Unified Development Code approved on first reading with Oct. 1 effective date
The Lubbock City Council is moving forward with a comprehensive — and, at times, controversial — Unified Development Code (UDC), which will overhaul Lubbock's zoning and development standards.
By the end of a regularly scheduled City Council meeting Tuesday, most stakeholders seemed satisfied with the document and its path forward, though they acknowledged its imperfections.
The City Council unanimously voted to pass the code on first reading Tuesday, with an effective date of Oct. 1. The measure will require approval on a second reading. That second vote is expected at the next regular meeting May 9.
The UDC is intended to streamline and simplify Lubbock's zoning and development standards. The code would replace the existing planning and zoning ordinances, which received their last major overhaul in the 1970s.
The vote comes after years of planning and tweaking a new UDC and zoning maps, most recently culminating with a joint public hearing and two follow-up Planning and Zoning Commission meetings in March and April. The council heard a plethora of public opinion on the draft during the hearing March 22 before sending it back to P&Z, where more than 40 amendments were made to the document before the commission voted to recommend it to the council for adoption.
More: Unified Development Code not yet passed, heads back to commission for tweaks
Several citizens expressed concerns they still held during the public comment portion at the beginning of the meeting, but the City Council and city staff agreed the approved document is still subject to change as needed. The council moved to push the effective date from July 1 to Oct. 1 to allow for more time to make those final tweaks.
"This is a living, breathing, ever-changing, ever-evolving document moving forward," Assistant City Manager Erik Rejino told the council, noting there may be revisions and changes required in the future as needs change. "You will never ever approve a perfected document," Councilman Steve Massengale added.
The revised draft does address two major concerns a number of citizens raised at the March hearing: sign and billboard regulations and a potential amortization clause.
Many Lubbockites were concerned a proposed loosening of the city's strict sign ordinance would cause the skyline to become overrun with unsightly signs and billboards. The most recent draft keeps the status quo and the existing sign ordinance.
North and East Lubbock residents also spoke at the March hearing and said the UDC draft does not do enough to offset historic disparities Lubbockites in those parts of the city regularly experience, according to previous Avalanche-Journal reporting. The way to do that, some said, is to build into the UDC an amortization clause — a statute which would essentially allow an expiration date for grandfathered property uses that don't conform to the new zoning codes.
Amortization, they said, would finally alleviate the burden North and East Lubbock residents face from longstanding, neighborhood-adjacent industrial installations hearkening back to Jim Crow-era redlining in the city, which purposely put heavy industry next to minority neighborhoods.
As part of their recommendation, P&Z suggested the council appoint a subcommittee to explore and review potential amortization policy, a move proponents and Mayor Pro Tem Shelia Patterson Harris praised.
"I think it's a great idea, but I think we do it sooner than later," Patterson Harris said. "There are some things that have impacted communities over the years that we can do a better job of so that they don't become and continue to be issues for other citizens."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock UDC approved on first reading with Oct. 1 effective date
