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Thursday, June 26, 2008 Zoning around
Houston airports a step closer to reality By CAROLYN FEIBEL Zoning
around Houston's three airports came a step closer to reality on Wednesday, as
City Council approved the creation of an Airport Commission to finalize the
affected areas and impose building restrictions on them. The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the
city to control development around its airports or risk losing future federal
funding. "These are provisional conditions for development,
but compatible development," said Councilman Mike Sullivan, whose District
E includes Kingwood and Clear Lake. "In short, land use that makes sense
near an airport." Airport officials have been careful not to use the word
"zoning," preferring the phrase "land use regulations." Houston is the largest U.S. city without zoning and is
known for a culture that eschews regulation and celebrates property rights.
Voters have rejected zoning three times, most recently in 1993. The Airport Commission will convene this summer and
hold public hearings. But city planners already have sketched out preliminary
boundaries for the three concentric "tiers" of land around each
airport: George Bush Intercontinental, Hobby and Ellington Field. The innermost Tier 1 would be closed to new
construction of homes, hospitals, schools, movie theaters and other
noise-sensitive uses. Warehouses and other commercial uses would be OK. Existing homes in Tier 1 could be renovated or enlarged
if owners install soundproofing, at their own expense. That provision concerned Councilman James Rodriguez,
whose District I encompasses Hobby. "If they want to expand their houses
or add on, I don't want it to be cost prohibitive." Less restrictive Tier
2, somewhat farther from airport runways, would allow new construction of many
different sorts, if it includes soundproofing. Tier 3 would encompass a large swath of land — a
total of 141 square miles around all three airports — but officials say
they are planning no restrictions on that land now. They will inform property
owners or potential buyers, however, that the Tier 3 land is subject to the
city's regulatory reach. The new regulations will make selling his house nearly
impossible, complained Mark Belcher, who lives within the proposed boundaries
of Tier 1 near Intercontinental Airport. "If that were me and I walked in there knowing
those restrictions, I would immediately take it off my list as a prospective
buy," he said. Belcher said he lived contentedly in the WoodCreek
subdivision until 2003, when the airport opened a new runway. Now, depending on
the weather, landing jets sometimes roar over his home every two minutes. "Even if you soundproof the house, it shakes the
house," he said. "You have to stop all conversation, let it go by.
Then you have about one minute till the next one." Belcher, along with other homeowners in his
neighborhood, sued the city, claiming the airport noise was a nuisance and
caused property damage. They lost, but are considering an appeal. Mike Willis, a neighbor of Belcher's, said the new
land-use restrictions would be an "unjustified taking of personal property
without compensation." "Putting rules and regulations on what I can do on
my property above and beyond the normal building codes that apply to everyone
else, is limiting my use of my property," he said. Commission's
decision City
officials disagreed. "If they're in Tier 1, if you own a home, you can
rebuild, remodel, you can do everything," said Eric Potts, the airport
system's deputy director for planning, design and construction. The Airport Commission will have to decide how much
soundproofing will be required, and what level of remodeling would trigger the
requirement. After the rules become final, a Board of Adjustment will convene
on a regular basis to interpret the ordinance and consider variance requests. Sullivan and Rodriguez hosted a recent community
meeting near Hobby airport. The session reassured many residents, Sullivan
said, adding that most of those in attendance did not consider the zoning a
taking of property. But many are concerned about the market impact. Rodriguez has asked the airport system to do an
estimate of the impact on home prices. Rodriguez said he did not want to assume the effect of
the tiers will be negative. "It may help neighborhoods because it prevents
density," he explained. "You won't have developers coming in and
putting up high-rises. It can preserve the architectural integrity of the
neighborhood." |
