Lufkin City Council approves raising height limit for downtown buildings

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - The Lufkin city council approved a change to the height requirements for buildings downtown.

This was brought to the council after the planning and zoning department was approached by a hotel developer wanting to build a structure taller than the current height restrictions would allow.

Lufkin Mayor Mark Hicks said, “I don’t really see any change other than height restriction going from 42 to 70 feet, so you’re not talking about a big variation there.”

Each zoning district in the city, commercial, central and local all have different restrictions

“In local business, you can restrict the hours of certain businesses whereas in commercial you may be able to have a business, maybe like a car dealership that stays open until 10 o’clock. In commercial whereas in local business you can’t do that,” said Hicks.

“The central business district downtown doesn’t require parking because there’s not a lot of parking down there, you park along the streets or parking lots,” said Hicks.

He said this is why zoning regulations are important.

“You wouldn’t want to have a heavy industrial area next-door to a residential area, or something along those lines,” said Hicks.

Hicks believes this change is an approach to development within the city.

“In terms of business overall, we want to bring any business that’s positive and makes sense for our community,” said Hicks.

Mayor Hicks said the city did not face any opposition to this matter.

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