City vs Developers: A timeline of Killeen growth

The established and developed housing in Bunny Trail Village shares floor plans and external design for a faster construction process.

June 1999

The Killeen City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission came to a tentative truce. While under the eyes of some of Killeen’s more prominent developers, the council agreed to put the planning commission’s proposed overhaul of the city’s development ordinance on an official council agenda, requiring the council to vote on the measure.

Nonetheless, some council members with ties to the development community said they had reservations about tampering with the 30-year-old ordinance, claiming that problems attributed to it have been isolated or exaggerated.

Several developers also protested the measure, espousing the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” philosophy. They testified that the city’s lenient zoning policies have helped fuel the city’s building boom, and creating more restrictions would only send builders elsewhere.

“It has helped all of us get things done much quicker and with less delay,” said Gary Purser Sr., one of the city’s most influential developers. “I’m for keeping the ordinance the way it is.”

The city’s cumulative zoning regulations would be at least partially dismantled, requiring developers to build residential structures on residentially zoned property. Current city ordinance allows homes and apartments on commercial and even industrially zoned land, a loophole many developers have taken advantage of to avoid planning their developments.

April 2004

Seven people spoke out against a proposed landscaping rule that would require all homeowners to have at least one thriving tree and five shrubs two years after the ordinance’s effective date.

Developers and builders also opposed the ordinance, which was proposed to discourage construction of residential developments that lacked in landscaping amenities.

March 2007

The Killeen City Council had discussions on a proposed ordinance requiring developers to prepare the site and install the pads for community mailboxes when any kind of housing is platted.

Developer Gary Purser Sr. argued against it.

“This is a quality of life to have a mailbox in front of your house,” he said. “If it’s by your house, you don’t have to go out in the rain to get your mail, rather than walk 200 or 300 yards.”

June 2007

The Killeen City Council voted 6-1, approving an ordinance that required developers to include cluster mailboxes in a plat before it can be approved. The developer must also front the cost for concrete, cluster mailbox and installation.

The root of the ordinance began when several residents said they had to go to the post office to pick up their mail rather than have it delivered because the Killeen Postmaster could not install the mailboxes until new subdivisions were complete.

Local developer Tom Harper said that the Postal Service shouldn’t require cluster mailboxes.

April 2010

City officials made their case that all garden-home builders should be required to set residences back from the road at least 5,000 square feet. It also required builders to include fully sodded yards and for either brick or stone to be used for 75% of the home’s exterior. Then-Councilwoman JoAnn Purser said housing allowances for soldiers are limited.

May 2020

Verdunity, the Dallas-based firm that created Killeen’s Comprehensive Plan at a cost of $349,000, recommends the city pass an architectural standards ordinance to improve its image.

January 2021

Council members discuss passing a stricter architectural standards ordinance.

APRIL 2021

The Killeen City Council approved, with a 6-1 vote, city water and wastewater impact fees.

Charged to developers and builders, impact fees help municipalities recoup costs of building roads and infrastructure up to new developments and structures.

The impact fees for water range from $1,161 for the smallest water pipe, three-quarters of an inch, to $69,660 for the largest water pipe, 8 inches.

Local developers Gary Purser Jr. and Jim Wright both spoke during a public hearing prior to the vote, saying that the impact fees would be very bad for the city and impose additional costs on home buyers — around $1,500 per home that is purchased.

January 2022

Developers including Joshua Welch and Gary “Bubba” Purser argue against the architectural standards ordinance at a joint City Council and Planning and Zoning meeting.

April 2022

Design standards ordinance is passed 4-2 by the Killeen City Council.

Inspection fees are raised for the first time since 2015.

August 2023

Developers balk at proposed fees increases. Council votes to halve the increases.

Amendments to the architectural standards ordinance are sent back to the city staff after a unanimous motion of direction by the City Council.

Councilman Michael Boyd suggests two ordinances be drafted, one from developers and one from the city, and the council will ultimately vote on one or the other.

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