Committee reviews new state law allowing city review of proposed new cemeteries; staff asked to study local impacts

The Planning Community Development Committee on Jan. 23 received a presentation from the Development Services Department on state and local rules governing proposed new cemeteries, after a 2023 state law changed the city's prior 5-mile restriction.

Mike Shannon, director of Development Services, told the committee that before HB 783 took effect in September 2023 San Antonio effectively prohibited new cemeteries within five miles; the state law allows property owners to apply for approval and gives cities authority to establish local approval requirements. Shannon said the city’s Unified Development Code (UDC) already requires a specific-use authorization for new cemeteries and that state statute requires a cemetery map be filed with the county clerk.

“Before HB 783 … we were really banned from any new cemeteries in San Antonio within 5 miles,” Shannon said, summarizing the change in authority.

Shannon said other large Texas cities (Austin, Dallas, El Paso) follow similar procedures: a zoning/special-use approval, subdivision platting and a cemetery map filing; Houston has not yet modified its procedures. Committee members discussed practical local issues: school-district impacts, traffic and access, infrastructure capacity in southern and rural neighborhoods, and whether the city's standard 200-foot notification radius sufficiently informs residents of rural properties where neighbors may be much farther apart.

Councilwoman Villagran urged the department to inventory existing cemetery acreage within city limits and to analyze where a cemetery might or might not be compatible with surrounding land uses. “I want us to kind of take a look at this as a committee and say, what do we do next?” she said, asking staff whether the committee should convene a stakeholder group or direct staff to prepare recommendations.

Committee members suggested a March follow-up. No formal ordinance or zoning decision was made at the meeting; members asked Development Services to return with a staff analysis of cemetery locations, acreage and recommended criteria for special-use authorizations, and to identify potential external experts or stakeholder groups if the committee decides to convene one.

Shannon described the procedural steps a landowner would face: subdivision through the planning process, filing a cemetery map with the county clerk (state law), canvassing other departments and agencies (SAWS, CPS, TxDOT), and proceeding through the city’s zoning commission and City Council for a specific-use authorization if the property owner proceeds with a request.

The committee did not vote on an ordinance; it directed staff to study inventory and compatibility questions and to return with findings and possible stakeholder recommendations.