Cedar Park moves to align zoning notice and voting procedures with Texas House Bill 24; city to standardize signage and update fee

City staff presented a first reading Aug. 7 to amend Cedar Park’s zoning ordinance and fee schedule to align with House Bill 24, which changed state requirements for public notice and altered voting thresholds when rezoning proposals increase residential units.

Andresna Davila (Development Services) told the council HB 24 preserves the 3/4‑vote trigger tied to opposition petitions in many cases but establishes that when a rezoning will allow more residential units, the petition threshold is calculated by the number of property owners and requires 60% of property owners surrounding the area to trigger a majority‑of‑council vote rather than a 3/4 vote. Davila said the city is simplifying local code language by referencing the state statute directly.

HB 24 also requires certain public notice practices. Davila said the city will post required public notices on its website and adopt a uniform sign size for on‑site notice (consistent with state law). Because the state sign size is larger than Cedar Park’s existing signs, staff proposed increasing the fee applicants pay for signage and adjusting the sign spacing so fewer signs are needed along long frontages. The proposed changes would take effect Sept. 1 if adopted.

The Planning & Zoning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of the code changes. The council opened the public hearing Aug. 7, heard brief comments from the chamber, closed the hearing and left the item for future adoption.

Davila said the sign‑posting standards and the website posting are already common practice in Cedar Park but the code update formalizes them and changes the fee schedule so costs of larger signs are borne by applicants.