Lewisville City Council unanimously approved a zoning overhaul of Old Town in an effort to help revitalize the area into a vibrant multiuse area at its Sept. 9 meeting.

The overhaul is intended to help the city achieve what is detailed in the Lewisville 2025 plan, which envisions Old Town as a transit-oriented area, meaning it has a mixture of development that would allow residents to "live, work and play" with minimal need for a car.

The rezoning applies to a large section of downtown between Charles and Railroad streets. Under the new zoning, the majority of light-industrial zones downtown were eliminated. However, existing light-industrial businesses are grandfathered in and allowed to continue operation as long as they do not go vacant for more than 90 days.

Before the rezoning, Old Town had a patchwork of zoning with light-industrial zones—with uses such as automotive and storage—sprinkled among properties zoned for business, residential and retail use. The new zoning reduced the existing zone types downtown into four districts: Old Town Center, Old Town Mixed Use 2, Light Industrial and Public Use.

Planning Development Director Richard Luedke previously told Community Impact Newspaper that the zoning overhaul is intended to encourage multiuse development in Old Town and to assure developers that these types of projects will be surrounded by compatible developments.

“Well, [the proposal would give] certainty to new developers that are investing about the direction that [Old Town Lewisville] is going, that we are truly implementing our plan,” Luedke said.

Prior to the vote, city staff met with affected business owners and hosted events to get public feedback on the proposal.