Council approves planned-development zoning to allow one manufactured home, sets public-safety conditions

San Angelo City Council on a 5-2 vote approved first-reading planned-development (PD) zoning for a two-acre tract at 4673 Cristobal Road that permits a single manufactured home and the existing frame house on the property, but council added safety and development conditions aimed at limiting longer-term impacts on surrounding heavy-commercial land uses.

Aaron Benoit, director of Planning and Development Services, described the application as unusual: the property is currently zoned heavy commercial and the request sought a PD with an underlying "mobile home subdivision" classification so that a manufactured home could legally remain on the parcel. Benoit said the PD was narrowly tailored to two acres and would not change the zoning of adjacent heavy-commercial acreage.

Benoit said the Planning Commission recommended approval on a 5-1 vote after staff and the applicant negotiated conditions addressing parking, access, skirting and accessory structures. Staff recommended, and the planning commission approved, conditions including: improved parking surface for four spaces (compacted caliche or similar), ensuring emergency services access to the site, securing manufactured-home skirting to code (zoning section 501), limiting future occupiable structures on the two-acre tract, and placing accessory-structure limits consistent with the Ranch and Estate zoning standards recognized by the city for that site.

San Angelo Fire Chief Patrick Brody told council the site's existing gate measured roughly 13 feet and his department's minimum access width is 20 feet. "Our minimum access width is 20 feet, and I would like to see something written into this, that, a realistic timeline for the property owner to extend that gate and widen that gate from 13 to 20 feet so we have appropriate access," Brody said. On road surface, Brody said compacted caliche can support his ladder truck's weight but that asphalt or concrete is preferred for prolonged operations.

Council deliberations emphasized competing policy goals: city staff said the broader area is planned for heavy commercial/industrial uses and staff's planning preference would be to retain heavy commercial zoning, but members also noted the immediate housing/occupancy facts and recommended conditions to mitigate emergency-access and long-term land-use conflicts.

Councilmember Erin (name/role per transcript) made a motion to approve with the additional requirement that the gate be widened per the fire chief's specifications no later than Oct. 31, 2025, and that staff work with the fire marshal on specifics; other councilmembers seconded the motion and it passed 5-2.

Ending

The PD approval is limited to the two-acre tract described in the PD ordinance; staff said the remainder of the owner's acreage remains heavy commercial. Council directed staff to enforce the PD conditions and to work with emergency services to verify required access improvements by the specified date.