The Abilene City Council approved a series of routine and land-use items, including a city-owned annexation, multiple conditional-use permits, zoning changes and appointments to city boards.

Key actions taken by the council included approval of the consent agenda (items 4'8), final reading of an annexation of 440.2 acres near the Hamby Wastewater Plant (item 9), conditional-use permits for a 150-foot monopole (CUP 2024-11, item 10) and for a tattoo/permanent-makeup business in a plan development district (CUP 2024-12, item 11), an amendment to the Land Development Code to allow certain off-site "top 3" advertisement signs in south downtown areas (Ordinance Amendment 2024-02, item 12), and several rezonings and plan-development requests (items 13'15). The meeting concluded with board appointments (item 18).

Annexation and conditional-use items
Assistant City Manager Michael Rice presented item 9 for final reading, describing the annexation of 440.2 acres near the Hamby Wastewater Plant. Rice said the property is city-owned and that statutory annexation requirements had been met. No speakers testified during the public hearing and the council voted to approve the annexation on final reading.

Tim Littlejohn, director of planning and development services, presented several land-use items. For item 10 (CUP 2024-11), agent Laddie Galloway and Titan Towers requested a conditional-use permit for a 150-foot monopole at 2560 X Barrel Street to add carrier capacity for AT&T and other wireless providers. Littlejohn said notifications included one in favor and one opposed; Planning & Zoning recommended approval and the council approved the permit.

Item 11 (CUP 2024-12) was a conditional-use permit for a permanent-makeup/tattoo salon in PD-155 at 4601 Antaly Road. The applicant's agent and the tenant, who identified the business as Glow Up Parlor, described restrictions in a plan of operations including limiting tattoo services after 6 p.m.; P&Z recommended approval subject to that plan and the council approved the permit.

Sign standards and zoning
Littlejohn also presented an amendment (Ordinance Amendment 2024-02) to create development standards for a new "top 3" off-site advertisement sign type, including a 50-square-foot maximum, a 200-foot setback from residential uses, a limit of one sign per parcel and specified allowed streets. Staff said the change implements direction from council in October 2024 and that the downtown association and local businesses were consulted. The council approved the amendment; Councilman McAllister recorded an abstention while the remaining members voted in favor.

Other zoning cases the council approved on the agenda:
- Zoning case 2024-32: Rezone about 2.59 acres from PD-28 to General Commercial at 43100 Southwest Drive (Chick-fil-A, item 13); P&Z recommended approval and the council approved.
- Zoning case 2024-35: Rezone about 64.24 acres from A-O to PD-191 at 7501 Old Forest Hill Road (Hummingbird Hill LLC, item 14); P&Z recommended approval subject to a concept plan and ordinance conditions and the council approved.
- Zoning case 2024-36: Rezone approximately 134.86 acres from agricultural open space to a mix of general retail, general commercial and multifamily at (Denali extension, item 15); P&Z recommended approval and the council approved.

Appointments
Item 18 covered appointments and reappointments to various city boards. The council opened a public hearing; a resident spoke in support of acknowledging board members by name. The council then approved the listed appointments.

Votes
Most items passed on unanimous voice votes recorded as "All yeses" in the meeting transcript. The off-site sign amendment passed with one abstention (Councilman McAllister). The annexation and the CUPs passed after public hearings with no recorded opposition large enough to block approval.

No fiscal appropriations or ordinance details beyond those noted were included in the public presentations on the record; staff indicated notices and required procedures would follow for annexation and for implementation of code changes.

Items voted on at this meeting that were not discussed at length in public comment were recorded as approved by council vote as described above.