So, we are working on a comprehensive review of our City's zoning ordinance. It is an exhausting process, one that is at once exhilarating and boring. I have never felt more powerful, and never more humble.
Our City is unusual in many ways. Our reliance on the petrochemical is not unique, but the tax base that industry creates is. In addition to the uneasy relationship between the industry and the environment, there are people who live here, too. We have areas that are typical of a suburban environment adjacent to areas where there are alligators and egrets and bald cypresses and banana trees. We have very industrial areas adjacent to traditional retail areas next to residential areas (both high-density and very low-density). Our schools are all located together in one large campus (no far-flung elementary schools).
Our zoning ordinance is also very unique. It is the reason for a lot of what has happened with locating different uses near each other. It seems that our City has been zoned according to the traditional uses, not according to what uses are most compatable. Modern zoning dictates what uses are acceptable in which areas. But this is southeast Texas, where our largest city - Houston - has no universal zoning. And it shows.
So on one hand, people can see from nearby cities the problems that come from poor planning. But there is a deeply ingrained resentment regarding government intervention and imposition. Property rights are king.
So what do we do? How can we tell someone that they cannot use their quarter-acre lot for a home because to do so would adversely affect the industrial activities that MUST be located in the area that they are. Further, having a residence in so close proximity to the potentially hazardous storage facilities is not good practice either.
It is not a simple question.
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