At its Aug. 12 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, city consultants from Snyder and Associates presented a draft 169 South Employment Overlay District intended to guide future development along the U.S. 169 corridor in Smithville.

The overlay is intended to implement goals in Smithville’s comprehensive plan by encouraging mixed-use and employment-oriented development, including multifamily housing, small-scale manufacturing and education- or bioscience-oriented businesses, while reserving heavier industrial uses elsewhere.

Julie Cruz, senior planner with Snyder and Associates, opened the presentation: “It’s not complete. We expect there to be some changes and get some feedback from the commission this evening.” The consultants summarized prior public engagement (beginning Aug. 26, 2024, for internal review and a public website launch on Feb. 7, 2025) and showed three scenario diagrams that emphasize higher intensity near Highway 169 with stepped-down residential to the rear.

Key features discussed by staff and consultants include:
- Zoning approach: the overlay will layer on top of existing base districts (R-1 through R-3 and B-1 through B-3), allowing applicants to use standard base zoning or propose form-based elements in the overlay. The draft intentionally excludes an underlying industrial base district and excludes B-4 from the overlay so that heavier industrial and certain downtown-style commercial uses remain directed to other parts of the city.
- Uses and limits: the draft includes definitions for live-work units, micro-manufacturing and cottage industries. Micro- or cottage manufacturing was discussed as intentionally limited in scale (the draft caps production/retail areas at roughly 5,000 square feet for micromanufacturing and about 1,000 square feet for cottage retail uses). These limits are intended to allow small-scale production without attracting large industrial facilities.
- Form and intensity: the overlay contemplates form-based elements (for example, build-to lines instead of conventional setbacks) in the most intense corridor areas (transect/“T4–T6” style zones in the draft). Public feedback shown to the commission favored 1–4 story buildings; “5 or more stories was not preferred,” consultants said during the presentation.
- Process and thresholds: projects over roughly 2 acres in the overlay will be required to submit a concept plan as part of the rezoning/concept review process; standard subdivision and building code requirements will still apply.
- Parking and building design: the draft offers some relief from typical parking minimums for retail and restaurant uses in exchange for creating a more walkable, mixed-use environment; staff noted the draft parking ratios are lower than those used in conventional business parks. The draft also calls for minimum transparency for ground-floor façades and flagged the need to coordinate any changes with the city’s sign code.
- Public notice and application costs: the draft follows existing notice rules for zoning changes; staff reminded the commission that state law requires notice to property owners within 185 feet of a proposal and that certified-mail notices currently cost about $10 each, a cost borne initially by the city and billed back to applicants.

Jack (city staff) summarized the policy rationale and enforcement emphasis, saying that the overlay is designed to permit “flex” uses that have an industrial character without creating traditional light-industrial districts. He added that enforcement and clear definitions will be critical once the overlay standards are finalized.

Commission discussion focused on live-work definitions, how to manage occupancy and parking for small businesses operating in residentially scaled buildings, the preferred building heights and whether design or floor/height metrics should be regulated by feet or by number of floors. Commissioners also discussed incentives for workforce/affordable housing tied to increased density; staff noted that any such incentive would require clear definitions and likely additional policy work.

No rezoning or formal action on the overlay was taken at the meeting. Staff said the draft ordinance will be revised to incorporate the commission’s comments, cleaned up for spelling and duplication issues, and returned for a formal public hearing and action in October. The project page and meeting timeline are posted on the city website for public review.