Zoning commission sends Tech Terrace housing project to City Council

Mateo Rosiles, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
·2 min read

A much-debated student housing project proposed for Tech Terrace neighborhood will now be considered by the Lubbock City Council.

After hours of hearing arguments for and against a proposed student housing development in the Tech Terrace neighborhood, Lubbock's Planning & Zoning Commission on Thursday evening voted 6-2 to recommend the project for City Council approval later this month.

This was the fourth time Up Campus Proporties LLC, brought another variation of the proposed student housing development along 19th Street, with the majority of the Tech Terrace neighborhood association opposing it. This time, the P&Z Commission voted 6-2 in favor of the project, which would now need Lubbock City Council approval before moving forward.

Benji Sneed, a spokesperson for the developers, said that the Texas Tech administration supports this proposal and went back on the record to confirm accuracy of his statements after a citizen said Tech does not have a stance on the proposal.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reached out to Texas Tech for a statement.

"Texas Tech University has not taken a position on any proposed off-campus student housing," the statement reads.

Some nearby residents and Tech Terrace neighborhood association leaders who spoke at Thursday's meeting echoed sentiments they've shared during past meetings — concerns about increased traffic, the size of the buildings, parking issues and whether even bringing the project back to the P&Z for a fourth time was a violation of city ordinance.

Ahead of the meeting on Thursday night, the neighborhood association filed a motion to dismiss the proposal, citing a lack of jurisdiction and the developers violating the zoning ordinance codes.

Don Richards, a Lubbock lawyer who lives in the neighborhood, said there have been three public hearings, four applications and five proposals.

Richards also said the developers went onto campus to get students to sign a petition for new student housing, claiming students would sometimes receive monetary gains up to $1,000.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal has confirmed this claim of students signing a petition for a new student development however not the part about students receiving money.

The speakers on behalf of the neighborhood association pointed out that the developers used incorrect enrollment data in justifying the needs for a large student housing project near campus.

Data Up Campus Properties presented to the Lubbock Planning and Zoning Commission that shows incorrect enrollement numbers for 2022.
Data Up Campus Properties presented to the Lubbock Planning and Zoning Commission that shows incorrect enrollement numbers for 2022.

The numbers presented at the meeting claimed the 2022 fall enrollment at 41,349. According to data reported by Texas Tech in September, fall 2022 enrollment numbers were 40,528.

Even though the commission did make a favorable recommendation to the proposal, the developer's application must go before the city council which will have the ultimate decision on the application's fate.

According to the commission's calendar, the application will hear and have a public hearing on the application for the first time at 2 p.m. on Feb. 28 and will make its final decision on March 7 at 2 p.m. at Citizens Tower.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Zoning commission sends Tech Terrace housing project to City Council