Texarkana Council Funds West Broad Lights and Overrides Planners

The Texarkana, Texas, City Council on Monday night put up to $200,000 toward new lights on West Broad Street, cleared the way for Texarkana College to use the old airport terminal as a flight school and, by a 5-1 vote, overrode its own Planning and Zoning Commission on a South Eighth Street rezoning.

Texarkana Today reported that the council worked through a long agenda in about 50 minutes on Nov. 9. Mayor Bob Bruggeman noted that City Hall turns 101 on Thursday. The city's official website lists City Hall at 220 Texas Boulevard, Texarkana, Texas 75501.

A 5-1 override at 505 S. Eighth Street

The closest vote came over three lots at 505 S. Eighth St. in Factory Heights. Owner Jason Gallegos asked to rezone the property from commercial to single-family so he could place a 2021 or newer manufactured home there.

The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 on Oct. 5 to recommend denial, and city staff recommended denial as well, because the city's future land use map marks the area as industrial. Under city rules, a rezoning the commission has rejected needs a three-fourths vote of the council, which with six members means five votes, the report said.

Gallegos told the council he bought the property in 2013, that it holds a metal shop building with a small living area attached, and that his family wants a bigger home. He said he understood the commission's concern was safety tied to TSD Logistics buying the old stockyards across the way and unloading rail cars there. “It's over 300 yards from our property, so I don't know what the safety concerns really were,” he said. He said his wife's family had lived on the property more than 60 years “with no issues on the tracks.”

City Manager David Orr said the city treats the existing home as a nonconforming use that can stay, but adding a second dwelling would require a zoning change that runs against the future land use plan. Development Services Director Mashell Daniel said the commission cited the industrial designation, a use that did not match the area and safety concerns about the rail yard, which she said is right across the street. Those two descriptions of the distance do not match; both are reported here as given.

Council member Jay Davis asked Jean Matlock, who represents Ward 1, whether she had heard from anyone about the request. Matlock said she had not. “Since he already lives there, I personally don't have a concern at this point in time,” she said, and she made the motion to approve. Mary Hart seconded. The roll call was 5-1, with Cole Meador voting no, just enough to pass. Bruggeman first announced the tally as 4-1 before correcting himself.

West Broad lights and a flight-school lease

The council unanimously approved spending up to $200,000 from the city's downtown enhancement fund on 16 new light poles, lamps and string lighting along West Broad Street from State Line Avenue to Spruce Street. Grants Manager Daphnea Ryan said the project is estimated at $225,460, a figure that includes a 20% contingency she expects the city will not need. Wholesale Electric is donating $20,000 in lamps and string lights, Main Street Texarkana is putting in $3,500, two grants totaling $12,000 are pending and a private donor has offered up to $20,000 to fill any gap.

Contech bid $152,417 to install the poles and electrical circuits, and R&W Electric bid $10,000 to hang the hardware, lights and lamps. Quotes of about $25,000 for the poles date to March, Ryan said, and staff is confirming they still stand. Council member Steve Thompson asked whether the lights would carry the look of East Broad Street across State Line. Ryan said they would be very similar. “I think it's a great project,” Bruggeman said. “It'll provide more illumination, especially for nighttime events such as our parades and other activities.”

Without discussion, the council also approved two Texarkana Regional Airport agreements handing the old terminal to Texarkana College: a ground lease on about 4.3 acres for a flight school and other aeronautical uses, and a $10 sale of the buildings on the land. The airport authority board and the Texarkana, Arkansas, Board of Directors had already signed off, the report said, so Monday's vote was the last approval needed.

The council also approved a $50,000 facade improvement loan, at 4.95% interest over 10 years, to Letsgetlit TXK LLC for 218 Main St. After a public hearing that drew no speakers, it unanimously approved the airport's 2027-2032 capital improvement plan, a planning document that Jordan Culver of Garver told the council “does not obligate either city or the airport board to any funding.” The plan in the packet totals about $41.6 million over six years.

City Hall is at 220 Texas Boulevard, Texarkana, Texas 75501, according to the city website. The council's next regular meetings are Dec. 14 and Jan. 11, both at 6 p.m.

Related reading: Texarkana Is One Town With Two Mayors, and Its Main Street Is the State Line.