Planning staff outlines broad UDC text amendments to comply with SB 8 40 and other state bills

Planning staff presented a multipart text amendment to the Unified Development Code (UDC) intended to align local rules with recent changes in Texas law, including Senate Bill 8 40 and Senate Bill 15.

The presenter told commissioners the amendment touches many UDC articles (1, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 16, 22, 23, 26, 30 and Appendix W) and summarized three primary takeaways from SB 8 40. Staff quoted from the statute’s effect on local authority, saying in part that "a municipality shall allow mixed use residential use and development or multifamily residential use and development in a zoning classification that allows office, commercial, retail, warehouse, or mixed use development as an allowed use under that classification." The presenter said the law also limits the city’s ability to adopt local density, height or setback requirements that are more restrictive than certain state-prescribed thresholds and allows administrative approval of developments that meet state standards without additional governing-body action.

Key proposed changes staff described include: - Adding multifamily and mixed-use residential as permitted in some commercial, retail and industrial base districts where state law now requires it, while clarifying which dimensional or density standards the city may still apply. - Updating sign-posting requirements for rezoning to meet minimum state sign-size and posting rules and adding a requirement to publish legal notices on the city’s website in addition to newspaper notices. - Revising parking standards: the city will treat 1 off-street space per unit as the minimum it may require for certain small-lot developments (per SB 15) while retaining preferred parking standards (for example, 1.5 spaces for one-bedroom units) as non-mandatory guidance. - Creating explicit administrative review pathways for multifamily and mixed-use site plans that meet applicable regulations, and clarifying denial/appeal routes when developments do not meet standards. - Modifying Appendix W (residential development standards) to remove provisions the city may no longer require under state law and to preserve local standards where state law permits.

Staff also described SB 15 changes for small-lot housing: the statute establishes minimum lot-size and setback limits the city may not exceed for small-lot developments and sets limits on required open space and parking for those products. Staff said the city will require a minimum alley/35-foot street cross section for small-lot subdivisions of five or more lots to ensure emergency access and to locate required parking off the alley, addressing practical concerns about narrow lots and curbside parking.

Other administrative changes include a new $50 fee for required rezoning signs (to cover larger, state-mandated sign size), clarifying site-plan and fee tables for multifamily administrative reviews, and removing duplicate fees or services the city does not provide. Staff noted that the planning & zoning commission will no longer serve on a statutorily defined advisory committee and that the advisory committee will be separately appointed by city council.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about how administrative approvals will interact with variance requests and about exemptions (for example, airport or military buffers and heavy industrial zones). Staff said exemptions exist and will be applied. Several commissioners discussed the potential local implications — for example, concerns about loss of local control versus opportunities for additional housing supply — and staff said they have been engaging property owners and plan to continue outreach during the comp-plan update.

The presentation concluded with staff offering to answer additional questions as the code amendments are refined for public hearings. No formal action was taken during the staff briefing; the amendments will be processed through formal ordinance hearings and city council consideration.