February 3, 2026

By Mary Beth Gahan

FLOWER MOUND, Texas — It’s not often that a town council meeting is must-watch TV, but Monday night’s four-hour session was full of drama and suspense until its chaotic end. 
There were verbal jabs between council members, dozens of speakers, and one last-minute compromise in an attempt to garner support for a self-storage facility on the southeast side of town.
In the end, it wasn’t enough. The town council voted to deny Charco Storage, a self-storage project at Old Orchard Lane and Flower Mound Road. 
Plans to develop the property have been in flux for years and a request to build a daycare there fell through after the pandemic hit. The site that is zoned for retail abuts Orchard Flower, a 55-and-older community that was built in 2019.
A few residents said they were worried about traffic and noise that would be generated from customers coming in and out of the property. They also didn’t want a self-storage facility to be the view seen from their houses or Flower Mound Road. The site is on the line of Flower Mound and Lewisville and some thought it was a missed opportunity to mark the entrance to the town.

Approving the project would “give a precedent for a warehouse use to be the first thing visible when coming into Flower Mound,” said Dennis McCage, a former planning and zoning commissioner.
The developer, Robert O’Neal Gray of Charco Properties, made several changes to the appearance of the site, including changing the colors of the building from orange to a more neutral palate, faux windows over the walls to mimic an office building, and extensive landscape design.

For opponents, it was still a storage facility.

“Like a neighbor said, ‘Much lipstick has been applied,’” McCage said.
The planning and zoning commission voted in December to deny the project. Since then, Charco Properties met with town staff and neighbors to address concerns. During the ice storm, the HOA president Mark Kusman went door-to-door and polled 70 of the 98 homeowners in the neighborhood to see where they stood on the issue. Of them, 58 were in favor of Charco Storage.
“He wants to please everybody,” Kusman said of Gray. “That’s been his battle cry since the beginning.”

At the meeting, there were 43 people in favor of the project and 16 opposed.

Public opinion wasn’t enough for deputy mayor pro tem Adam Schiestel, who said the location was a gateway to Flower Mound and those are “held to a higher standard.” He pointed to a similar building at Gerault Road and FM 2499 that marks the southern entrance to Flower Mound. 

“That town council from 2013, they got it wrong. They took a beautiful entrance to the town and they put industrial warehouse buildings,” Schiestel said. “I have committed to not doing that again. In fact, one of the reasons I'm on council today is because I think they got it wrong and I wanted to be here to make sure they didn’t do that again.”
During deliberation, Janvier Warner said she was still undecided. 
Mayor pro tem Ann Martin asked Gray if he’d be willing to change the hours to be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in order to alleviate concerns about traffic during early morning and late night hours. 
The applicant agreed. 
Martin then tried to talk to Schiestel by pointing out that he’s usually open to compromise. This time, he said, he wasn’t. 

“This town has been around since the 60s,” Martin countered. “There’s been nothing to enforce our town ideal there, ever. We had a tiny little sign that said ‘Town of Flower Mound’ and it was on the next intersection over. Someone hit it with their car and it never got replaced.”

Mayor Cheryl Moore spoke about how she was torn about the project, but felt there was an overwhelming majority of support from the residents.

Martin interjected and said she had a question for Gray.

“I’m leading the meeting,” Moore reminded Martin. “I wasn’t done speaking.”

Moore, who only casts a vote in cases of a tie, said she was concerned about what could be put on the site if they denied Charco Storage. Because the land is zoned for retail, there is a long list of accepted uses that won’t require council approval.

“They could come in and do whatever they want,” Martin agreed.

Schiestel pointed out that the only things allowed under the current planned development is an 11,000-square-foot building and a 12,000-square-foot building.

“It’s not going to be Chick-Fil-A. It can’t be. It would have to come back to council,” Schiestel said.

Martin inserted again.

“It won’t be the same council, you know that,” said Martin, who has served the maximum amount of consecutive terms and is not up for reelection in May.
Martin moved to approve the zoning ordinance and Schiestel asked if she wanted to include the amended hours. 
“I do, even though it’s not going to matter for you,” Martin said. 
Because the planning and zoning commission voted to deny, the town council needed to approve it by a super majority, or four out of five votes. 
Drew, Martin and Taylor voted yay. Schiestel was a nay. Warner cast the deciding vote: nay. 

There was an audible groan in the chamber.
“I’m sorry to the majority of you who wanted it. We tried,” Martin said.
There was applause from some in attendance and a few yelled, “thank you.” It wasn’t clear who the gratitude was directed toward. Then, several in the audience approached the council members, despite the fact that the meeting had not been adjourned. 
“We’re still in a meeting,” council member Brian Taylor said to no avail.
Some shook hands with Schiestel and Warner. Others talked to Martin.
Finally, after a few minutes, Moore attempted to convene to a closed meeting. Town Manager James Childers reminded her that there was another item on the agenda.

“Do we have another section?” Moore asked with a laugh. “Oh God.”