The Mission City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to rezone a 30-acre tract at Military Highway and Mayberry Road from agricultural to light industrial, approving ordinance No. 57-18. The council’s vote followed a staff presentation and a request that part of the property be held as a lot of record so the Rio Grande Valley Mobility Authority (RMA) can purchase the parcel if the future expressway alignment requires it.

Planning staff told the council the site sits adjacent to a battery storage facility and that the proposed development would rely on Mayberry Road for access. An RMA representative, Mr. Alfaro, told the council that an environmental assessment for the corridor was completed to Conway in 2015 and that an environmental refresher was done in 2022. Mr. Alfaro said, “For this project, the environmental assessment was completed all the way to Conway on 2015, and we did an environmental refresher on 2022. So it’s environmentally clear.”

The planning department reported that the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval unanimously and that no speakers registered opposition at the council public hearing. Staff recommended that at subdivision the developer create a lot of record for the area the RMA may need so the land would not be developed before a potential acquisition.

Action on the rezoning was taken on a motion and second; the mayor called the vote, and Miss Anna read the ordinance number into the record. The motion passed 5-0.

Because the property lies along the planned future expressway alignment, staff and the RMA framed the lot-of-record recommendation as a precaution to preserve purchase options for the regional authority. No construction plans or specific tenants were presented to the council during the hearing.

The council’s approval changes the property’s zoning designation from agricultural to light industrial; the planning department will require the developer to satisfy subdivision and permitting conditions before any construction occurs.