They want to build 158 homes. The town’s master plan needs to be amended.

 October 31, 2025

By Mary Beth Gahan

FLOWER MOUND, Texas — The developer of Eden Ranch will go before town council Monday to ask for a master plan amendment and several exceptions to the Cross Timbers Conservation Development District’s requirements.

At the end of a four-hour meeting last week, the planning and zoning commission recommended approval for the changes, with some conditions.

The 335-acre development north of Cross Timbers Road and west of Shiloh Road is proposed to have 158 single-family homes and could include an orchard, daycare, and a farm.

Most of the commissioners expressed their interest in the unique development, but had reservations about the number of town plans that had to be tweaked for it to become a reality.

“I’m rooting for the project, but I’m feeling a lot of square peg, round hole,” said commissioner Michelle Jackson.

The master plan amendments that town council will now vote on are changes to roads around the development. The developer is asking to remove a street that runs east to west and cuts through the middle of Eden Ranch where homes would be built. Another amendment would change one part of Shiloh Road from atwo-lane, undivided road to a four-lane undivided road. The road would be expanded for 1,600 feet north of Cross Timbers Road.

Speakers at the meeting were split on their support for the project. Some welcomed the agricultural nod to Flower Mound’s history and the connection to nature that Eden Ranch promises to offer. Others were concerned about traffic on Cross Timbers Road and the amount of concessions the town would have to make to its master plan.

"That plan seems at risk. I'm here searching, really, for the logic in this project,” said Robert Prince, who lives nearby.

There have been 237 proposed master plan amendments since 1994, according to town records. 163 have been approved.

Since 2020, the town council has allowed significantly more amendments than what was seen in the years after the plan was initially adopted. Between 1994 and 2000, nearly half of proposed changes to the master plan were denied. In the last five years, only 9 percent have been denied.

In 2016, the planning and zoning commission recommended detail for three master plan amendments for the Smith Tract, a 482-acre development across Cross Timbers Road from where Eden Ranch would be built. Those amendments would have removed a planned multi-use trail, extended the town’s wastewater line, and affected rural roads around Scenic Road. The developer withdrew one of the proposed amendments and the town council denied the other two.

The project was presented to town council last October in a new form and, notably, without master plan amendments. It was approved.

In addition to the road changes, the Eden Ranch developer is asking for accessory dwelling units — mother-in-law suites — up to 2,000 square feet to be allowed for the entire development. Some commissioners expressed alarm that it would essentially mean two houses per lot.

“That’s a showstopper for me,” said commissioner Todd Bayuk.

Other exceptions that the developer is asking for include structures on the lot taking up a maximum of 30 percent of the lot, rather than the town’s maximum of 25 percent.

The commission recommended that the accessory dwelling units be allowed by specific use permit only, rather than granting them across the board, that lot coverage stay at 25 percent, and livestock – including horses – not be allowed on lots less than one acre. The developer is not in favor of those.

They did agree that the town staff will look into the feasibility of adding a deceleration lane on westbound FM 1171 for those turning into Eden Ranch after several noted the 50 miles per hour speed limit and the propensity for drivers to go faster than that on that stretch of road.

The developer also agreed to making an emergency access point on the northeast side of the project only as wide as the fire department will allow. Double Oak Mayor Pro Tem Pat Wellen spoke at the planning and zoning commission meeting about how it would impact her town’s traffic if it was converted to a public entrance and exit.

Master plan amendments need a supermajority of town council for them to move forward. The meeting starts at 6 p.m.