Commission recommends rezoning at 3798 Tabor Road, removes allowance for portables

The Bryan Planning and Zoning Commission on June 19 recommended approval of a rezoning request for 3798 Tabor Road, approving a Planned Development Industrial (PDI) designation and removing staff language that would have allowed portable commercial structures.

Michaela Dickinson, a city staff planner, told commissioners the property is currently zoned Residential District 5000 and that the proposed PDI would mirror the industrial district’s uses with additional requirements for a 7.5-foot buffer, increased landscaping (17% instead of the typical 15%), screening of dumpster pads and an opaque wooden fence along the residential lot line to the north. Dickinson said the plan limits building area to a cumulative 5,000 square feet, restricts flat roofs and prohibits noxious uses such as adult entertainment, gaming establishments and junkyards. "Staff recommends approval of the proposed PDI district zoning as requested," she said.

Commissioners asked whether the use would involve heavy equipment and if the proposed setbacks and fencing would adequately protect adjacent homes. Dickinson said the applicant described the use as an office-showroom-warehouse with a laydown yard and no heavy machinery, and that the proposed landscaping and fence are intended to mitigate impacts on neighboring residences.

Applicant agent Lehi Jones, of J4 Engineering, affirmed the owner’s plan to install slats or fabric in the chain-link fence for security and use an opaque wooden fence on the residential side for screening. Jones also said the property owner does not anticipate heavy equipment on site. "No heavy equipment," Jones said; regarding portables he added, "Portables. We don't need them. Don't want them." Commissioners accepted that position and one moved to recommend approval to the Bryan City Council while removing the language permitting portables and other movable temporary structures from the staff report.

The motion to recommend approval of rezoning case RZ25DashO2 and to adopt the staff report as the commission’s findings carried unanimously after a second and brief discussion. The commission’s action forwards the recommendation to the Bryan City Council, which makes the final decision.

The hearing record shows staff reported no public feedback on the rezoning application. The next procedural step is consideration by the Bryan City Council; a final council hearing date was not announced at the commission meeting.