Residents voice concerns over city’s proposed zoning ordinance

The Cameron Planning and Zoning Commission heard several thoughts on its proposed new zoning ordinances from the community during and public hearing Tuesday night at City Hall.

This was the first step in the update of a new zoning ordinance for the City of Cameron. The last time the city passed a zoning ordinance was in 1986.

About 60 residents were at the meeting to voice concerns over parts of the ordinance, which is available for residents to look at on the city’s website at camerontexas.net. There are also copies of available at City Hall and the Cameron Public Library.

City Councilmember Melissa Williams said planning and zoning has been working on the proposed changes for almost three years. She said the changes are needed because at this time there are several land uses in the city that don’t match up to what the current zoning map has that land zoned for.

“If people are looking for someone to be upset with please be upset with me,” Williams said. “I spent five years on planning and zoning and am now on council. I want to explain to you that after being on planning and zoning I could see that our city was zoned in a way that was not what was happening in the city.”

Williams said there are several neighborhoods that are built in an industrial zone, which means someone could come in with something industrial and build it next to neighborhoods. 

“There are different things all across town,” she said. “The current ordinance is not what is happening in the city.”

Several residents voiced concerns over how the ordinance could affect the livestock they have on their land or how it may affect their businesses.

“I’m in a commercial zone, yet I have livestock,” Dr. Tommy Barton said. “There is no livestock allowed in the commercial zone at all. I think that this is putting folks that are already there at an imposition. When they purchased these properties the zoning was not in that situation. I have livestock at my veterinary business. Am I going to have to come to you and ask for a special use permit to have that there? If I sell this property to someone else will that property be grandfathered in? I’m for the progress of the city but there are a lot of folks here that these changes don’t fall into what they have been doing for a long time.”

Jeremy Vaculin also voiced concerns over the agricultural zones property.

“I had a little five-acre ranchette on Starlight and purchased 22 acres on 21st Street and have cleaned it up,” Vaculin said. “My kids show and my son rodeos. We have an arena and we keep it watered. It is a concern to me because showing is really big in this small town and I support the kids along with other businesses here in town. I purchased that property and I looked at it and it is zoned half commercial and half agricultural.”

He asked that the commission really just look at the youth in the community and what they are doing before putting any restrictions in.

“I also have an electrical business and one of my other concerns is my service trucks,” he said. “My truck is basically my office and an 8,000 pound restriction wouldn’t work. I have maybe one truck that is less than that. If that is going to be an issue parking it on my property that I pay taxes on I will have an issue with that. The trailer restrictions are also a concern. I could have bought 25 acres in the county but I wanted to be part of this city and make it go.”

Ricky Williams said the area should expect some growth and that he supports the city’s efforts to be ahead of that growth and control it.

“I do think we should expect some growth,” Ricky Williams said. “We are starting to experience some of that in the southwest part of the county in Rockdale with what is going on with Bitmain and that expansion of the Alcoa facility is an example of what we can expect in the future. If you look at the areas around Austin a lot of them would probably say that they did not prepare soon enough for that growth and that is what we need to avoid.”

Cameron Industrial Foundation Director Ginger Watkins echoed that sentiment.

“The current ordinances are dated as well as the descriptions of the businesses and industries that are permitted to operate in the city,” Watkins said. “We need to ensure that the growth is managed in a way that is consistent with the ideas of the community. It is always better to be in the driver’s seat when people start to want to come in and do things here. Modernization of the ordinance will help to protect the property values of the people who live here and have businesses here. It is also important as we try to attract new businesses to the community.”

Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman David Bolivary said the commission appreciates everyone’s input. 

“We are trying to get input from you guys,” he said. “That is our job to listen and put together something that is going to work for the future of our community.”

“This has not been meant to hurt anybody it is meant to help,” Melissa Williams said. “It is meant to address the questions we get all the time. This is a work in progress and there are a lot of restrictions in there and part of that is because it is hard to enforce things without an ordinance.”

City Manager Rhett Parker said the current zoning map is still in effect and this new ordinance will only allow for residents to have the opportunity to propose changing their property with the proper proceedings.

“We are trying to write and ordinance that has these things in it so that you have the opportunity to propose that so that you can say my property can become that zone and then we can change the map with proper proceedings,” Parker said. “If you specifically want a change you would have to become before us. We could also change a zone, but there has to be a process for that where we have to notify everyone that lives there and there have to be public hearings on that.”

There will be another public hearing on the proposed ordinance during the Cameron City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 at City Hall. Anyone with concerns should attend. You can look at the proposed ordinance on the city’s website at camerontexas.net. There are also copies of available at City Hall and the Cameron Public Library.