Proposed development on historic Haggard Farm ends amid community opposition

Residents in Plano have successfully led an effort to stop a proposed development on a portion of the historic Haggard Farm.

The project would have added retail space in a city admittedly saturated with it.

For now, a 13.5-acre parcel of land on the northeast corner of Park Boulevard and Custer Road will remain Haggard farmland.

It will not be the site of a large development one of the city’s most tenured families sought.

Observant neighbors alerted others as soon as they learned of a proposed rezoning case going before the city.

“It’s just such a residential neighborhood, we wanted to keep it that way,” said nearby homeowner Sara Stettler.

The city received hundreds of messages from the community expressing overwhelming opposition to the proposal to build a grocery store, retail space and approximately 33 townhomes.

While she prefers that the property remain farmland, Stettler says it should at least remain a site for townhomes or single-family homes as is the current zoning.

However, she says there is no need for any new shopping centers that would increase traffic congestion.

A Sprouts grocery store was going to anchor retail on the property, according to city documents.

“We have plenty, plenty of empty strip malls available so we didn’t feel like it needed to be built here,” added Stettler.

During a Plano Planning and Zoning meeting last week, commissioners announced the city received a request to withdraw its rezoning application from consideration.

The letter was sent by Jeff Pape, managing director of GBT Realty Corporation on behalf of Fairview Farm Land Company, LTD.

"While we were hopeful that our proposed development would be seen as a positive addition, it is clear that is not the case and we don’t want to proceed with something that does not have full community support. Thank you for your consideration."

The commission voted unanimously to accept the request.

A preliminary report prepared for the meeting detailed concerns surrounding part of the project and concluded with staff recommending the rezoning request be denied.

NBC 5 reached out to the Haggard family and representatives but has not yet heard back.

When it comes to the developer’s decision, Christina Day, director of planning for the city of Plano said it is not typical for a proposal to invest time and resources and come this far in the process only to withdraw.

“It’s not unheard of but it is rare,” she said. “We do sometimes have controversial zoning cases. When the townhouse zoning was approved on this property [in 2011], there was quite a bit of opposition from neighbors.”

Asked what will happen now with the property, Day explains it’s up to the landowners.

“It doesn’t mean they can’t bring a new case forward at some point,” she said.

The family could also easily move forward with the properties’ current zoning for single-family or townhomes.

Over the years, the Haggard family has sold or developed bits and pieces of their undeveloped land.

In 2021, the city council approved a massive new mixed-use development on 124 acres of Haggard farmland on the eastside of the Dallas North Tollway between Windhaven and Spring Creek Parkways.

Construction is well underway.

Stettler says she knows that about a decade ago, other neighbors opposed plans to build her own neighborhood.

“It’s progress and they can do what they want with their land, but my husband and I said if it’s something not right for Plano then we need to make our voices heard, and in this regard, it worked so we’re really happy they listened,” said Stettler.

The city says the last time a Haggard Farm development proposal was withdrawn was during the approval process around 2015. The project involved different family members.

In the past years, the City of Plano has been trying to mitigate when and where retail is acceptable.

“We’ve long had policies to limit retail zoning and retail development where possible in the city and that’s because we realize that we have three times the national average of retail,” said Day.

The city council recently adopted a program to help revitalize and refurbish existing retail centers across the city.

Stettler urges residents near and far to get involved and stay informed about proposals that might otherwise go unnoticed.

“Yeah, organize,” she said. “NextDoor was a good way of getting the message to the people who really cared about it and there weren’t a lot of people at the meetings.”