Texas residents win land battle against developers who wanted to turn historic 19th-century farm into a mall

Residents of a small town outside Dallas have forced a developer to back down from plans to tear up lush green farmland in their community and turn it into a shopping center.

The Haggards, one of Plano's most notable families, own the 13.5 acre portion of the farm that they wanted to fashion into a Sprouts grocery store, retail space and approximately 33 townhomes.

The Fairview Farm Land Company, headed by a member of the Haggard family, appealed to the city of Plano to rezone this land so the new development could go forward.

But homeowners rallied against the idea, sending hundreds of opposition messages to Plano officials, NBC Dallas Fort Worth reported.

The 13.5 acre portion of the Haggard farm that was to be transformed into a Sprouts grocery store, retail space and approximately 33 townhomes

All the pressure from locals appeared to force the hand of Fairview Farm Land Company and in a shock move, it sent a request to the city requesting to withdraw its rezoning application.

'While we were hopeful that our proposed development would be seen as a positive addition, it is clear that is not the case and we don’t want to proceed with something that does not have full community support. Thank you for your consideration,' the company wrote through a proxy.

The Plano Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to accept the request, rendering the proposed shopping mall dead in the water.

'It’s just such a residential neighborhood, we wanted to keep it that way,' said Sara Stettler, a resident who owns a home near the Haggard farm.

'We have plenty, plenty of empty strip malls available so we didn’t feel like it needed to be built here,' she added.

Sara Stettler, pictured, was against the new use of the land, preferring it be kept residential if anything

Christina Day, Plano's director of planning, said it is not typical for a developer - in this case the Haggard family - to invest time and resources, come this far in the approval process and abruptly withdraw. 

'It’s not unheard of but it is rare,' Day said. 

'It doesn’t mean they can’t bring a new case forward at some point,' she added. 

The 13.5 acre area is already zoned for single-family homes or townhouses, just not retail, which means the Haggards could move forward with a revised proposal that's solely residential.

Over the years, the Haggard family has sold or developed slivers of their undeveloped land. 

The developers folded and declared the project would not move forward without the full support of the community 

In 2021, the city council approved a massive new mixed-use development on 124 acres of Haggard farmland on the eastside of the Dallas North Tollway.

Construction is well underway and the new area will contain a a hotel, a restaurant, commercial buildings and housing, NBC Dallas Fort Worth reported at the time.

Day acknowledged that despite the approval in 2021, which also garnered massive community opposition, the city does have policies to limit retail shops from popping up and overwhelming the area.

'We’ve long had policies to limit retail zoning and retail development where possible in the city and that’s because we realize that we have three times the national average of retail,' said Day. 

Stettler urged her fellow residents to continue organizing, as future developments altering the character of Plano aren't out of the question. 

'If it’s something not right for Plano then we need to make our voices heard, and in this regard, it worked so we’re really happy they listened,' Stettler said.