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Council approves multiple ordinances; drone sites renewed amid unanimous votes, thrift store SUP denied
Summary
At its Feb. 24 meeting the North Richland Hills City Council approved a slate of routine and regulatory measures including two temporary drone landing-field permits and updates to ambulance and notary fees, while denying a contested thrift-store special-use permit at Diamond Lock Plaza.
North Richland Hills — The City Council handled a range of routine and substantive items Feb. 24, approving several ordinances and project authorizations by unanimous or supermajority votes and denying one contested special-use permit.
Key outcomes at a glance:
- Special-use permit denial (Diamond Lock): The council approved a motion to deny the request for a secondhand goods dealer at 6350 Glenview Drive (ordinance 3,894, case ZC24-0121). Motion to deny carried 5-2 (mover: Councilmember Russell Mitchell; second: Mayor Pro Tem Kelvin Dupree). See separate article for full coverage of the public hearing and neighborhood concerns.
- Drone delivery sites renewed: The council extended special-use permits for Wing Aviation’s drone landing-field operations at Walmart locations (ordinances 3,895 and 3,896). Both measures passed 7-0. The approvals extend ground-operation permits while leaving aircraft routing, altitude and in-flight operations under FAA jurisdiction. As previously conditioned, the sites will convert temporary generator power to permanent shore power within one year.
- Ambulance billing restructure approved: Council adopted ordinance 3,897 to move the city’s ambulance billing from an itemized schedule to a bundled fee structure aligned with regional market practice. The change, adopted 7-0 with an effective date captured in the motion as March 1, 2025, is intended to improve reimbursement from insurers while maintaining a resident discount.
- Notary fees established: The council passed ordinance 3,898 (7-0) to add a notary-fee schedule to the city code. The fees mirror state-authorized maximums and were recommended by the Library Board to offset administrative costs for library-provided notary services.
- Preventative street maintenance program approved: The City Council approved the 2025 preventative street maintenance program, combining 2024 and 2025 work for roughly 78 streets in a $6.4 million program focused on asphalt overlays and targeted rehabilitation; motion passed 7-0. Staff said overlays were prioritized to arrest deterioration before more costly reconstruction is required.
- Other routine actions: The consent agenda was approved 7-0; Council approved a resolution appointing Mark Trevino to the Zoning Adjustment Board (7-0); the council authorized the city secretary to participate in a HUD/DCTA city clerk pilot (7-0).
Votes labeled in the public audio and agenda record match these outcomes; where state notice rules applied (for the Diamond Lock item, written opposition exceeded the 20% threshold), staff flagged the higher approval requirement in advance. For FAA-regulated in-flight matters, staff and applicants noted the city’s authority covers only ground‑side operations and site screening, not airspace routing.
The council will publish official minutes and ordinance texts; staff said project-specific follow-up (e.g., conversion to shore power at drone nests, scheduling of street work) will be handled by the respective departments and tracked in the capital improvement schedule.
