Collin County Commissioners have voted 3-1 to conditionally approve a final plat for a dense 101-acre development between Parker and Murphy.
County Judge Chris Hill was the lone vote against the Restore the Grasslands project, which would have 624 single-family lots with only one way in or out.
Commissioners Cheryl Williams, Darrell Hale and Duncan Webb voted reluctantly to approve the plan with conditions to be met before construction begins. Commissioner Susan Fletcher was absent from the Monday, June 22, meeting.
If the court had taken no action, the application would have been approved automatically.
County Director of Engineering Clarence Daugherty and County Administrator Yoon Kim both told the court the application was “administratively complete” because the developer had filed to resolve lingering issues including water, wastewater, drainage and challenges to the municipal utility district (Collin County MUD No. 7).
The MUD would control the infrastructure including a sewage treatment plant already permitted to dump up to 200,000 gallons of treated effluent per day into Maxwell Creek, which runs through the center of Murphy. A suit to block the plant is pending in state district court.
Parker Mayor pro tem Buddy Pilgrim said many of the lots were 22 feet wide and shared a common wall, making the project a predominantly multi-family development instead of a single-family community. In that case, the subdivision must have two points of ingress and egress, regardless of whether all buildings have fire sprinklers, he said.
Records show Restore the Grasslands is linked to family trusts of Dallas developers Don and Phillip Huffines.

Photo Courtesy Collin County Commissioners Court

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