Valley Creek Church’s Argyle campus is one step closer to coming to fruition, with a few modifications and variances, after the COVID-19 pandemic put it on pause in 2020.
The church will be 35,000 square feet and located along FM 407 just east of I-35W.
It got unanimous approval from Town Council on Monday to move forward on construction again with a reduced landscape buffer on one side of the property and reduced depths for various parking spaces.
According to Justin Lansdowne of McAdams Engineering, the variances requested were because of town ordinances that had been updated by Argyle since the project was brought froward in 2020.
Valley Creek also plans to remove about 28 parking spots in the lot to offer a larger landscape buffer along FM 407. The lot will still have 100 more spaces than is needed to fulfill the town’s standard.
“With an added 18 feet, they will be able to space the trees out further,” said Wicks. “When it’s on top of a three-foot berm, it will create a really nice effect.”
The plan was given a recommendation for approval by Argyle’s Planning and Zoning Commission at its Feb. 4 meeting.
Brad Lanham, the executive pastor of operations at Valley Creek, believes the trade off will benefit both parties.
“We feel it’s a win-win to give more land, trees and a berm on [FM] 407,” he said. “And the win for us is to have the 10-foot [buffer] on Gateway.”
Council had concerns about the traffic that could come with the 35,000-square-foot campus, but Town Manager Mike Sims assured them plans are in the works to mitigate traffic on the surrounding roads.
“Gateway [Blvd.] will be a traffic signal and we sent a letter to TxDOT and Denton County requesting a traffic signal at Avalon [Blvd.],” he said. “A combination like that, we think, is a much more workable situation, but it doesn’t impact whether this is approved.”
Wicks said Valley Creek has also committed to pay for a deceleration lane to be installed heading toward Gateway Blvd. for drivers entering the main entrance.
According to Mayor Ron Schmidt, the Town is working toward a Dark Skies Certification, so he requested the church’s parking lights only be fully-lit while the building is in use and at a dimmer light at all other times to meet the town’s security standards.
According to Lanham, Valley Creek plans to hold multiple services on Sunday morning and host a students-only gathering on Wednesday evening.
He also gave some insight to the church’s vision for the property, including a deck that overlooks the town.
Lanham said the rest of the seven acres the church owns on the same property will more than likely be used as another campus for Valley Creek College, which is currently under construction down the road from Valley Creek Church’s Flower Mound campus.
Valley Creek also has church locations in Lewisville, Denton, Gainesville and at the University of North Texas.
