Planning and Zoning

TEXAS RESOLUTION NO. 810 RESOLUTION ADOPTING AN ANNEXATION PLAN FOR THE CITY

Since 1956, the City of Sulphur Springs has planned for its future with a Comprehensive Plan and has utilized zoning as a tool to regulate and control development within the City limits.  A Comprehensive Plan is a long term vision for the community that includes components relating to land use, transportation, infrastructure, and other aspects that impact the quality of life in communities.  The primary purpose of zoning is organize and allocate land uses in a way that promotes orderly growth, protects public health and safety, and enhances the overall well-being of a community.  The Comprehensive Plan is often the most overlooked and undervalued element of zoning administration.  A strong community-based plan with a future land use component with land use goals make zoning decisions easier to implement.  Comprehensive plans are developed through community engagement and support to create consensus of the communities needs, wants, and desires combined with population projections, infrastructure adequacy, and recommended densities.

The Planning & Zoning Commission is a 5 member appointed body comprised of citizens that volunteer to serve the community.  The Planning & Zoning Commission plays a crucial role in the decision making processes related to land use, development, and community planning.  They are primarily involved in the following matters:

• Development and adoption of comprehensive plans
• Recommending, developing, and updating zoning ordinances
• Reviewing and recommending zoning changes to property within the City
• Reviewing subdivisions and making recommendations to the City Council within the City and its Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ).
• Advisory role to the City Council on other development matters

• the height, bulk, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures
• the percentage of a lot that may be occupied
• the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces
• population density
• the location and use of buildings, other structures, and land for business, industrial, residential, or other purposes
• the pumping, extraction, and use of groundwater by persons other than retail public utilities

Traditional or "euclidean" zoning is sometimes known as pyramidal zoning which are single land uses categorized into separate, distinct zones based on their primary functions such as residential, commercial or industrial.  This type of regulation places the most protection and restrictions on residential land uses, less on commercial uses, and even lesser restrictions on industrial uses.  In a pyramid, industrial would be the base, commercial would be the middle, and residential would be on top of the pyramid.  Each category offers a specific range of uses allowed in each category.

The City of Sulphur Springs currently utilizes a cumulative zoning system, which is a variation of the pyramid.  It is less protective of the various land uses but does offer the highest level of protection for single family residential uses when they are placed in a residential zoning district.  If you move down the pyramid, it offers more flexibility meaning that the uses at the top of the pyramid can slide down the pyramid but it cannot move up the pyramid.  For example, in a commercially zoned area, it allows multifamily or even single family residential uses along with commercial uses since they are higher up the pyramid.  However, it does not work the other way in a single family zoned area, it does not permit commercial uses since commercial is lower on the pyramid.  Other than single family zoned areas, this type of zoning approach gives property owners more discretion and flexibility with their property rights but it also dilutes the power of protection intended in zoning by having a mix of uses in areas that may not perfectly complement each other.  There is a delicate balance between private property rights and intended outcomes of zoning.