Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves first readings to rezone former FIA building parcel and to add tobacco‑retailer rules
Summary
The council approved first readings to rezone a former FIA building site back to its original B‑1 local business zoning and to amend the zoning ordinance to define and regulate tobacco retailers, including a 1,000‑foot location requirement and special land use review.
Taylor City Council approved first readings Tuesday on two land‑use items: a rezoning case affecting a parcel on Ecourse Road and a zoning text amendment that adds a definition and new rules for tobacco retailers.
Case 25‑03Z concerns the former FIA building next to Taylor Meadows Golf Course on Ecourse Road. City staff said the parcel changed ownership and a conditional rezoning that had been tied to a specific development lapsed; the ordinance requires the city to process a formal rezoning to revert the property to its original B‑1 local business zoning. The planning commission recommended approval. Council held the first reading and carried the motion.
The council also approved a first reading of ZTA 25‑04, an amendment to Appendix A (Taylor Code of Ordinances) to add a definition for “tobacco store/shop,” to relocate the use into the adult‑use categories, and to add location and special review requirements. The text amendment would require tobacco retailers to meet a 1,000‑foot separation from churches, schools, parks and residential uses, add special land use and regulated land use review steps, require a site plan for review, and impose review standards such as traffic impact analysis. Planning staff said the change responds to a surge in applications for dedicated tobacco retailers and is intended to treat those uses as adult uses that require additional compatibility review.
A member of the public, Rich Pratt, asked whether the definition would capture locations that sell cigarettes as an accessory product; planning staff clarified that the ordinance targets businesses whose primary business is the sale of tobacco products or paraphernalia. The planning director and council thanked the planning department for undertaking a broader cleanup of the zoning code.
Both items advanced on first reading; further public hearings and a second reading will be required before final adoption.
Ending: Council members said existing tobacco businesses would become nonconforming uses under the amendment; staff said the ordinance allows re‑occupancy only if the exact same use is proposed, and that existing businesses are treated as nonconforming.
