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Owner of Honeylocust Farms seeks zoning route to allow events in light industrial areas
Summary
Owner Ron Hawkins asked Rockwall City Council to direct staff to draft a Unified Development Code text amendment allowing banquet/event facilities by specific use permit in light industrial districts; staff explained the three-step process and council indicated general support but took no formal action.
Ron Hawkins, owner of Land Art (also known as Honeylocust Farms), asked the Rockwall City Council on Jan. 5 to consider a path that would allow his property's event uses to comply with the city's Unified Development Code.
City planning staff (Ryan, speaker 12) told council the property is zoned agricultural and contains a legally nonconforming nursery; the current zoning does not allow banquet facilities in the light industrial district. Staff recommended initiating a text amendment to the Unified Development Code to allow a banquet or event hall in a light industrial district by specific use permit (SUP). Ryan said the approach would keep consistency with the future land‑use map while giving council discretion over parking, operations and compatibility in individual cases.
Hawkins said the site has hosted classes and small events for decades and that recent inspections raised the need for a certificate of occupancy and related site improvements such as a concrete driveway and detention pond. "We've had several events other than particular landscape events," he told council, describing occasional weddings and gatherings of up to about 100'to'125 people.
Council members asked technical and policy questions about parking, compatibility with surrounding uses and whether an SUP would change the underlying zoning. Ryan explained that an SUP does not replace zoning: the property would first need to be rezoned to light industrial, then an SUP could be applied for to allow event uses under specific conditions. Several council members indicated support to have staff draft the amendment and move the item to the public hearing process (several "head nods"); the mayor said no formal action was taken at that meeting.
Council members also cautioned about setting a precedent for the 276 corridor, emphasizing careful review of compatibility and long‑term redevelopment goals.
