Bellmead council weighs whether to allow front‑yard carports after small resident survey

City staff presented survey results and three options for regulating front‑yard carports, and the Bellmead City Council directed staff to gather historical ordinances and fiscal impacts before taking further action.

An unnamed staff presenter told the council the city received 207 survey responses out of roughly 4,000 water accounts, and summarized results saying respondents were split and generally wanted some design standards if carports were allowed. "If we were to allow carports these are some of the recommendations when you read all those comments that people would like," the presenter said, noting preferences for professionally constructed carports and standards for height, setbacks and design.

Residents who spoke during public comment urged consistent enforcement. Jeannie McKinney, who identified herself as a Bellemead resident, said, "I'm here to voice my opposition to carports. I don't think it'd be a good idea to have carports in our area." Miley Pulliam, who said she had a carport removed in 2016 for lacking a permit, said the city should "be consistent" and not selectively enforce rules.

Councilmembers questioned the survey's reach and the city's ability to verify ownership. One councilmember noted the 207 responses represented about 2% of the city's population and asked how many respondents were verified property owners; staff said they verified the majority through Macat but acknowledged online surveys can be gamed.

Code‑enforcement capacity was a recurring concern. Fred, the city’s director of community development, described the enforcement workflow—notice, reinspection and case filing—and said a recent code officer achieves roughly an 80% voluntary compliance rate. Councilmembers warned that adding a new regulatory program would increase workload: "We need to stop piling on all these extra projects to these code enforcement people unless we're gonna hire more people to enforce the things that we're already trying to enforce," one councilmember said.

Staff offered three paths for council direction: leave the rules as they are, remove restrictions in residential districts and allow carports broadly, or draft an ordinance that would restrict and regulate carports. The presenter warned the council the issue could be divisive and asked for clear direction. Council members asked staff to obtain the 1981 ordinance language that first added the residential prohibition, attach fiscal‑impact notes to any proposal and return with a draft and supporting materials for a future agenda.

The council did not take formal action at the meeting; staff will compile the historical ordinance text and fiscal impact estimates before the item returns for further consideration.