Richardson is set to update its comprehensive zoning ordinance in order to allow for more efficient housing and business development in the city.
Tina Firgens, Richardson’s director of development services, explained the limitations of the current comprehensive zoning ordinance, first adopted in 1956, and requested feedback from City Council members on ordinance updates at the Feb. 2 meeting.
The overview
The comprehensive zoning ordinance is a set of regulations related to land use and development standards that tells property owners what they can do with their land and how.
“If I want to develop a restaurant, it tells me what zoning districts I can locate within,” Firgens said. “It will tell me how tall I can build my building, or that maximum height. It may tell me how much landscaping I have to provide on the site, how much parking I need to have, and in some cases it might also address some signage.”
Firgens said Richardson’s zoning ordinance is out of date with current market realities and doesn’t support the development that the city needs. In a recent housing strategy presentation, the city established goals to increase housing development in Richardson, particularly reasonably priced “missing middle” housing and rental units, which are not currently supported in most zoning tracts in Richardson.
“We say we want these things and we even go and sometimes incent them, but on the other hand, our regulations are inconsistent with that message,” City Manager Don Magner said.
Some context
The CZO has been amended in the past in response to state law changes but has not received significant updates to address changing market realities and development standards.
Instead, Firgens said the city relies on special permits, planned development districts and special development plans to allow development that is not covered in the ordinance—each of these special zoning changes requires overview and approval by City Council.
Since 2023, Firgens said council has issued 69 of these individual zoning changes.
“That tells us that our zoning ordinance is broken,” Firgens said.
Breaking it down
Special permits are required to allow a site to have certain uses listed in the CZO, including child care centers, drive-thru restaurants, commercial amusement centers and smoking establishments. Council sometimes adds additional conditions or more restrictive standards to special permits.
Planned development districts are special zoning designations for larger areas encompassing multiple sites and developments. The council-approved designation addresses uses, development standards, infrastructure requirements, signage and parking, and is the preferred approach of the development community, Firgens said.
Planned development districts in Richardson include CityLine and parts of Main Street. Infill multifamily and “missing middle” housing development also requires this zoning designation, Firgens said.
These designations are needed because the CZO doesn’t currently provide the framework for this kind of development, Firgens said, but they create inconsistency throughout the city and pose challenges to administer.
Special development plans are further provisions granted by City Council that permit modified development standards if a site can’t meet all of the requirements.
“[These zoning changes] are a byproduct of the fact that we have a 1956 zoning ordinance,” Firgens said. “We crafted all of these unique zoning districts in these different areas to be able to achieve the visions that we’re trying to achieve for those areas.”
What they’re saying
Firgens proposed updating the comprehensive zoning ordinance to codify some of the common uses of special permits and planned developments so that City Council doesn’t need to grant special approval for every case.
“This is a massive project, but I think for the sake of this council and future councils’ time and effectiveness, it has to happen,” council member Joe Corcoran said. “I feel like our time would be much better spent talking about the policy behind drive-thrus rather than every single individual drive-thru.”
The appeal of the special permit, council member Jennifer Justice said, is that council has the ability to call a hearing and address any issues with the development if it is not in compliance with the permit.
“My only concern would be what are we replacing it with? What mechanism would we have if we had an issue with that use to address it?” Justice said.
Council will be responsible for determining the parameters of any development that the new CZO would allow, Firgens said. While the goal of the new ordinance would be to not rely on the special permit process as much, she said there will still be cases that require council’s consideration and approval.
Mayor Amir Omar said that he does want to see the city work more efficiently, but he wants to make sure the new CZO not only addresses current development trends in Richardson, but also prepares the city for changes many years down the road.
“I understand that whenever we talk about market reality that that's a sensible thing to talk about,” Mayor Amir Omar said. “But I also am super concerned about making decisions over the next five years because that’s what the market reality is at that moment, versus the impact that it has over the course of 40 years.”
The goal of the new CZO will be for city staff and council to find a balance between establishing important regulations and becoming more business-friendly, Magner said.
What’s next
Council directed city staff to begin work on updating the CZO. Council is set to discuss city staff’s proposed approach to the new ordinance March 9.
