During its May 20 meeting, Tomball City Council approved on first reading an ordinance to rezone 1.905 acres of land at the southwest corner of Theis Lane and South Cherry Street from single-family residential to neighborhood retail. The vote to approve the rezoning request was 4-1, with Position 2 council member Paul Garcia voting against.
The overview
Lone Star Development requested the rezoning to develop an 18,000-square-foot shopping center named The Shops at Theis and Cherry. At the May 20 meeting, Matthew Lawrence, Lone Star Development managing partner, said the development would include two buildings with a covered patio between them for outdoor seating.
“We are committed to leasing exclusively to high-quality businesses that cater to the local community, such as restaurants, cafes, bakeries, boutiques, family doctors, dentists and various office spaces,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence also said the company intends to replace the residential fences backing the property with a brick wall.
“As soon as this passes, then we can really get into the construction documents and then working with the community,” Lawrence said.
A closer look
The neighborhood retail zoning district is a new zoning district council approved earlier this year, according to prior reporting. Requirements under the neighborhood retail district include:
- There must be 15 feet of landscaping along streets.
- The maximum building height is 40 feet.
- Outdoor sales and storage is prohibited.
Quote of note
“I applaud the change that we’ve made in the creation of this new environment that allows something like this to happen,” Position 5 council member Randy Parr said. “So I will be in favor of this.”
Stay tuned
Tomball City Council should consider a second and final reading of this ordinance at its next meeting on June 3. If the rezoning passes for the second and final time, construction on this development will start around August, according to Lawrence’s presentation.
View the May 20 agenda packet below.
