Laredo planning panel sends proposed gas-station buffer ordinance back to staff after extensive public hearing

The City of Laredo Planning & Zoning Commission voted to send a proposed ordinance that would impose distance limits between gasoline stations and residential districts, schools and day-care facilities back to staff for additional study.

The ordinance, which staff said was drafted following a City Council directive and modeled in part on language other Texas cities use, would create a graduated buffer (different distances tied to underground storage tank capacity) intended to prevent certain gasoline facilities from locating near sensitive uses. Staff told the commission the draft measures distances from property line to property line and offered distance bands of roughly 100–500 feet depending on tank capacity. Commissioners and members of the public repeatedly asked staff to clarify which measuring method would apply and whether existing developments would be grandfathered.

The commission’s decision followed more than an…