Casa View Court, the 60 unit for rent residential project planned for the Garland Road Thrift Store site, is scheduled to be heard at the Dec. 16 meeting of the Plan Commission. Developer Larkspur Capital is requesting a change from the current Community Retail (CR) zoning to a Planned Development District (PD) with MF-2 characteristics.
The Advocate wrote about the “pocket park” development in June. Since then, Larkspur has been working with CVS on an existing easement on the site that gives CVS customers access across the Thrift Store parking lot to the median curb cut on Garland Road. Negotiations were unsuccessful to relocate or remove the easement so Larkspur redesigned the site plan to honor the easement obligation.
Casa View Court’s original site plan shown here had units directly facing Garland Road.
The new site plan shown here depicts the “slip street” across the site connecting Garland Road and the CVS at the median cut.
Duplexes line the perimeter of the site with a pool and common areas surrounded by townhomes and bungalows. Rents will be between $2,000-$3,000 a month.
Larkspur’s Carl Anderson and Rob Baldwin of Baldwin Planning Group have been sharing the following slides with the community showing aerials, site plans, renderings and elevations.
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- Revised site plan for Garland Road Thrift Store development.
Mike Nurre, a longtime leader in Far East Dallas and Co-Chair/Founder of the Greater Casa View Alliance, supports the project. “This 60 unit rental project is certainly welcome for many reasons. It fulfills the Garland Road Vision for that location, it provides more desperately needed housing, and it will be both an economic and quality of life boost to our entire area,” Nurre says. “One might think of Casa View Court as one bookend with the Trailhead project at the 3G intersection at the other, at least until more projects are developed further out Garland Road. The majority of our Greater Casa View Alliance board is for it; however a few as well as some neighbors have questions as to alternative exterior designs.”
One area of discussion has been the access onto Peavy Road. Larkspur has committed to an exit only feature at that curb cut, using medians or a gate.
Martin Garza lives on Selva Avenue and his backyard is directly across the street from the Peavy access. His concern is the curb cuts on Peavy for the CVS, Casa View Court and Lake Chateau Apartments and the DART bus stop across the street are too close together. “Three driveways with a bus stop across four lanes of fast moving traffic? That’s a recipe for disaster,” Garza says. “If this project is going to have a driveway on Peavy, then that bus stop must be moved away to Peavy and Losa; otherwise, people could be injured, or worse, killed. If the DART bus stop can’t be moved, I oppose the project.”
The Garland Road Thrift Store was originally a Handy Dan’s. Word is they are looking for another East Dallas location should Casa View Court be approved and built.
