PROPOSED NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS DISTRICT TABLED
The Brenham City Council today (Thursday) voted to table the proposed creation of a Neighborhood Business District just south of downtown. The proposed new zoning district is planned to encourage development in an area that has seen increased interest in recent years. During the public hearing portion of the council meeting, questions about parking were raised by the public. Many of the lots in the district are either too small to accommodate the required parking or the building covers the entire property. The proposed zoning change would give the owners the option of paying into a city fund the amount they would have used to build required parking and the city would then use that fund to build satellite public parking lots. Currently, onsite parking for downtown buildings is not required by the city.
Downtown developer Tommy Traylor stated that the proposed parking fees would discourage investment in the area and that if a property owner paid the fees, they would then start asking the city “where is my parking”. Councilmember Susan Cantey stated that the city needs to have the satellite parking areas planned and promised before setting up a fee for property owners to pay. After some discussion, the council voted to table the Zoning Amendment and bring it back during a work session in 2 weeks. City staffers will work on changing the wording to allow the parking fee portion of the amendment to be delayed until the city completes plans for satellite parking areas.
what kind of businesses are we talking about for down town? maybe antique shops or micro breweries , no wait we already have or had those, things for the tourist not the citizens of brenham that’s what is downtown.
Now devote the time, effort, and resources into figuring out (1) why business keep closing downtown, and (2) how to get them to stay. A bigger business district won’t do much good when the existing district has so many empty storefronts.
Thank you City Council for preserving the character of our small town. I do not need commercial business parking in front of my house. It would be a shame to pay increasing property taxes if the comfort of my home was diminished by poor city planning. Please continue your good work, specifically in requiring adequate parking when big planning changes are being proposed that will have adverse consequences on homeowners. Thanks again, City Council!
Good job at continuing to hold our city back from bringing in investment dollars and generating jobs. If you cared about the city, you would realize the development of this downtown area is key to the continuing the trend in downtown activity.
I hate to be the first one to say that you are not special. And, that is a very selfish and self centered way of thinking. You think it is better to step on an individual tax payer, and destroy the sanctity of their home, with increased traffic, and on street parking, instead of following the rules and regulations, that are established in our nice small town. I sure hope that you are not on one of the boards that previously approved this ill fated plan. It is simple. Follow the rules and provide the parking first !!!!
If you dont like these small town ways move your tail to the city!!! Brenham is already too big.