Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. The June 16th, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of the City of Longview is now called to order. Commissioner Heath-Hammerlin will now lead us in the invocation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please bow your heads. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight to do the business of the city. We thank you for being able to live in this great country as we celebrate our 250 years, dear God. And we just thank you for everything you've blessed us with. Tonight we humbly ask for... your your divine wisdom and guidance as we make decisions tonight uh and and so that we can make those in the best uh best best interests of the city of longview dear god and we just uh pray these things in your son's jesus name amen amen the jungle with the pledge

Next item of business, we'd like to introduce our new commissioners for this year. Mr. Walter Northcutt, thank you for being here. Mr. Dominic Soboraj, I believe. He will correct me on that. Next month, he wasn't able to be here. Next item is approval of May 19, 2026 minutes. Next item is approval from our meeting in May. Has everyone had a chance to look at them? If so, are there any corrections? If not, I will now entertain a motion.

Motion to approve.

Do we have a second?

Second.

All right. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any opposed? All right. We now have reached the citizen comment portion of our meeting. This portion of the citizen comment are comments made other than the public hearing items we have on the agenda tonight. If you wish to speak on an item on the agenda, please wait until that time to speak. Please begin by stating your name for the public record. Now on to the regular agenda. The purpose of this meeting is to hear all pertinent testimony of those in support of and opposition to the applications before the commission. Tonight is the first of two public hearings required to approve a change in zoning. The procedure for public hearing items to be followed tonight will be the public hearing will be open and testimony will be heard in the following order. First, staff. Second, the applicant. Third, the general public, those in support of and opposition to this request. If you are part of a large group with a common interest, we ask that you appoint a spokesperson. Rather than that, each individual will restate the same information. When addressing the commission, please begin by stating your name. Try to limit your comments to five minutes. When all sides have spoken, the public hearing on the matter will be closed. No further public discussion will be entertained. After each public hearing is closed, the commission will vote on the request. Zoning requests and the planning of zoning commission's recommendations will go forward to the second public hearing, which will be conducted by the city council on July 9, 2026. We are now on to item A of the regular agenda. Angela.

Thank you. A public hearing will be held to consider application Z26-13 filed by Jeff Reich requesting a rezone from agricultural to single family four zoning district for approximately 0.530 acres of abstract 177 William Robinson survey tract 108 section 4 located on the north side of Hidden Hills Circle north of Hawkins Parkway. The applicant is requesting to rezone this property seen here on the zoning map. from agricultural to single family. The developer is requesting this rezone. He's absorbing some of this property into his development, into all of these lots. There is some drainage concerns, so this is one of the ways he's alleviating that drainage concern is by purchasing some property from the neighbor directly adjacent to him, sorry. So staff finds the proposed zoning change is consistent with our future lane use map and surrounding uses. Therefore, it does not constitute spot zoning. I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time.

Anybody on the commission have any questions for Angela? All right. Does anybody have any questions for the applicant on this item? All right. I will now open the public hearing. Are there any in support of this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name for the staff. Are there any in opposition to this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name and address for the staff. Any additional questions or comments? There are no additional questions or comments. I will now entertain a motion.

Motion to approve.

I'll second it. Motion and a second. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. We're now on to item B of the regular agenda. Angela.

Thank you. A public hearing will be held to consider application Z26-14, filed by MH Land Investments, LLC, Requesting a rezone from general retail to heavy commercial zoning district for lots 6 through 10 block 679 smoke addition located on the west side of South Eastman Road south of Van Street. The applicant is requesting to rezone this property seen here on the zoning map from general retail to heavy commercial zoning district. Currently, the property owner owns six lots directly south of this property that are currently zoned heavy commercial zoning. He is requesting this rezone in order to be consistent and to sell manufactured housing on this property. South Eastman Road is classified as a principal arterial roadway and is maintained by TxDOT. This type of development is appropriate along these roadways as long as access management is followed. Staff finds the zoning change is consistent with surrounding uses. Therefore, it does not constitute spot zoning. I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time.

Anybody on the commission have any questions for Angela on this item? All right. Anybody have any questions for the applicant on this item? All right. I will now open the public hearing. Are there any in support of this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name for the staff. Are there any opposition to this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name for the staff. All right. Any additional questions or comments? There are no additional questions or comments. I will now entertain a motion. I'll make a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion to second. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any opposed? All right. We're now on to item C, the regular agenda. Angela?

