After several months of public hearings, Magnolia City Council unanimously approved its first-ever unified development code and zoning map within city limits at its Oct. 13 meeting.
Prior to the vote, Magnolia City Administrator Paul Mendes suggested the council wait at least another month to approve the zoning map because of requests from some residents to rezone their properties in the draft. In addition, Mendes said the area referred to as the “Golden Triangle,” a prime location for future mixed-use development at FM 149 and FM 1488, will need to be rezoned to allow commercial properties.
“The amendment process of the zoning map is essentially a rezoning,” said Randal Anderson, senior associate at land-use planning and urban design firm Kendig Keast. “There is a legal process of notification of property owners and the whole nine yards of the rezoning process that has to be gone through. That’s roughly a 35- to 40-day process.”
Kendig Keast has been working with the city of Magnolia to design its zoning map since earlier this year.
The purpose of the zoning ordinance and map was to designate the best land use of properties within city limits, Magnolia Mayor Todd Kana said. Kana said he feared City Council would continue to delay the adoption of the zoning ordinance if not approved at the Oct. 13 meeting.
“We’ve had the public hearings, and we’ve addressed every person that came forward with a question of their designation,” Kana said. “So if they missed the four-month [hearing] process, they can go through the rezoning process. Nobody is going to object to it. I think every month we don’t do this we’re going to wait one more month for one more property owner, and we’ll spend years trying to adopt the zoning map.”
Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Frank Parker also voiced his support of adopting the zoning map at the meeting. When developing the draft map, Parker said it was important to zone properties for their existing use and to avoid arbitrarily reclassifying areas.
“I think everybody understands [the zoning ordinance] is critical moving forward,” Parker said. “The difference here is to have the property owners precipitate and not have [the city] dictating. What we’re trying to avoid is creating a negative reaction. We will consider anybody that wants to change their zoning to another classification.”
Residents seeking to rezone their properties will need to address the Planning and Zoning Commission and receive final approval from City Council, officials said.
Online submissions
During the meeting, City Council also approved an $8,000 upgrade to enCodePlus software to allow online development and plan submittal applications through the city’s website. The city will split the cost of the software development with Kendig Keast, according to officials.
“You can keep track of the records, create an archive and take some of the pressure off the staff to keep track of all this stuff,” Anderson said. “It’s a very easy to interpret, and you’ll be able to apply [more quickly] instead of filling out an application, taking a picture and turning in 500 pieces of paper to city staff.”
Kana and City Council Member Anne Sundquist voiced support for the new software and its ability to streamline development applications as the city moves forward.
“When it comes time for [developers] to submit their preliminary plats, they will come to us and Kendig Keast for review,” Mendes said. “There will be an executive summary—a checklist—of everything a developer would need to be prepared to come before Planning and Zoning. They can basically have all the boxes checked before they submit [an application].”
