Lewisville council approves new zoning rule requiring special permits for some warehouses and manufacturers

Lewisville City Council on a unanimous vote approved an amendment to the city’s Unified Development Code that generally requires a special use permit for new or expanded warehouse distribution facilities and light, medium or heavy intensity manufacturing uses proposed within 500 feet of lower‑intensity properties.

The ordinance, adopted after a public hearing and months of staff and stakeholder conversations, is intended to reduce conflicts between newer industrial redevelopment and established residential, office and retail uses in areas the city rezoned for industrial decades ago.

“This requirement would not apply to buildings or structures with a current certificate of occupancy for warehouse distribution facility or light, medium or heavy intensity manufacturing uses,” Richard Luebke, Lewisville planning director, told the council in a presentation explaining the amendments and a set of proposed exemptions. He said staff also recommended additional exemptions for properties with current engineering site plans, concept plans under review as of March 3, 2025, or buildings smaller than 25,000 square feet.

The need for the change, staff said, reflects market pressures that are converting older retail and office parcels into large industrial sites. Luebke showed maps demonstrating how early zoning left large swaths of the city with industrial zoning that now abut residential neighborhoods. “The economics today support redevelopment of existing retail and office sites for warehouse distribution and manufacturing,” he said.

Developers and property owners who spoke at the public hearing warned that overly broad rules would chill reinvestment and complicate routine re‑tenanting of existing industrial buildings. Robert Allen, regional director for First Industrial Realty Trust, said his company had invested roughly $80 million to develop buildings in the city and feared losing the ability to lease the space if new approvals were required for common tenant turnovers.

Councilmembers and staff emphasized that the special use permit process (SUP) is intended as a case‑by‑case compatibility review and that SUP review can run concurrently with engineering site‑plan review so it would not necessarily add months to a project schedule. Luebke also described notice and outreach the city performed: two rounds of postcards to roughly 2,400 property owners and more than 200 stakeholder inquiries; staff received 49 written oppositions, which he said represented under 7 percent of the notified properties.

After council members asked clarifying questions about certificates of occupancy, site‑plan records and the 25,000 square‑foot carve‑out, the council voted to approve the ordinance with the staff‑recommended additional exemptions and language clarifying that a project that later requires a new engineering site plan would be subject to the 500‑foot rule.

The ordinance passage includes both the new setback requirement and the procedural language governing the SUP review. Supporters said the rule gives the city tools to evaluate compatibility and infrastructure when large industrial redevelopments are proposed near existing neighborhoods and businesses; opponents said the exceptions are essential to preserve existing investment and predictable leasing operations.

Councilmembers did not identify a specific timeline for enforcement changes beyond the effective date in the adopted ordinance.

Votes at a glance: The council voted unanimously to approve the UDC amendments. The Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended approval 6–1 on Jan. 21, 2025.

Where it stands next: The adopted ordinance takes effect per the city’s usual ordinance effective date; staff will continue to work with property owners and applicants to implement the exemption and SUP procedures described by Luebke.