Planning commission forwards zoning ordinance updates on trees, medical hours and NAICS codes to city council

Manvel Planning & Zoning Commission members voted unanimously to forward recommended amendments to the city council on landscaping and tree preservation, hours-of-operation conditions for certain SUPs, and adoption of the 2022 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.

The changes would (1) create a tree-preservation and tree-removal permitting process that emphasizes protection of mature trees and provides replacement and tree-preservation credit options; (2) allow exceptions to SUP hours-of-operation limits when a state requirement mandates 24-hour operation for medical or personal-care-service uses; and (3) replace references to the 2007 NAICS codes in the zoning ordinance with the 2022 NAICS version. A draft redline and a data sheet comparing the 2007 and 2022 NAICS versions were included in the packet.

The recommended landscaping and tree-preservation measures remove a previous requirement that trees be planted in the right-of-way, prohibit routine planting in the ROW, and change parking-lot planting density from one tree per five parking spaces to one tree per 10 spaces; they also add frontage planting requirements and a required landscaping buffer between residential and nonresidential uses. Staff told the commission the ordinance focuses on larger mature trees and includes exemptions for certain categories (for example, trees required as part of an approved development plan). The parks board recommended adding pine species to the list of protected trees; staff said it recommends including that change.

On SUP hours, staff proposed amending ordinance language so that where a state law or licensing requirement requires 24-hour operation, the SUP condition may reflect that requirement for both medical users and personal-care-service users (a category that includes massage businesses). Staff said the change stems from a recent SUP application involving an emergency room and other medical users that have state-mandated 24-hour staffing.

Staff characterized the NAICS update as largely technical: code restructures and some name changes that staff said do not alter how uses are allowed under the land-use table. The draft ordinance packet included a redline version and an explanatory memo.

Commissioners discussed the proposals and heard that the parks board had reviewed the tree-preservation language favorably. After discussion, a motion to forward a positive recommendation to city council for all three ordinance changes carried 7–0.

The ordinance language in the public-hearing notice included a penalty provision of up to $2,000 per day for violations; staff indicated enforcement details will be part of the final ordinance before council review.

Next steps: the commission’s positive report will go to the city council for final action.