Council rezones 311 Laurel from multifamily-medium to downtown district after public hearing

The Friendswood City Council on Monday approved an ordinance to rezone a 0.289-acre parcel at 311 Laurel from multifamily residential medium density to the downtown district after a public hearing.

Aubrey Harvin, planning staff, summarized the request and told council the parcel is the last multifamily-medium-density property within the downtown boundary and that the request complies with the city’s future land use map; she said the Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on Jan. 9 and recommended approval by a 5–0 vote.

Troy Kennedy of Kennedy Architecture spoke for the property owner, saying the requested zoning “meets all of the criteria of the downtown district guidelines” and aligns with the downtown district program adopted by the city in February 2008.

Neighbor Tracyne Potee, who lives at 212 West Willowwick Avenue adjacent to the parcel, asked the council to deny the rezoning, saying agenda materials and maps included inaccuracies and that infrastructure and quality-of-life issues around drainage, sidewalks, parking, lighting and traffic should be resolved before commercial development.

Potee said parts of the applicant’s overlay on the aerial map appeared to lie over her garage and requested staff verify property lines; Harvin and other staff clarified that the apparent overlap was a map-layering/aerial alignment issue and not a legal survey error. Harvin added that the downtown district’s regulations include a 15-foot side setback adjacent to single-family residential, an 8-foot opaque fence requirement and landscaping within the buffer; she also noted the district is intended to enable small lots to be combined for mixed-use redevelopment with ground-floor commercial and upper-floor residential.

Council members asked staff whether a specific development plan exists; staff said no final plan has been filed but the applicant is considering combining the parcel with adjacent lots for a mixed-use project. Council discussed how the downtown district’s standards differ from the current multifamily medium density rules, including higher maximum building heights (up to 70 feet in the downtown district versus 40 feet for multifamily medium density) and larger setbacks under the downtown rules adjacent to single-family homes.

After discussion the council moved, seconded and voted to approve the zoning ordinance; the motion passed unanimously (specific vote counts were not provided in the meeting record).

Clarifying details: the property was described in the agenda as “311 Laurel, a 0.289 acre tract being part of Lot 16 of the Harvey and Stout subdivision … Friendswood, Galveston County, Texas.” Planning staff said the parcel had been zoned multifamily (and then multifamily medium density) since 1970/1979; Harvin said the downtown district overlay was adopted in 02/2008 and that nearby properties are already zoned downtown district.

Ending: The rezoning clears the way for future site-plan review; staff said any redevelopment will require subsequent site plans and required approvals to address drainage, setbacks, buffers and other development conditions.