Pearland zoning board unanimously approves variance for lift station at former Longwood Treatment Plant

The Pearland Zoning Board of Adjustments unanimously approved a variance July 24 to remove required plantings from the landscape buffer for a new lift station at the former Longwood Treatment Plant, 2727 Dixie Farm Road.

The variance allows the City of Pearland to omit overstory trees, understory trees and required shrubs from the 25-foot landscape buffer along the property line adjacent to a single-family subdivision because the buffer area falls within a 50-foot pipeline easement that contains existing utilities, staff said.

Why it matters: The city plans to decommission the Longwood wastewater treatment plant, install a lift station to pump wastewater to the Berry Rose wastewater treatment facility, and demolish buildings and pavement to five feet below grade and backfill the area as green space. Board members and nearby residents said the project is intended to reduce future flooding and the release of sewage that has affected adjacent properties.

Staff presentation and hardship finding Staff outlined the request as a variance from the Unified Development Code to eliminate required landscaping “within the buffer area between a nonresidential use and a residential use,” citing section 2252(a)(4) of the code. The staff report said the site was annexed in 1960, the Longwood…