The same people who demand no zoning are the same people who whine and cry when someone wants to build a (residential) tower in the middle of a residential area. Rank hypocrisy should not be so easy to expose but sadly it usually is.
Agreed. All of the comments in this thread also ignore that most places in Houston have deed restrictions that keep certain types of businesses out of residential areas. The city has a department dedicated to enforcing the deed restrictions.
Getting build-out permits has become burdensome, because the city enforces specific use through permitting. If we had zoning, we'd actually have more freedom to put different kinds of business in a given structure, in a given zone. Whenever you do change of use permits, the city looks up the water capacity, drainage, everything. They don't have good records from the past, so usually the property owner has to come up with new site surveys and title letters and engineering. It's a big expense and drag on development.
Of course, if we had zoning, businesses would have to apply for variances and other permits. It isn't like zoning would eradicate red tape with the city.
Regardless of whether or not you agree with zoning, it would be very difficult to retroactively implement zoning in Houston. Determining the zoning itself would have its own headaches, but the years and years of lawsuits, "fair market value adjustments" the city would have to dole out, and all the other red tape would be ridiculously burdensome, and may in fact be impossible for a city the size and mix of Houston.
Wasn't gonna answer, but the thought of someone asking about zoning laws in Houston(at this point in it's history) greatly amused me.
