New businesses coming to Tomball will soon have extra restrictions to adhere to when building along the city’s major thoroughfares.

During the Aug. 17 meeting, Tomball City Council approved on first reading an ordinance to create a facade overlay district along three major corridors stretching across city limits—FM 2920, Hwy. 249 and Business 249.

The overlay district will extend the existing restrictions already in place along Main Street, which required buildings to meet certain aesthetic requirements, including paint color and building materials, Tomball City Planner Harold Ellis said.

The idea of extending the facade requirements has long been a topic of discussion for the council. In June, the city began looking at creating an overlay district after hearing a presentation from the Texas Masonry Council.

“Earlier this year, [city] council directed the staff to [draft] an amendment to allow the city to exercise greater control over the development on Main Street,” Ellis said. “However, when we took this to the Planning and Zoning Commission they recommended that we amend that boundary [to include the three major corridors].”

Under the proposed ordinance, all facades of new, non-residential buildings along the three corridors must be constructed using masonry—defined as brick, stone, glass or stucco—on all visible sides of the building, Ellis said. Existing businesses will be exempt from the ordinance unless the square footage of the buildings are expanded by more than 25 percent.

Businesses can apply for special exceptions to the ordinance, which will be handled through the city’s board of adjustments, Ellis said.

“So there is a relief to this—we did amend the board of adjustments section of the code [that] specifies which requirements can be deviated [from],” Ellis said.

By going through the board of adjustments, businesses can more easily apply for an exemption from the ordinance if there is a special circumstance, Assistant City Manager Robert Hauck said.

“It’s important to remember when it relates to zoning and the [board of adjustments], there is no requirement for hardship [exemption],” Hauck said. “And when you [don’t] have to get over a legal hurdle like [that], common sense does get to apply.”

The ordinance is expected to be approved on second reading at the Sept. 7 City Council meeting.