Wichita Falls adopts Heart of the Falls overlay to ease redevelopment rules

The Wichita Falls City Council on Sept. 16 approved an ordinance creating a special overlay district for the Heart of the Falls neighborhood to remove regulatory barriers that staff said have limited redevelopment of older lots. Fabian, a city planning staff member, presented the proposal and said the overlay would apply roughly from Seymour Highway to Kell Boulevard and from Brook Avenue to Kemp Boulevard.

City planning staff described the overlay as a regulatory tool to promote rehabilitation and reuse of vacant structures by loosening parking requirements for some nonresidential uses, encouraging accessory dwelling units for single-family lots, and expanding developable area on lots laid out in the 1920s. Fabian said the proposal also adjusts zoning designations along Ninth and Tenth Street, the Kemp corridor and neighborhood-commercial corridors on Monroe and Harrison Streets to allow more commercial activity.

The planning and zoning commission and the Heart of the Falls revitalization committee recommended the amendment after public events at Bridwell Park and a library informational meeting, Fabian said. The council voted to approve the ordinance; the clerk noted a motion and second and the mayor called for the ayes, after which the motion passed.

Supporters at the staff level said the changes are intended to reduce regulatory obstacles—particularly minimum parking and lot-development restrictions—so vacant and underused properties can be adapted or rebuilt. Council members did not ask for additional public hearings during the meeting; no amendments were recorded on the council floor.

The overlay will apply only within the specific geographic boundaries described by staff. The planning department said it vetted the ordinance through the normal rezone and public-engagement process and that further development proposals in the area will still require applicable permits and approvals.