Roman Forest City Council members discussed the creation of a zoning commission separate from the city council that would be charged with hearing variance requests during the Sept. 29 zoning workshop.
The details
In September 2025, council members approved a comprehensive plan for the city, which City Attorney Scott Francis said laid the groundwork for potential zoning regulations.
Francis said that, while a commission is not legally required, city officials have the option to create one to hear variance requests from individuals who wish to construct something outside the bounds of the future zoning regulations.
Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell Davis, who presided over the meeting in Mayor Chris Parr’s absence, said council members would bring a list of individuals to potentially appoint to the commission in October.
“We will also solicit input from citizens or anybody who wants to be on that commission,” Davis said.
A closer look
At the Sept. 28 workshop, Francis said the commission would serve as an advisory body to the city council.
“It makes decisions that ultimately the council would have to approve,” Francis said.
Council member Jerry Reasner said he wanted potential candidates to have certain qualifications to be considered for the zoning commission.
“I would want them to have an understanding of real estate,” Reasner said. “I would want them to have an understanding of taxes—things like that.”
Reasner said he believes it would be important for individuals who serve on the commission to be able to steer growth in a manner that would be beneficial for the city.
“Properties that are of commercial value, especially if they've not been developed today, are maybe future income,” Reasner said. “We're going to need that income as the city gets bigger, as we build more roads and we have more people.”
Davis noted the commission would ideally be made up of seven individuals who are not currently serving on the city council.
“Very rarely will you get all seven to a meeting, and so if we had seven, then five show up at a meeting, it's still a healthy discussion,” Davis said.
Council member David Mullane suggested allowing two currently serving council members to be appointed to the commission.
“I only say that because, sometimes, finding seven people is hard,” Mullane said, noting officials have previously needed to appoint council members to some committees to boost membership.
Davis said he agreed, noting it may become necessary to have council members serve on the commission.
Some context
While the potential zoning regulations are still subject to change, Parr expressed interest during a June 9 meeting in restricting future commercial development to portions of Roman Forest Boulevard, Galaxy Boulevard and Appian Way.
Francis previously noted the city’s comprehensive plan contained 10 potential land-use categories that could be used for zoning regulations, including:
Single-family residential detached
Single-family residential attached
Manufactured and mobile housing
Neighborhood commercial
Public institutional
Parks and recreation
Forested and open space
Agricultural
Utilities and easements
Vacant or undeveloped
Francis noted the zoning regulations could not prevent a particular business from coming to the city, but they could be used to restrict where specific businesses are allowed to exist within city limits.
What’s next
City Administrator Scott Castleberry said city officials would next discuss potential zoning regulations at the Oct. 26 council meeting.
