The Planning and Zoning Commission of Arlington, Texas, convened in regular session on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, at 5:33 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Dr. Ignacio Nunez and lasted until just before 7:00 PM. The primary agenda item was a public hearing for a Specific Use Permit (SUP) for an upscale Element Hotel. The commission also approved the minutes from the August 6, 2025, regular session.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Dr. Ignacio Nunez. I serve as chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Arlington. I hereby call this regularly noticed meeting of the City of Arlington's Planning and Zoning Commission regular session to order for August 20th, 2025. This time I'll ask our administrator to read the speaker guidelines and general decorum for tonight's meeting. Yes, of the citizens and other visitors in attendance and assist in persevering the order and decorum of this meeting and to provide for attendance and participation in the meeting without fear of intimidation, threats, or hostility. Any person making personal profane hostel, slanderous or threatening remarks who uses vulgar or obscene language, who engages in any other actions that disturb or are calculated to disturb the meeting or who become disruptive while addressing the planning and zoning commissioners or while attending the planning and zoning meeting may be removed from the council chambers. All speakers shall address the commissioners and not the audience or city staffers should not call it individually, named members of city staff for the public. For speakers tonight, when your name is called, please come to the microphone at the podium and state your name and city of residence for the record. The applicant will be asked to speak first and will be given ten minutes to make a presentation. Speakers in support or opposition of the item will be given five minutes each to make their statements. If there are many speakers for an item, each speaker will be given three minutes to make their statements. The applicant will then be given five minutes for any rebuttal. If multiple speakers plan to provide the same or some similar comments, those speakers may, if they so desire, designate one or more individuals to provide public comment on behalf of the group. A bell will signal the end of each speaker's time. In consideration of the speakers, please conclude your comments promptly when you hear the bell. We ask that you address your comments to the planning and zoning commissioners. Thank you. A copy of the minutes of our August 6th, 2025 regular session agenda were disseminated amongst all the commissioners. Are there any changes? Saying none, I have a motion to approve by Commissioner Ware and a and a second by Commissioner Maddox. Please cast your vote. Motion passes unanimously. Tonight we have one zoning case. It is zoning case SUP 25-3 entitled Element Hotel. This is an application for approval of a specific use permit for an upscale hotel on property zoned airport overlay community commercial on approximately uh 2.033 acres. At this time, I call on staff to present its report on zoning case SUP 25 30. Chair Commissioners for the record, Clifford Goldstone, Principal Planner, Planning and Development Services. Again, we have for you the Element Hotel, SUP 25-3. Uh, the subject site is approximately 2.033 acres, addressed at 4560 Wax Wing Drive, currently zone airport overlay community commercial, with a request for a specific use permit for an upscale hotel. And this is a site uh location map located uh just uh north of East Barn Road and west of Wax Wing Drive. This is just a a little bit of development uh history in the area, as you can see uh with proximity to the airport. Uh there's been a lot of development um recently uh in this area, and this would just add continually add to that. These are site photos, again, the first uh photo looking uh west towards uh uh the uh South Collins Street that uh uh that are restaurants, uh commercial retail that uh but South Collins. You have two hotels to the north, the home suites and the um Hampton Inn and Suites. You have residential, uh single family residential to the south, and the U.S. postal facility to the east. This per the unified development code. This just advises of the new uh classifications for hotels. Again, this one will be an upscale hotel. And this uh hotel, it will again be an upscale hotel consisting of 72,305 square feet. It will be five stories, consists of uh 60 percent of the rooms will be suites. All rooms will be accessed uh via an uh interior hallway. Uh average room size being 386 square feet with the smallest room size being 350 square feet, uh will consist of uh 3,000 square foot lobby area, 661 square foot fitness center, guest laundry area, breakfast area, restore area, and outdoor seating and lounging with uh fire pits, grills, and the pool. And this is the site layout, it's accessible. Uh it's gonna be mainly accessible. Direct access will be provided here via existing access easement, 25-foot wide access easement, and also with the subject site, wax wing extends up to the I-20 service road, and that second entrance off that access easement extends to the I-20 service road as well. And these are hotels within the one mile radius. There are five that are existing.