Seeking to reduce the amount of heavy commercial zoning granted—albeit with restrictive covenants that cater to what the city will and will not authorize in certain areas—Hughson proposed a new zoning category that would carve out a new zoning code and streamline the approval process without granting more industrial activity than intended.
“It’s mainly what people have been proposing, but they have to go with one of the higher density zoning districts, because that's what we have,” Hughson said. “So this will hold their feet to the fire and if we get this laid out the way that we want it.”
The details on the proposed new zoning district would likely mirror what many developers have been requesting from the city in recent months, and that is a more honed-in scope specifically for business parks, Hughson said.
Zoning districts have been proposed, such as heavy commercial, light industrial and heavy industrial with restrictions, so that business parks can go in areas otherwise prohibited, according to city documents.
“One of the things about it is a lot of times we see these denials from planning and zoning, because they don’t have this extra option,” Council Member Mark Gleason said. “And then we end up doing restrictive covenants, which adds to [Amanda] Hernandez’s, [assistant director of planning and development services], workload.”
City staff will bring a more fleshed-out zoning district proposal before the council at a later date.
