The second phase of apartments at The Point in Flower Mound will proceed at the cost of one historic post oak tree.
Flower Mound Town Council begrudgingly approved the tree removal unanimously at its meeting Monday, but commended the development for its efforts to work with the town to provide more trees.
The development will now proceed with its second phase of Alexan the Point, which is expected to add four new three-story apartment buildings with 228 residential units near the corner of FM 2499 and Silveron Parkway.
The developer, Trammell Crow Residential, is required to plant 42 trees, but plans to plant 62 and contribute to the town’s Acorns to Oaks program, which aims to help revive the post oak population around town.
“I appreciate you guys taking an honest look at this to see what could be done,” said council member Brian Taylor. “And to go above and beyond with the extra trees and Acorns to Oaks, I appreciate the sincere effort you guys made on this.”
The 140-year-old post oak was originally marked as a multi-trunk protected tree when the 8.6-acre site was zoned as a planned development.
Another tree survey conducted for the second phase of the mixed-use development identified the same tree as one of six specimen trees on the site, which Trammell Crow then requested to remove to build its planned apartment building.
“We’re not here out of a disregard for trees – we understand people like trees more than apartments,” said Tommy Mann of Trammell Crow. “But post oaks are highly sensitive, and even if it survived the construction, it is the opinion of our arborist and team that it would not survive post-construction.”
Mayor Pro Tem Adam Schiestel recognized that the town dropped the ball when the original zoning and tree survey was done in 2017, but double-checked with town staff that this was the best path of action.
The tree sits between a proposed street and apartment building, and would likely not survive the development process. The only other option might be to reroute the road, which could impede the planned park space.
“Based on the current concept plan, I don’t know where they would move the street that would further impact additional trees,” said Lexin Murphy, Flower Mound’s director of development services. “I don’t believe there is a way without completely redesigning the sight.”
Flower Mound’s Environmental Conservation Commission recommended approval of the applicant’s plan at its Aug. 4 meeting, which sent the plan to council in September. It was postponed to the October meeting to allow the applicant more time to evaluate the plan.
“It’s disappointing… It was a big miss on the part of the application, but it was a miss on the part of the town,” said Schiestel. “This is unlikely to happen another time, and I’m not going to hold you up.”
According to town documents, The Point development is expected to include more than 60,000 square feet of office space, a total of 600 multi-family units and a 98-room Tru by Hilton hotel.
