Pearland City Council at its Jan. 10 regular meeting approved in a 4-3 vote the first reading of a zoning change from heavy industrial to a planned district for approximately 40 acres of property west of Hwy. 35, east of the nearby railroad tracks, around Bailey Road and north of Industrial Drive.
“We think this will be a great development in a great area and provide a lot of tax dollars to the city of Pearland,” said Katy Harris, planning project manager at LJA Engineering, the applicant pursuing the project, according to agenda documents.
Council was split on the approval of the rezoning. Council members Woody Owens, Trent Perez and David Little voted in favor of the ordinance, while members Alex Kamkar, Luke Orlando and Tony Carbone voted against it. Pearland Mayor Kevin Cole was the deciding vote in favor of the resolution because Council Member Adrian Hernandez was not at the meeting.
Council approved the first reading with the expectation that the applicants will work with city staff to address comments and concerns pointed out by council members.
The property has been zoned industrial, which is usually for businesses such as concrete batch plants, petroleum uses and chemical storage facilities, and it has been vacant for over 40 years due to Beltway 8 luring more industrial development north of the city, Harris said.
The new planned residential development was originally proposed to include 260 single-family units and 100 townhomes, a recreation center, parks, hike and bike trails throughout the development, and amenity detention ponds, according to agenda documents presented at the meeting.
Council members had quality-of-life concerns, such as the development’s proximity to the railroad and industrial businesses to the south on Industrial Drive. Additionally, the Pearland Chamber of Commerce is against reducing industrial zoning, chamber President Jim Johnson said at the meeting.
However, several council members noted the difficulty in getting an industrial business to purchase that specific property throughout the years, which could signal that the city needs to change the land’s zoning.
As of press time, the second reading of the ordinance to approve the zoning change has not been brought to council. Harris told Community Impact Newspaper in a written statement the project is still being pursued, and the firm met with the Pearland Planning and Zoning Commission.
Pearland City Manager Clay Pearson said there were concerns raised by the Pearland Fire Department about the development’s proximity to the railroad tracks and other items that need to be looked at.
“It is in the developer’s court,” Pearson said. “There were some core concerns, even though it was advanced from first reading. Concerns were raised, and so it is up to the developer to address those.”
