The Zoning Commission has quietly started a “complete overhaul” of the zoning ordinance. These are the same zoning commissioners who think they can, at their caprice, ignore the law and property owner desires while changing citizens’ property rights. Once again, appointed officials wish to impose their vision on the people, rather than understanding the fundamental American concept that their role is to represent the will of the people, and protect our freedom and property rights.

Emboldened by their success in law breaking, the Zoning Commissioners are now going for the whole thing – a complete overhaul of the zoning ordinance which includes property usage. The need for this overhaul was first stated publicly by Kelly Tudyk, a realtor who has since moved, when she was a P&Z Commissioner and then later as a Councilwoman. She mentioned it in conjunction with the need for the P&Z to determine the "best use" of property and fixing an outdated law but was never specific about where Llano had zoning problems. "Best use" is a realtor's phrase for a property owner deciding how to maximize the value of their property, not for a City to decide how a property owner should use their property. The need for a "complete overhaul" of an "outdated" zoning ordinance spread to other zoning commissioners without any elaboration. Most insistent of which are Councilwoman Jeanne Puryear, Zoning Commission Chair Diana Firestone, and City Manager Brenton Lewis. Now the overhaul has started.

You would think the kick-off meeting for this major overhaul would start with a detailed, written, definition of the issues with the current zoning ordinance and descriptions of exactly what is “outdated.” No. One minute into the meeting, the new city manager proclaims that “One of the things everyone is concerned about is State Hwy 16 - Ford St. That’s because this is a Commercial Corridor and we have as [sic] residential. That is one of the main areas of concern.” Later he reiterates that “Of course we have to look at Ford St. too, where we do have need to look at going from SF1 to an actual commercial strip.” This is exactly the concern that the property owners repeated during the zoning change to their neighborhood last year - they do not want their properties to be commercial. But this year they weren’t told about the meeting, so this "complete overhaul" goes unchallenged.

What is the hidden agenda here? When asked, the city says they want the HWY 16 entry to our city to be the same as Fredericksburg. But it can be now. Except for heavy equipment rental, property owners on Ford St can do anything that Fredericksburg has done on its Highway 16 entry. There must be an unspoken reason for wanting commercial zoning and for wanting a complete overhaul. And don't look to Fredericksburg for zoning help. The beautiful Main Street area that makes Fredericksburg so desirable was built before zoning laws. Look at the areas around their Wal-Mart to see the sterile architecture that zoning laws produce. So why this "complete overhaul?"

The city manager went on to say that “Everyone wants to see Llano grow so that is one thing we want to look at, too, is how do we get multi-family housing in and where should it be located.” Firstly, I understand that we can't fill the low-income housing we have now and secondly, where is this "growth" defined that necessitates more? Build it and they will come?

The city manager also thinks we have too many chickens, goats, and peacocks – even in agricultural zoning. He claimed to have experience in deciding how many we should have by using a formula he created for the number of “animal units” we can have – 34 sq ft for a goat, and 2 goats = 5 chickens. He added that chickens should be phased out in residential areas. He should have recommended that we change the city slogan from “The Way Texas Used to Be” to “Making Llano Into NYC.” We have a good ordinance on animals and a wonderful animal control officer who can handle any problems that arise. We don’t need zoning to do this. Even Austin allows backyard chickens.

The first “overhaul” meeting was pretty disgusting. Not just because of the arbitrary changes they discussed but the way they presented themselves as the five elite arbiters of what Llano should be and their desires of how property owners should use their properties. They talk of “best use” which normally a property owner decides, not a few appointed commissioners. They speak in terms of “what do WE want.” The meeting was disorganized and, fortunately, accomplished nothing – except to scare citizens. P&Z will meet to continue the overhaul on the third Thursday of every month at 5:30pm.

Any changes to the zoning ordinance must be in accordance with the City's Comprehensive Plan (Sec. 211.004 of Texas State Local Government Code). Llano's Comprehensive Plan isn't even finished. A large citizen committee worked diligently for about two years to create a new comprehensive plan and was nearly finished but our previous city manager quit and the new city manager, Brenton Lewis, hasn't mentioned the committee or the need to finish it before making changes to the zoning ordinance. He just jumped right in to do an overhaul.

No property owners were notified about the content of the meeting or even that there would be a discussion of a “complete overhaul”. All property owners should be concerned – if they knew.

Most would say that zoning laws are a violation of property rights. Telling us what we can do with our property is an affront to our ownership and feeling of freedom. Zoning proponents say that zoning laws protect property owners from their neighbors and help the city plan for services. Without pursuing that debate, I will say that our zoning laws do try to protect us from excessive abuse by transient government officials – if they are followed, which they are not.

If there is a zoning ordinance problem, let the property owner that has the problem bring it to the Planning & Zoning Commission. There is a well defined process for that and it works well with knowledgeable commissioners who respect the law and property rights. The Zoning Commission should not be initiating changes simply because they know what is the "best use" for the property owner.

We must stop this attack on property rights:

1.  Replace the P&Z commissioners. They were appointed by the previous mayor who the citizens rejected. The new mayor should appoint, and council approve, a new set. They should have respect for the law and property rights.

2. The zoning ordinance “overhaul” should be cancelled.

3. The Comprehensive Plan Citizen Committee should be reconstituted with a mission to complete the plan and respect property rights. Llano is required to have a Comprehensive Plan that dictates what is allowed. “Promote growth” or a “New commercial corridor” is not on the list.

4. Planning & Zoning meetings should be recorded, as are Council meetings.

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