A plan to build a residential development of almost 300 acres — the largest in Arlington in 15 years — needs more work before the town considers the proposal.

On Monday, Oct. 16, the Arlington Planning Commission urged Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, developer of Estates at Hall Creek, to withdraw his application for a general development plan.

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Officials would like to hold a rare joint work session with the Planning Commission and Board of Mayor and Aldermen to rework parts of the plan.

The proposed Estates at Hall Creek subdivision would have 667 single-family homes across approximately 289 acres south of Interstate 40. The development is planned east of Arlington Trails Road, north of Pinckley Road and straddling Chester Street.

Five lot sizes were proposed ranging from 6,000 square feet to 1 acre, with a density of 2.46 homes per acre on the project’s western side. The eastern side will have 2.12 homes per acre.

Amenities include several lakes, an abundance of open space along Hall Creek, bocce ball and pickleball courts, a playhouse, a playground and pool area.

The project would be the largest development south of Interstate 40, dwarfing the 70-acre Woodland Estates.

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“The development of this project is dependent on the completion of the Hall Creek sewer extension project currently in progress,” Town Planner Jeremy Credeur pointed out. He added that a breach analysis will be required for the existing dam upstream from the project on the 36-acre lake in the nearby Rolling Hills subdivision.

Some residents voiced concerns over the historical significance of the land where slaves once lived and were possibly buried. They also questioned the need to preserve it, the nearby dam and its need for repairs, potential traffic impact on Larry Anderson Lane, and the overall home density.

“Crowded track housing with extremely small lot sizes does not fit the character of the (town) of Arlington,”Antonia Emmert, who has lived in the area 25 years, said.

Several commissioners also had a problem with the number of smaller lots.

“Right off the bat, I think it’s too dense,” said Mayor Mike Wissman, who lives close to the proposed project. He wants a better blending of lot sizes from existing adjacent large lots to the project’s smallest lots.

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Commissioner and Alderman Jeremy Biggs was especially critical with the western and northeastern ends of the project, the densest clusters of homes.

“I moved to Arlington in 2005 from Cordova. That reminds me of Cordova,” he said of the plan. “It reminds me of what we are not wanting in Arlington. There are just areas of this development that are way too dense. I’m personally not in favor of the development.”

Instead of taking a vote on a recommendation to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, which likely would not have been favorable, Planning Commission Chairman Russ Campbell proposed a work session for a later date. Kumar reluctantly agreed to pull his application.

“This is a really big project, and I think everybody’s comfort level with doing a good job would be more suited to doing that,” Campbell said of the work session.

In arguing his case for approval, Kumar pointed out that the project’s density was actually 20% below town requirements. He felt he and the planners at A2H had closely followed the town’s suggestions throughout the year-long planning process.

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“We were guided by the staff and the Future Land Use Plan that is proposed by the town,” Kumar said, adding that they followed “each and every suggestion” from the staff. “I want to know what would be the appropriate density.”

But Credeur rebuffed Kumar’s claim that suggestions were “not objective and clear.” The town official noted an April email where he and staff suggested an increase in lot sizes to a half-acre adjacent to the existing one-acre lots surrounding the project if they wanted any chance of approval.

As a Germantown resident living in Enclave Estates, Kumar promised the commission that the quality of Estates at Hall Creek would be similar to or better than his own neighborhood.