City, builders reach a deal on driveways
City Council greenlit a contentious proposal to ban some private front-facing driveways, following a compromise between city planners and local builders.
After a months-long impasse, city officials and the builder community reached an agreement this past week to apply the new restrictions in select vulnerable neighborhoods, instead of citywide. City Council approved the revised proposal with a 16-1 vote Wednesday, a move that Mayor Sylvester Turner called a satisfactory compromise for all sides.
In the past, narrow homes with private driveways have turned many Houston streets into a series of driveway entrances, officials said. To protect pedestrians and preserve green spaces, the city proposed allowing only homes 33 feet or wider to have front-facing driveways directly connecting to the streets.
This rule change sparked fierce opposition from local builders over the past six months. They argued the restriction would eliminate a popular development style in Houston, where developers divide a 50-foot lot into two 25-foot homes, each with a private driveway.
After a postponed vote last week, however, the city and the builder community found common ground. The final and approved version will apply driveway restrictions only to underresourced areas covered by Turner’s Complete Communities initiative. These neighborhoods include Acres Home, Third Ward, Magnolia Park and Gulfton, among others.
Moreover, under the rule change, builders cannot construct the “25-foot frontloaders” within 1,400 feet of walking distance from primary and secondary schools or on corner lots. It
will also require developers to subdivide a piece of property into fewer, wider lots when possible. Officials said the goal is to balance pedestrian safety and public space preservation while still providing builders with ample room for their projects.
Troy Allen from the Greater Houston Builders Association said during Tuesday’s public session that the final version was heading to “a great place.” Marty Stein, a member of the city’s Walkable Places Committee, said the proposal is not perfect for either side but a good compromise that everyone can live with and will ultimately improve developments in Houston.
“It always amazes me — I don’t care how long I’ve been in this process — how you can start off being (so far apart), and then all of a sudden you all come to the table,” Turner said Wednesday. “That’s not to say that there won’t have to be adjustments as we go down the road. That’s a part of the process.”
The driveway proposal was part of a package of rule changes City Council approved Wednesday. Other measures — which haven’t generated much public debate — mostly aim to encourage affordable development options. They include easing restrictions for second dwelling units, reintroducing smaller apartments of three to eight units, and promoting courtyard-style developments that don’t require street frontage.