Harbor Urban Beach - Things You Need to Know

The Rockwall City Council returned to the topic of the Harbor Urban Beach project Monday night, opting to delay voting on an initial concept plan for the recreation facility, expected to cost at least $825,000 by its completion.

Image Credit: dlharbour.ie

Conceived and developed by MHS Planning and Design, a firm out of Tyler, the Harbor Urban Beach would bring an artificial beachfront, public park space, recreational games and gathering areas to the Harbor District, just north of the Harbor’s current outer limits at the fountain and spillway.
Discussion, as it did last month, inevitably turned to the question of restrooms; the earliest designs of the project did not include any additional restrooms at the park, meaning the nearest available location would be the public restrooms at the southern end of the Harbor, a lengthy distance away.

Phase 1 of the urban beach project, which was the crux of discussion Monday, would include the sand beachfront, sand volleyball courts, a decorative fence between the park and adjacent business, the trail loop connecting the park to the rest of the Harbor, drinking fountains, security lighting and grading and drainage of the area.

Phase 1, excluding restrooms, is expected to cost $484,000, and approximately an additional $100,000 to include restrooms, however, if the restrooms are planned for the Interstate 30 side of the park as most members of council seemed to prefer, costs will need to be reevaluated to include the full trail extension in Phase 1.

Despite the discussion Monday resulting in only a tentative approval of the concept plan pending revision to include restrooms, the most non-committal approval the council could give such a project, some council members remained skeptical of the park’s perceived shortfalls.

“I still have concerns. The restroom is one, parking is still a concern to me, the kayak launch is still a concern to me,” Mayor Pro Tempore Kevin Fowler said. “I might be okay with it if I know what we can change, but if we approve this and can’t come back and change it, I’m not going to support it.”

According to Andy Hesser, the city’s director of parks and recreation, the park is expected to attract both visitors to the Harbor and residents of the nearby neighborhoods and the multiple multi-family developments in-progress in the district.

Funding for the first phase is largely expected to come from the city permitting and fees process for adjacent businesses and housing developments, and the council will discuss the project’s financing particularities at a future meeting.

The council also spent ample time discussing agriculturally-zoned land use, ultimately identifying some key gaps in the city’s zoning rules and deciding to pursue ordinance changes allowing agricultural landowners more developmental freedom on their land.

Dewayne Cain, owner of Rest Haven Memorial Park, spoke to the council at the meeting, explaining that his desire to build an accessory building on his property adjacent to the funeral home and cemetery, much of which is still zoned for agricultural use and has been since the property was annexed by the city some years ago.

Cain and his wife, Ann, founded the Rockwall Rest Haven location on their 200-acre property in the 1970s.

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The problem, according to City Planner Ryan Miller, is that city zoning ordinances don’t allow any specifics or provide any requirements for accessory structures or barns on agricultural properties larger than 10 acres.