Sugar Land City Council will hold a public hearing on the draft Land Use Plan on June 26, at 6 p.m., at Sugar Land City Hall, 2700 Town Center Blvd. North.
In order to maximize public input on the Land Use Plan, a presentation and public hearing are scheduled for the same meeting to give City Council the opportunity to fully consider input received through the public hearing prior to providing direction on the update and prior to formal consideration of the plan at a future meeting.
Residents serving on the Land Use Advisory Committee sought extensive input from the community during the last four years that guided work to update the plan. Earlier this year, City Council asked LUAC to seek additional input on the topic of multi-family. LUAC recently completed the additional work and has concluded that their original multi-family recommendations made in the plan are appropriate.
To ensure the intent of LUAC’s recommendations is clearly interpreted — preserve single-family residential neighborhoods and Sugar Land’s recognition as a premier place to live, work, shop and play — LUAC supported the clarification of language throughout the plan to reduce the opportunity for their intent to be misinterpreted and lead to unintended negative consequences.
LUAC’s final recommendation includes maintaining the proportion of single-family to multi-family (88 percent to 12 percent, respectively) and clarifying the ratio is the community’s vision today and in the foreseeable future.
LUAC also recommended minor modifications to further clarify that the intent of the plan is to provide guidance versus regulations. These modifications, however, do include recommended additions to provide guidance for and encouraging future public input and review by both the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council if an exceptional development proposal is brought forward that is in accordance with the spirit of the plan but may deviate from the specific guidance established in the plan.
“The residents on the Land Use Advisory Committee have worked extremely hard for over four years to gather extensive public input and make a recommendation for the city’s land use vision that is based on our community’s values,” said Mayor Joe R. Zimmerman. “In addition to reviewing the outcome of previous public feedback opportunities with the Planning and Zoning Commission, the City Council asked that LUAC seek further feedback related to the feasibility of the plan’s recommendations – including whether or not any recommendations could be in conflict with the ultimate goal of preserving single-family residential neighborhoods while ensuring Sugar Land continues to be a premier place to live, work, shop and play in the region. I am very appreciative of the additional work and time these residents have committed, and I look forward to receiving their final recommendation on June 26.”
The recommended draft Land Use Plan and a summary of LUAC’s final recommendations are available online at www.sugarlandtx.gov/LandUsePlan. Feedback on the plan can be provided at the upcoming City Council public hearing on June 26 or online at www.sugarlandtx.gov/onlinetownhall through June 21.
A summary of feedback from Sugar Land residents and those living in the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction will be provided to the City Council at the public hearing. City Council will provide direction on the update prior to formal consideration of an ordinance to adopt the plan, which is anticipated to occur later this summer.
The Land Use Plan, also known as Chapter 6 of the city’s Comprehensive Plan:
- outlines policy direction and guidance for land-use decisions;
- establishes a vision for land use; and
- identifies an action plan of projects to accomplish the land-use vision and goals.
Recommendations were based on a four-year process that included extensive efforts to engage the community and gather input. Public participation included meetings, Online Town Halls, an educational forum series and more.
More information about the Land Use Plan and the update process is available online at www.sugarlandtx.gov/LandUsePlan.
This notice is from the City of Sugar Land.