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PLANNING
<br />Assocd~l;u:~.-
<br />
<br />I I I I
<br />
<br />Zoning Finally
<br />Ropes Houston
<br />
<br />B~ MictSclle Grega~.
<br />
<br />Despite the lack of zoning, Houston, tile nation's fourth largest cio.'
<br />(pop. 1.7 million) seems to have evolved much like an), other major
<br />metropolis. Since its establishment itl 1836, Houston has grown
<br />from a 147-acre trading senlement to a world-class cin' o/'358,024
<br />acres. That makes it the most sprawling ciD, in the countty, leaving
<br />Los Angeles (290,24(I acres) in its figurative dust. It has a busding
<br />downtown full of high rises, and a health)' 20 percent OfiL~ land
<br />consists ofsinglc-famiiy residential neighborhoo&. ~qfilc 14
<br />percent of the city is open space, another 25 percent remains vacant.
<br />But a closer look at Houston's neighborhoods reveals the
<br />deterioration ora more intangible element: quality of'life, it is
<br />
<br />m m m~,~ m m
<br />
<br /> h'ouswn neighborhoods,
<br /> both s~able (above) and
<br /> struggling (below), have
<br /> been unable to keep
<br /> incompatible develop-
<br /> rnent out of their
<br /> backyards. The noise,
<br /> shade, and congestion
<br /> created by these sO'-
<br /> scrap.ers er~roaches upon
<br /> homeownen all over the
<br /> cig'. In _,,ddition to
<br />defi~ing ~crm land-me
<br /> dina'm, the new
<br /> ordinance strives to
<br /> protect the "edges"~of its
<br /> coramuniti~ through
<br /> buffer requirements,
<br /> height and bulk restric-
<br /> tions, and graduated
<br /> land-me intensities.
<br />
<br />not uncommon to find package liquor stores or used car lots
<br />nestled within a residential neighborhood. Nor is ~t unusual to
<br />find an ennte backvard darkened by the shadow of a 20-ston'
<br />office building.
<br /> \¥'hi}e some of Houst(m's more established, affluent neighbor-
<br />hoods have been protected by private deed restrictions, those
<br />covenants do not provide adequate protection. Ti~ev can expire, are
<br />often compromised, and require vet)' active involvement by the
<br />community, In addition, ifa conflicting or prohibited use is
<br />~mwing}y allowed to exist for some time within a deed-restricted
<br />area, that entire deed becomes void. And the legal fees required to
<br />enforce covenants keep 60 percent of Houston's neighborhoods
<br />from affording them. Final})', covenants can restrict use. s only
<br />within tha~ defined area, leaving the edges of man)' communities,
<br />rich or poor, open to any use.
<br /> The "Z" word hax been brought up in the past. only to be shot
<br />down b)' man), who believed the market would continue to
<br />shepherd Houston's growth. Twice before, in the earl), 1940s and
<br />again in 1962, the Houston city council rejected proposals by
<br />homeowners groups for zoning. As Pat Brown, a member of the
<br />city's planning and zoning commission, told the Wmhingto, Post,
<br />"Zoning was not a word that you used in polite company." Afl:er
<br />the oil crash of the ear}}, 1980s, however, Houston's commercial
<br />and residential re. al estate markets were suffering from high vacan9,
<br />rates. Property values plummeted, and firms seeking to relocate
<br />began to pass over Houston for the yen' reason it had seemed
<br />attractive~irs lack of zoning. Amenabie neighborhoods (to am-act
<br />relocating executives) and clear-cut development codes began to
<br />take priority over fast. unr ~egulated permitting. This time, the free
<br />market guided Houston's growth in the direction of zoning.
<br /> In January 1991, the Houston CiD, Council voted unanimously
<br />to develop zoning. Prompted by a need to regain strength among
<br />major U.S. trade centers, as well as by the need for gro~a~& manage-
<br />ment, the zoning ordinance will la), the foundation for the city's
<br /> comprehensive planning process, another
<br /> first for Houston.
<br />
<br />IArh='s Gannu Do It.*
<br />Houston's zoning process has remained
<br />a local initiative, with one exception.
<br />Never having had zoning or even much
<br />long-range planning, the city's first step
<br />was to create a zoning division within
<br />irs planning department, which had
<br />existed primarily to facilitate large-scale
<br />planned developments. Donna
<br />Kristaponis, the director of the
<br />planning, zoning, and building
<br />department in Palm Beach Count'),,
<br />Florida, was brought in to direct the
<br />planning and development 'department.
<br /> K_tistaponis was faced with the
<br />challenge of hiring people who could be
<br />sensitive to local issues as well as people
<br />who had experience with comprehensive
<br />planning and zoning. The goal was to
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