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Fulshear board grants LCISD relief from parking-island requirement at planned junior high
Summary
The Fulshear Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously approved a variance allowing a planned junior-high site to omit 21 required parking-island features, with staff and the applicant citing cost, water use and maintenance burdens.
The Fulshear Zoning Board of Adjustment on Nov. 20 unanimously approved a variance allowing a proposed junior-high site in Reserve A (32550 Tiger Run) to avoid installing 21 parking-lot islands required under the city’s Coordinated Development Ordinance.
The request, listed on the agenda as an application by Michael Hoy, was presented as part of the Lamar Consolidated ISD bond program. The applicant said the islands would cost about $10,700 each — roughly $225,000 total — and would add an estimated 49,000 gallons of irrigation water use annually and about 34 hours per year of maintenance time. "We would need 21 parking lot islands...that puts the district at a financial burden of accommodating $225,000 to procure and install these islands," the applicant said in the hearing.
City planning staff recommended approval, saying the project provides extensive landscaping along street frontages and the west side that "meets the spirit of the ordinance" though it uses a different approach than the letter of the parking-island requirement. Staff also cited potential safety concerns: planting islands could obscure sight lines for parking-lot cameras, affecting student security.
Board members discussed the statutory standard for variances under Section 2.11 of the Texas Local Government Code and whether a strict financial hardship was demonstrated. The presiding officer said while the code’s financial-hardship test might not be fully met, the proposed landscaping and the large scale of school parking lots made the requested relief reasonable in this instance. A motion to approve the variance passed unanimously.
What happens next: The board’s action grants the zoning relief requested; any implementation (construction, permitting, or adjustments to school plans) will proceed through the city’s planning and permitting process. The planning department contact listed on the public notice was provided for further inspection of the application materials.
Provenance: Topic introduced at SEG 077; applicant presentation and costs at SEG 137–146; staff recommendation at SEG 210–224; motion and vote at SEG 297–316.