Thank you. A public hearing will be held to consider application S26-04, filed by Blanca Trevino, requesting a specific use permit to allow for a restaurant with a private club in General Retail Zoning District for lots 2 and 3, block 991, Richmond Terrace No. 1 subdivision, located on the northwest corner of Eastman Road and Dennis Drive. So the applicant is requesting a specific use permit seen here on the zoning map to allow for a restaurant with a private club in general retail zoning district. A specific use permit is required for a restaurant to allow for the on-site consumption of alcoholic beverages in addition to beer and wine in general retail zoning district. The SUP is required to ensure no negative impact on surrounding properties. North Eastman Road is classified as a principal arterial roadway and is maintained by TxDOT and this type of development is appropriate along these roadways as long as access management is followed. Staff finds the proposed zoning change is consistent with surrounding uses. Therefore, it does not constitute spot zoning. I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time.

Anybody on the commission have any questions for Angela? All right. Does the commission have any questions for the applicant on this item? If not, I will now open the public hearing. Are there any in support of this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name for the staff. Being none, are there any in opposition to this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name for the staff. All right. Any additional questions or comments? If there are no additional questions or comments, I will now entertain a motion.

Motion to approve. All right.

Do we have a second?

Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. We're now on to item D of the regular agenda.

Thank you. Public hearing be held to consider application PD26-02 filed by Atlas Shrugged Longview, Texas LLC requesting a rezone from general retail and heavy commercial zoning district to plan development for heavy commercial with limited uses located at 119 West Marshall Avenue. So the applicant is requesting to rezone this property seen here on the zoning on this exhibit from general retail and heavy commercial zoning to plan development for heavy commercial with limited uses. Originally the applicant requested a zoning change from residential or from general retail to heavy commercial zoning district Earlier this year, Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial of this request due to concerns with the uses allowed within Heavy Commercial Zoning District along with neighborhood opposition. A neighborhood meeting was held in April of this year and during this meeting the neighbors expressed concerns regarding traffic access and uses. It was discussed that a tenant would be a pawn shop and the neighbors did not have any concerns about that specific use but had concerns about other uses that were allowed within the heavy commercial zoning district. Based on this meeting the owner and the possible tenant agreed to address these concerns by submitting a zoning request for a planned development for heavy commercial limiting those uses only to a pawn shop and anything allowed within general retail zoning district. They also agreed upon closing the driveway on Northcutt Avenue with a gate with a fire department approved Knox device to be installed for fire department access. Also, there is an existing solid wood fence along Northcutt and the alleyway. That fence would be extended further west to intersect with that driveway on Northcutt Avenue. Staff finds that this proposed zoning change is consistent with the future land use map and surrounding uses. Therefore, it does not constitute spot zoning. And based on the neighborhood meeting, staff does recommend approval of this request. I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time.

All right. Anybody have any questions for Angela on this item? All right. Does the commission have any questions for the applicant on this item? All right. I will now open the public hearing. Are there any in support of this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name for the staff.

Good evening. I'm Brent Bull. I'm a local attorney. I represent Atlas Shrugged, the owner of the property at 119 West Marshall Avenue. And they've taken a lot of steps. They're looking to sell this property since the CBS closed. It's been vacant. They're looking to sell it. They've got a Cash First LLC wants to purchase property, open a Cash America pawn shop. They currently operate three in the city of Longview. Very nice. And they've got representatives here for questions if anybody has any. Apparently there were some hiccups in their earlier meeting. We had a neighborhood meeting with the residents. Their main concerns were traffic coming off into Northcutt, which you can understand. And what the result we came to, the agreement we came to, is they'll put a fence up there and extend the fence that's there to the road, to the driveway, and then put a gate across it with a Knox lock for the fire department to have their access. I believe we've addressed the concerns. If anyone has any other concerns, we're happy to talk about those. We have the people here who can make resolutions or anything like that. And, again, the main concern was it being C2 heavy, industrial, so they can do anything there. It's going to basically remain general retail with one extra use, and they're the pawn shop, which is, again, they operate three in the city of Longview and 1,800 worldwide or something. They take very good care of it. So I believe that this should be granted, and I think it will be good for the neighborhood to get something back in that CVS. We all don't like it sitting there baking. Drive by it about five times a week. So, any questions? Anybody have any questions for Mr. Poole?

I'd just like to say if you'd express our appreciation to the applicant for having that meeting and addressing the concerns. I certainly appreciate it.

It flew in from Chicago. They said they wish that had been done first, but there was some miscommunication there. So, absolutely should have had the neighborhood meeting. And the neighborhood people were very helpful and very courteous and everything, so we appreciate that.

All right. Thanks, sir. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. I will now open the public hearing. Anybody else in support of this request? All right. Are there any in opposition to this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name for the staff. Any additional questions or comments? All right, if there are no additional questions or comments, I will now entertain a motion.

So moved.

Motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. All right, there's a motion and a second. All those in favor, say yes. Yes. Any opposed? All right, motion carries. Angela, we have a staff update.

Yes, sir. All items that were presented to council were approved.

All right, well, good deal. Well, this concludes tonight's meeting. We're now adjourned. Thank you all.