Houston commission recommends giving Holding District H landowners until March for fee-free zone changes

Houston landowners in Holding District H would get until the end of March, instead of Jan. 1, to request a new zoning district without paying the city's usual $1,000 fee, under a resolution the Planning and Zoning Commission amended and approved Thursday. The amendment and the resolution each passed 3-0.

The recommendation now goes to the Houston City Council, which cannot take it up until October, Commissioner Gary Quimby said.

Sandy McDonald, a former council member who owns land in the district, asked for a June deadline instead, tied to the end of the fiscal year. She said nonresident owners of large parcels may not know about the fee waiver, and that council review will shorten the window further. McDonald said she plans to write the council asking for the June date.

The city is compiling a list of holding-district properties and could mail owners information about the waiver.

Holding District H is a temporary designation in the Mat-Su city's code for land whose future use has not yet been decided. Development there requires a conditional use permit. Quimby, who proposed the March deadline, also asked that the zoning request form describe each district option, to help residents choose without searching the full code.