In a March 16 meeting, Bellaire City Council members revisited a discussion regarding an ordinance that would change several planning and zoning regulations listed in the city’s Code of Ordinances.
The context
City Council previously discussed the list of proposed amendments during the March 2 meeting and voted on whether to raise the minimum front yard setback from at least 5% of the site depth to 15% of the site depth for properties less than 100 feet in the Corridor Mixed Use zoning district.
With one City Council seat currently vacant, the vote was tied and failed to pass.
In similar news
With input from Director of Development Services Travis Tanner and Gary Mitchell, the city’s planning consultant, council members continued discussions on the current regulations during the March 16 City Council session, as well as another proposed amendment from council member Brian Witt.
The proposal included changing the maximum residential density height of a project site from 20 units per acre to 15 units per acre.
Mitchell said decreasing the height would make the CMU district—which runs from North First Street to Chimney Rock Road, adjacent to Bissonnet Street—lower than the Urban Village Downtown district, which has a maximum residential density height of 20 units per acre.
The takeaway
The amendment was voted on and failed to pass due to a tie vote, with council members Witt, Catherine Lewis and Jackie Georgiou in favor.
“I’m not saying that I want to say ‘yes’ tomorrow, but by lowering [the maximum residential density height] you basically make it where you have no option to even consider it,” council member Ross Gordon said.
No other proposed amendments related to the ordinance were voted on during the meeting.