Rockdale planning commission backs rezoning of two San Gabriel parcels to allow manufactured-home park with PUD conditions

The Rockdale Planning and Zoning Commission on June 2 voted to recommend that City Council rezone two parcels on San Gabriel Street from R3PUD (residential multiplex planned unit development) to M2 (manufactured‑home park), provided the council adopt additional PUD standards staff proposed.

Grant Ruiz, the applicant’s representative, told the commission the two contiguous tracts total about 3.945 acres and historically were zoned for manufactured housing. “These parcels were zoned MH1/MH2 prior to the R3 overlay,” Ruiz said, adding that the site still contains pad locations, pole‑mounted transformers and hookups. He presented a conceptual plan for what he described as a professionally managed community and said the manufactured‑home option would be lighter in density and traffic than a previously proposed 72‑unit apartment plan.

City planning staff urged adding a plan‑unit‑development overlay to the M2 designation to raise local standards beyond what the baseline manufactured‑home ordinance requires. Ben, the city planner, told commissioners that, under the current ordinance, units placed in 2026 could be no older than 2021 and would need HUD approval and underpinning within 30 days of placement. He recommended masonry walls along St. Gabriel, entry signage complying with the sign code, enhanced landscaping (two trees and four shrubs per unit rather than the ordinance minimum), an asphalt road with curb and gutter paid by the developer, decorative street lights, and provisions to require a property‑management/maintenance mechanism.

Commissioners discussed enforcement limits and long‑term maintenance. Staff said the city’s code‑enforcement authority and municipal‑court process are available for substandard properties but that a PUD could include enforceable maintenance standards, and an HOA or contract terms could provide additional leverage if applicants agree to them.

After deliberation, the commission moved and seconded a recommendation to council that would approve the rezones with the staff’s PUD additions; the motion carried. The commission took the same approach and voted to recommend approval with identical PUD conditions for the second, separately noticed parcel at 915 San Gabriel.

What the commission approved was a recommendation to City Council; final zoning changes require council action. The commission did not record individual roll‑call vote tallies or list the motion maker and seconder in the transcript; the action was recorded as carried on the floor.