Houses of worship would no longer need a specific use permit anywhere in Sherman under a wide-ranging update to the city's zoning ordinance that the Planning and Zoning Commission takes up next week.
The commission holds a public hearing on the update at its regular meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, in the City Council Chambers at 220 W. Mulberry St. The draft is written as a City Council ordinance, and staff recommend approval.
According to the staff report, the changes touch rules for ambulance services, car and truck rentals, building material and monument sales, churches, data centers, outdoor storage and wholesale businesses, along with accessory buildings, fences, parking and signs.
The update would also hand the development services director authority to act on certain types of site plans, which the report says is allowed under the Texas Local Government Code.
Churches and data centers
In the current use chart, a church or other place of worship needs a specific use permit in the residential and commercial districts. The redlined chart in the commission's packet strikes those permit requirements and marks churches as permitted by right in all 18 districts, including the three manufacturing districts where they were not listed before.
The draft also writes a definition for data centers for the first time: a facility whose main purpose is data processing and housing computer systems, including server farms and co-location centers. A new "data center" row appears in the use chart, but no zoning district is marked as allowing the use, either outright or with a permit. The staff report does not discuss that row.
Storage pods, containers and fences
For homeowners, the most visible change may be a new limit on temporary portable storage units, the moving and storage pods delivered by truck. One could sit on a residential lot for no more than 14 consecutive days, and once removed, could not return to the same property for 30 days unless the development services director allows it.
