All Forum Posts by: Jamie Hora

The physical effort to rezone is not difficult, but it is often reliant on what the City ultimately wants in this area.  Some cities have Future Land Use Maps available on their websites and if that can give you insight. If "commercial" is here in a future land plan, then the public approvals will likely go smoothly. 

You will probably need to subdivide the lot and just rezone a portion that you wish to build the gas station, as to not rezone all 9 acres at once. 

I've done several 7-Elevens and many needed rezoning. However mine were not existing residential use. In addition to rezoning, your Gas Station & Convenience Store may require a Conditional Use Permit. 

A good step one is having a meeting with City Planning & Zoning staff. 

That is a very general question, but I would recommend getting an architect or civil engineer involved. 

You will need to get permits from the governing agencies.  Generally will require a Site Permit (plans completed and sealed by a civil engineer) and your building permit (plans sealed by the architect). 

Once having those professionals selected, its best to have a Predevelopment meeting with the city/county to discuss all requirements for your site. Do you need to plat? Do you need to Rezone? Is detention required?  The min/max parking required? Landscaping requirements?  Additional Approvals from the State? etc. From there, the engineer & architect can get to completing plans & getting your permits before you can begin construction. 

It very common, at least in my experience in Texas.  The large metro areas continue to grow outward, and for developers interested in building subdivisions needing larger tracts, the raw land on the outskirts of the city is frequency zoned agricultural (and actually being used as such). 

It has happened in 2 of larger subdivision projects in DWF area and outside San Marcos. 

If you're talking about buying land and speculating a developer would be interested, knowing the growth patterns of the area would be a must. 

Nice thread @Henry Clark. Question, where do you find the listings of the land for auction, at each County courthouse?  Was the bidding in-person or online?

Much of the rezoning process can be done remotely.  The rezoning process is usually handled by a City Planning & Zoning Department.  If it is in a City of any moderate size, that information for rezoning will be on their website. After reading through, I would set up a call with City staff members to discuss in further detail the process and make sure you understand everything. 

It will likely be the application form, plus a fee, and maybe some auxiliary information.  However, rezoning requires approval at Public meetings.  It may be 1 meeting for the P&Z and a 2nd for the City Council.  Depending on the area your property is in and if nearby residents may object to the rezoning would depend on my suggestion for you attending in person. 

Some P&Z meetings now offer to attend via Zoom.  If you are just wanting to switch your zoning to do a homestead, in my eyes, that seems like something nobody would protest and should be an easy case that can be done fully remote. 

They removed the Sandridge Road?  The shopping center probably has other entrances Im guessing, but it still looks like this road provides additional connections to their development.

It is mentioned there is a shared access easement here, which is what I would expect. My suggestion is reach out to these businesses and get a hold of the shared access easement.  You will want your name/lot to be added to this if is not already, then discuss sharing the cost of the new road with all parties of the shared access easement. 

A new/improved road here will also benefit them as well if you are bringing more customers to their shopping center and providing more access points for traffic flow in/out. 

@Nasi K., by my quick research of the City code right now, it looks like there is a minimum distance of 200' required from residential to a drive-thru.  This is likely measured to the closest part, which could be the stacking location of the cars. 

Items such as these are most beneficial to discuss with the City in a Predevelopment Meeting. They are able to give more clarity to their code and discuss if waivers are possible, etc. 

Property lines from commercial to residential also look to require an 8-foot screening wall. This is common in many cities. 

Hope this helps!

@Nasi K. putting restaurants on the end caps can allow them to include drive-thru's which obviously can be very desirable.  Is your lot adjacent to residential?  If it is, the location of the drive-thru on your site may be limited due to minimum setbacks required from residential housing.  I've had this happen on another project.

Got it.  Have you or a civil engineer looked at the depths of the sewer to know that a gravity sewer will work even with boring underneath a creek?  I'd be happy to take a look at this for you if you want to share more specific project info with me.  

From a City perspective, yes lift stations are last resort because of the maintenance effort that gets placed onto them so I understand.  If this land has sat vacant for a while, it is likely partially a result of this sanitary sewer service.  I'd just make sure that is part if your discussions with the City for their help on the easement since you are the one trying to develop this "difficult tract"..

If the sewer is crossing a property that is not owned by you or the City, it will require an easement.  You can have discussions with the City for their participation in easement negotiation.  If you are developing the land which presumably will benefit the City, assisting in bringing a city utility line is something in my experience they will help on.  

Any alternative routes for bringing sewer to your site should be explored to possibly avoid / limit how much of an easement you need. And as the other comment mentioned, typical easement widths are between 10'-20' wide, depending on the depth of your line, size, and what the City dictates.