Denton County is moving to overhaul the land use ordinance that governs development within 5,000 feet of Lake Ray Roberts, which the county last amended in 2018.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Commissioners Court is asked to schedule a public hearing for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, on the amended ordinance. The Lake Ray Roberts Planning Commission reviewed the changes at a workshop on Sept. 28 and voted 6-0 on Oct. 19 to recommend them, according to a memo from Jared Harwell, the county's Development Services planning manager.
The ordinance dates to February 2009 and was last amended in September 2018. It sets zoning districts, building heights and yard sizes for the unincorporated area near the lake, and the memo describes this round as mostly cleanup: clearer rules, more consistent language and simpler review procedures. The memo lists no financial impact.
What would change
The memo highlights these amendments:
- Planned developments: clearer requirements, including when an approved planned development expires, how phased projects work and how to ask for more time.
- R-2 district: the minimum front yard grows from 30 feet to 35 feet, to match other residential districts.
- Supplementary rules: updated provisions on commercial vehicles, trailers and references to floodplain regulations.
- Procedures: the old Article 5 is split in two, separating how applications are filed from how the ordinance is administered.
- Uses and definitions: updated use categories and terms.
- Dangerous wild animals: the section now points to state and federal law and to Commissioners Court orders on the subject.
The draft ordinance attached to the agenda spells several of those out. A planned development would expire if no development permit is sought within a year of final approval, and the work would have to be finished, with certificates of compliance issued, within two years of the permit.
Owners could request extensions of up to six months each, filed at least 90 days before the deadline. Applications left idle for a year would also lapse.
Under the draft's parking section, trucks and vans rated at 11,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or more, commercial equipment and any commercial trailer could be parked only on a paved driveway or lot, and not left in a driveway for more than 48 hours at a stretch.
In the agricultural and residential districts, travel trailers and RVs would have to be stored behind the back line of the house.
