Roanoke Ranch · A resident vision
Just Roanoke, done right.
Seventy acres on 114, right in Briarwyck's backyard, are about to become the front door of Roanoke. We're not trying to stop it. We'd love to help make it one more place Roanoke is proud of, like everything else this city has built.
Picture this
You park behind a row of brick storefronts and walk out onto a main street lined with shade trees. Your daughter's ice cream cone is melting faster than she can eat it. Down the block, kids are shrieking through the fountains while their parents sit in the shade of a pergola. The bakery has its door propped open. When the sun goes down, the string lights come on over a restaurant patio, and nobody is in a hurry to leave.
None of this is luxury. It's brick and shade trees and a place to sit down. It's what Roanoke already did on Oak Street.
Where the idea came from
Think about our City Hall. The clock tower, the fountains, the brick. It looks like it belongs on a postcard, and it didn't happen by accident. It happened because our city's leaders held a standard.
For over twenty years, Mayor Scooter Gierisch and our City Council have been building something rare. Oak Street became the Unique Dining Capital of Texas. And the new convention center and The Cade Hotel are about to show the whole metroplex what Roanoke can do.
That's the heart of this vision. The clock tower and fountains on the town green are a nod to City Hall, and the storefronts are a modern next chapter of Oak Street.
Roanoke Ranch could be the piece that ties it all together. The developer calls this "the last open master-planned frontage on the SH 114 corridor." It's the first thing thousands of people see every day on 114, the front door of everything this city has built. There's only one, and once it's built, it will be part of Roanoke for the next fifty years. Let's make it look like it belongs here.
Working with the developer's plan, not against it
A project this size has to work for the developer, too. We get that. So this vision keeps the pieces they need:
What we're asking for is a place to gather. Put the larger stores at the ends of the street, the way Park Village does, and make the heart of it a shaded main street and a town green where families can walk, sit and stay awhile. We'd love to see some room for local shops and restaurants there too, wherever the numbers work. Same land. Same buildings. Designed around people and community, with plenty of parking right behind the shops.
Side by side
Today
Their slides say all the right things: "A town center built around the neighborhood it serves." "Retail front and center." "Unified design language." We agree with every word.
It's a good start, and the plans just haven't caught up to the words yet. Right now they show rows of large retail sites, with no main street, no gathering place, and no shade to walk in. It doesn't feel like Roanoke yet.
The good news is this developer has already listened once. They went from a strip of retail in front of warehouses to 50 acres of retail because people want to be here. We believe they can rise to this, too. We'd love to see the town center their own slides describe become part of the final plan.
A Roanoke version
Tap to enlarge. For discussion only, not to scale.
Flexible by design
We're not asking for this exact plan. We're residents with a vision, not planners or developers. But we'd rather bring ideas and solutions to the table than sit back and poke holes in what we don't like. That doesn't help anyone. We believe everyone involved, from the city to the developers to us residents, wants the same thing: something that improves our city, brings in revenue, and builds community. So here's a second version that puts parking and larger stores first, and still keeps the heart of the vision.
Option two
Tap to enlarge. For discussion only, not to scale.
What changes
What stays
There are lots of ways to get this right. We're not trying to draw the final plan for anyone. We just want to show what's possible and work it out together.
Walk through it
Everyday places for everyday Roanoke. Brick, shade trees, black awnings, and room to linger.
Walking to dinner under shade trees, past a bakery, an ice cream shop, and a little store owned by someone you know. A modern next chapter of Oak Street.
Fountains to run through, a pergola for the grown-ups, and a lawn for the picnic blanket. A little of what we love about City Hall, right in the middle of it all.
String lights, a table outside with friends, and a slow walk past the fountains on the way home.
Our trail to downtown already runs right past this land. Link it in, and a family could bike from their front door to Main Street to Oak Street without ever getting in the car. That's fewer cars on Blythe Bridge, too.
This is what our backyards would see. A 65 foot greenbelt, an 8 foot wall, tall evergreens, and a quiet trail. No parking, no loading docks, no trucks.
Same big store, same Saturday errand. Just built in brick and stone, with shade trees in the parking lot.
These are a resident's vision, not a developer or city drawing. They show how the same land could be arranged around people.
A partnership with the developers
The developer has already shown how willing they are to work with residents. When they saw how much people wanted to be here, they grew the plan from a small strip of shops to 50 acres of retail. At Planning & Zoning, they committed to a 65 foot buffer and listened to our neighborhood. That's a really great beginning, and we'd love to keep building on it together.
Recommended by Planning & Zoning on October 19. Thank you to the developer for working with us, and to every neighbor who showed up. We're asking Council to keep every one of these.
Ideas from residents for the developer and Council to build into the final approval, so the good intentions on both sides are there in writing.
A note from Melissa
I've lived in Roanoke for fourteen and a half years, and I love this town. For as long as I've been here, I've driven past this land and wondered what it would become someday. I always hoped it would be something wonderful.
Now someday is here. I'm not a developer or a planner. I'm a neighbor who wants to do what I can to make sure this land lives up to its potential, and becomes something worthy of being the last open frontage on 114.
If you feel the same way, I'd love to have your name next to mine.
Melissa Aulds, Briarwyck
The petition
We'll bring every name to City Council on Tuesday, October 27. It takes about 30 seconds, and it tells Council this matters to a lot of us.
To the Mayor and City Council of Roanoke:
We are Roanoke residents. We are not asking you to stop Roanoke Ranch. We are asking you to help make it something special. This is the last open master-planned frontage on the 114 corridor, and it should look and feel like Roanoke.
We understand the flex warehouse and light industrial buildings, a large anchor store, and larger retail pads are part of making this project work. We are not asking the developer to give those up. We are asking for the right mix, with room for local shops, boutiques and restaurants, designed around people and community.
Please keep every protection Planning & Zoning recommended, and make these part of the binding approval:
Just Roanoke, done right.
Spread the word
Most people haven't heard about this yet. Send it to a neighbor, post it in your HOA group, or share it with your small group. A few minutes of sharing can add dozens of names before Tuesday.
Your neighbors
… Roanoke residents and counting.
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