City of Houston

City of Houston

We met with:
Richmond Coward, Planner
Brian Crimmins, Planner variances and landscape ordinances
Ryan Albright, Planning issues and development
Marlene Gafrick, Director, New construction

Zoning
This city has a very different take on real estate to other cities. They do not have any zoning, but rather choose to control their market through building codes. This makes for a faster development environment, and allows the market to dictate where something will work instead of city planners.

For example, a sub-urban area in Houston will often end up with grocery stores popping up in their neighborhood, something that creates some concern among the residents. In this specific case, the city was approached to help the area with congestion and to ensure that the grocery store did not ignore the residents. The city simply asked the store to speak to the residents with regard to facade and some other issues and left them to it. At the end, the neighborhood was happy as they could walk to the store, and the grocery store had good access to their client base.

They have a one size fits all ordinance. An unintended consequence of this is that a drive through restaurant will still have to provide parking as if it where a traditional restaurant. They are seeking some ordinance changes to remedy this.

There are some parking code violations that have come up with this, shared driveways for instance. Often the owners will build a deck above the driveway, and end up not having enough space to allow a fire truck into the site.

An important code change is the recent adoption of area designation in the code, a variation from the one size fits all approach. The CBD is one such area.

Some interesting artifacts of not having zoning are:
Few planners can control a large area, they manage the a very large area with only 12 planners; No height restriction on Multi Family Housing other than the FAA within the urban areas, inside the loop highway 610.

This city also wants to limit the sprawl problem insofar as this is possible. They have promoted infill development in the city core by allowing maximum density.

An interesting side effect of the lack of zoning is that a place of worship might be very close to a sexually oriented business, but it generally works out as establishments that serves alcohol must be at least 1000ft from the next land use that does not.

TERS District
The city has a TIRZ district implemented to help target redevelopment into the downtown area. This is similar to a Tax Increment Financing district.

Mission
Their stated mission is to: to ensure the city remains a vibrant and growing economy. This goal is being sought after with various incentives and economic development to drive the downtown areas. The city feels that use determines lifespan for real estate, and cite a local project where a low density garden apartment was on the table for demolition only 10 years after it was constructed to raise the density.

Transit Lines
Transit core ordinance allows the same density allowances to be built along the transit lines, both existing and up coming. They have allowed the code to preempt the actual development.

Ownership
Most people "inside the loop", the area just outside of the CBD running up to the ring shaped highway that runs a full circle around the city, are renting. This student sees a future where development has been stimulated so far that people do not own their own homes, as there are only rental apartments within the city limits.

Urban Sprawl
The city seeks to reduce utility costs by keep sprawl to a minimum through increased density in the city center.

Connectivity
They are a multi-centric city. We want to promote connectivity between different areas.

Impact Fees
The city limits its fees insofar as possible to keep the cost of development low. They will typically charge extra fees for areas outside the urban area, without adequate infrastructure. For instance they charge the extra amount that the water line would have to be extended for the new development.

Deed restrictions and land ETJ

They have a very large ETJ, the area under their authority, with few areas under 2 authorities as in other cities. This speeds the development process as the developer needs to only meet one city group.

Deed restrictions can be set on a property will usually by the developer, on an at will basis.

The city is bound by law to enforce the deed restrictions. there are only 2 ways around this, finding the original deed writer and convincing him to change his mind, and state involvement. Many land owners have run afoul of this law, and the city recommends caution when purchasing property and a thorough title research before committing.

Incentives
There are numerous incentives underway, and some new ones coming, all the usual kind, historic preservation, TIFs and brown field incentives. They have extended the incentives along the rail lines to spur development along this important linkage.

on an ending note, they offered the following advice for doing business in Houston,

Always check the deed restriction, assume the worst, do an thorough due diligence, look at the flood plane, and ask the planning department for as much information as possible.