44.
Watson asked whether the zoning change is needed or whether the project could proceed with existing industrial zoning.
“It’s certainly a unique situation,” Houser said. “I think this is the best option.”
