Pearland planning commission deadlocks 3-3 on rezoning for McHard Road property

Pearland Planning and Zoning Commission members on Feb. 16 failed to recommend approval for a request to rezone about 13.256 acres south of McHard Road and west of Makawa Road from general commercial (GC) to M-1 (light industrial), after a motion to approve (ZON2025-0555) resulted in a 3-3 tie.

Planning staff told commissioners the site contains substantial areas in the floodway and in the 100- and 500-year floodplains and is identified as public use on the Future Land Use Map, and therefore "staff cannot recommend approval of the zone change request," said Katie, planning staff. Staff noted that while the property has frontage and utilities, the proposed M-1 zoning is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan's land-use designation.

Applicant Alex Quadra, who said his family has owned the land for more than a decade, told the commission the developable portion of the tract had been reduced by road construction and floodplain constraints and that his team had invested in engineering work to determine what is buildable. "We had, at that point, paid 60 plus thousand dollars to do a drainage study to figure out, hey, how much of this portion of this 3 acre site can we develop?" Quadra said, arguing that rezoning to M-1 would let future tenants use larger warehouse footprints without being constrained by GC's 25% office requirement.

Commissioners split along competing concerns. Commissioner Haskins voiced support for industrial uses on the tract given floodplain restrictions, saying he thought it "a great use of a piece of property" and that warehouse and distribution uses would be insurable. Other commissioners raised objections about allowing the full breadth of by-right M-1 uses next to existing residences and urged alternatives such as a conditional use permit (CUP) under the current GC zoning or a site-specific Planned Development with required buffers and design standards.

Technical feasibility and mitigation were central to the debate. Commissioners and staff said development would require substantial fill and drainage mitigation, and an engineering study or FEMA coordination (CLOMR/LOMR process) could change how much of the tract is buildable. The applicant said mitigation would have to come from the site and that, depending on the outcome, the developable area might be limited to one to a few acres rather than the full 13-acre parcel.

A motion to approve rezoning ZON2025-0555 was moved by Commissioner Fuertes and seconded by Commissioner Haskins but failed on a 3-3 vote, leaving the commission with no recommendation in favor of the rezoning. Staff reminded commissioners that the action before them was the straight rezoning request and that alternatives such as a CUP or PD would require new or different applications.

City staff noted City Council is scheduled to consider the item on Monday, March 16, 2026. The Planning & Zoning Commission's next meeting is scheduled for March 2.