Tomball council approves neighborhood-retail rezoning for South Cherry Street spice shop on first reading

The Tomball City Council on Sept. 15 voted 4-0 on first reading to rezone a 0.336-acre property at 1710 South Cherry Street from Single-Family 9 to Neighborhood Retail so the owners can open a boutique spice shop. The action amended an original motion that would have rezoned the property to General Retail and instead adopted the Planning & Zoning Commission’s recommendation for Neighborhood Retail. The rezoning vote was taken after a public hearing in which the applicants and a development representative spoke.

City planning staff said the site at 1710 South Cherry sits north of Real Life Ministries Church, with single-family homes across Cherry Street and undeveloped land to the south and west. The city’s future land-use designation for the parcel is mixed use with medium-density residential, and planning staff said Neighborhood Retail is a lower-intensity nonresidential zoning district compatible with that designation. Planning and Zoning recommended Neighborhood Retail in lieu of the applicants’ requested General Retail. The commission and staff noted issues such as adequate parking and allowable uses in the city’s retail districts during review; the record shows two comment forms were submitted — one in favor and one in opposition.

Applicant Cheryl Murchison, who told the council she and her family operate a local spice business, said she intends the site to be a community hub offering high-quality specialty spices and occasional cooking classes. "Our whole purpose of trying to do this is because I want to bring community together," Murchison said during the hearing. Gary Malula, a development representative who said he is working with the applicants, described the proposal as a small, boutique retail conversion of an existing single-family structure and said the plan does not change the building footprint.

Planning staff reminded the council of a state/local notification rule that would require a supermajority if the council chose General Retail because more than 20% of properties within 200 feet were recorded in opposition; choosing Neighborhood Retail required only a simple majority. Councilman Dunnegan successfully moved to amend the motion to Neighborhood Retail; the amended motion carried 4-0 on first reading.

The record for this item includes the city’s zoning case materials and the Planning & Zoning recommendation. The ordinance was adopted on first reading; further readings or final adoption steps were not specified on the record.