Port Arthur council hears three zoning measures, residents raise truck-noise and diesel-fume concerns

Port Arthur City Council opened public hearings May 6 on three planning items: a rezoning request to make roughly 220.7 acres a planned development for single-family homes and neighborhood retail; a citywide zoning text amendment to allow automobile-related uses in the city's light and heavy industrial districts; and a specific-use permit request for a proposed neighborhood shopping center (one half proposed as a washeteria) at 3645 and 3635 30th Ninth Street.

Why it matters: the measures change where and how housing and vehicle-related businesses can locate in Port Arthur, and residents raised public-safety and livability concerns — especially near low-density neighborhoods and along rail corridors.

City planner presentation and scope Miss Milo, the city staff presenter, told council the map-amendment application (filed Jan. 7, 2025) would rezone Lots 5–7, Block 10, Tract 1 (about 220.7 acres) from commercial retail to a planned development district to allow about 35 single-family lots plus several small retail/strip centers adjacent to Memorial High School. Milo said Planning & Zoning held a special meeting Feb. 20 and recommended approval 3-0; no written objections were received in the 200-foot notice radius. Milo walked council through the conceptual rendering and said the…