At the May 24 Special Session, Bellaire City Council voted to adopt an ordinance which amends the zoning of Technical Research Park District (TRPD), and replaces it with a new zoning district titled North Bellaire Special Development District. The new district will generally include allowances for planned developments for various commercial, mixed uses, and different heights, setbacks and coverage requirements.
After more than 5 hours of deliberation, the Council voted 4-3 in favor of the zoning changes with council members Lewis, Hotze, and Wesley against. Just 6 amendments were made to the proposed code in addition to one amendment from the May 3 council meeting that removed medical offices and/or urgent care facilities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities. Among the other 6 amendments were removal of indoor movie theaters and clarification of banking businesses to disallow credit access businesses like pay day loan stores. They also increased the minimum setback from residential property lines to 65 ft.
Council member Lewis, who suggested many amendments to the zoning code, said she did not feel the council had made enough significant changes to the recommendations by Planning and Zoning and did not feel like the new ordinance protected the neighborhood. She said she would be voting against the ordinance because she felt like the current TRDP zoning better protected residents.
