League City City Council approves first reading to allow gas station near residential area

After postponing a February vote on whether to approve a special use permit to build a gas station near a residential area, League City City Council approved the first reading of the permit request, provided the developer makes adjustments to the site plan.

What happened

League City City Council voted 6-2 to approve the first reading of a controversial special use permit to build a gas station at the intersection of FM 270, or Egret Bay Boulevard, and Austin Street at its March 24 meeting.

“>

The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 2-4 to not recommend approving the project at its Feb. 12 meeting, and City Council later postponed voting on the item at its Feb. 24 meeting.

The vote

Council members Courtney Chadwell and Tom Crews voted against approving the permit.

After the vote, council member Andy Mann proposed that the council vote “first and final” on the motion; however, council voted 3-5 against first and final, meaning City Council will hear and vote on whether to finally approve the request at a later meeting.

Council members Chad Tressler and Tommy Cones voted with Mann to approve a first and final reading.

What’s changed

Council asked the engineering firm to redraw and “flip” the site plan to add conditions that would address residents’ concerns, including:

The fueling station must be moved to the north end of the property, moving it further from the closest residential areas.Eliminating the Austin Street entrance, forcing traffic to access the gas station through South Egret Bay Boulevard.Additionally, the applicant’s updated plan included several changes addressing residents’ concerns from the Feb. 12 meeting, including:The site will meet the Texas Department of Transportation’s standards, which exceed city requirements, and include an extra 5% water volume detention.Trees must be a minimum of 2-inch caliper (up from 1.5 inches) to provide a more mature buffer.Business hours will be restricted to 5 a.m. to midnight.A 10-foot-tall fence, 4 feet higher than the standard requirement, will be installed on the eastern property line.Pole lights were removed and replaced with shielded wall fixtures to ensure zero light trespass onto neighboring properties.What they’re saying

Kim Speer, who said she had owned her home in the area for 20 years, said that while developers have rights, the city should take into consideration property owners who purchased their homes based on existing zoning.

“Texas is indeed a property rights state, but property rights exist on both sides,” Speer said at the meeting.

William Speer defended concerned residents against accusations of “Not in My Backyard,” or NIMBY, attitudes and said that his concerns stemmed from compounding impacts on traffic, drainage and lighting, as well as compatibility with the city’s unified development code.

“It’s not random. It’s not NIMBY. It’s what happens when a project creates multiple overlapping impacts at once,” William Speer said at the meeting.

Another viewpoint

Mateus Calix, the project’s civil engineer with Houston-based ALJ Engineering, said his team was committed to mitigating flood impacts, noting that the project would provide 40% more water detention than the city required.

“The main thing we never want to do is make sure that no neighborhood is flooding,” Calix said at the meeting.

Stay tuned

City Council will hear and vote on whether to finally approve the request at a later meeting, which has not yet been disclosed.