PARIS, Texas — The Paris City Council on Dec. 9 adopted four zoning ordinances that change land-use designations in multiple parts of the city, including a petition by RT Fitness LLC to rezone a property at 950 East Austin and a series of rezonings inside Historic District 2.

Council voted on four separate agenda items after staff presentations and public hearings. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval for each request. The council recorded unanimous or near-unanimous votes for the ordinances.

The most immediate change approved was the rezoning petition by RT Fitness LLC to change Lot 3 (LCAD 11342) at 950 East Austin from Office District (O) to General Retail District (GR). City staff told the council the rezone would remove the need for special-use permits that apply under the current office zoning and would make future development or new uses more compatible with general retail. The motion passed, 6-0.

Council also approved an ordinance to rezone properties south of Kaufman Street between First Street Southeast and Third Street Southeast from One-Family Dwelling District No. 1 (SF-1) to Central Area District (CA). Staff said the change implements a map staff prepared during earlier workshops. That motion passed, 6-0.

A third ordinance rezoned parcels inside Historic District 2 (HD-2) — LCAD parcels 16255, 16421 and 16571 — from One-Family Dwelling District No. 1 (SF-1) to Multi-Family Dwelling District No. 1 (MF-1) for existing multi-family uses located in the district. Planning staff said these properties already contain multi-family uses and P&Z recommended approval. The motion passed, 6-0.

Finally, council approved the largest portion of the HD-2 rezoning, changing multiple parcels south of Sherman Street between Southwest First Street and Southeast Third Street (including LCAD parcels 16255, 16421, 16571, 16272, 16276, 16279, 16585, 16583, 16586, 16591 and 16604) from SF-1 to One-Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF-2). Staff said the SF-2 classification better matches lot sizes in the district and corrects nonconformity created by the prior SF-1 designation. That motion passed, 5-0.

During the public hearing on the multi-family rezoning, resident Michael King asked whether a particular corner building on Third Southeast and Washington — historically a grocery store — would be treated as commercial under the proposed changes. "I actually don't even know if it is considered commercial," King said, and asked whether today's action would disrupt his current use. City staff responded, "Nothing will disrupt what you're doing now because if the zoning has been changed from what it was when you initially began your operations you would be a legal nonconforming use and you wouldn't have to stop what you're doing." The staff explanation indicated the owner's current commercial use would be grandfathered; staff also said any future change or redevelopment would require P&Z and council consideration.

Planning staff repeatedly noted P&Z's recommendation of approval and explained that the differences between SF-1 and SF-2 relate to lot size, which motivated the broad SF-2 rezoning in HD-2.

Votes at a glance:
- Agenda item 13 — RT Fitness LLC (950 E. Austin; LCAD 11342): rezoned O → GR; vote 6-0; P&Z recommended approval; effective date not specified in the meeting record.
- Agenda item 14 — City petition south of Kaufman St. (First SE–Third SE): rezoned SF-1 → CA; vote 6-0; P&Z recommended approval; effective date not specified.
- Agenda item 15 — Parcels in HD-2 (LCAD 16255, 16421, 16571): rezoned SF-1 → MF-1 (to match existing multi-family uses); vote 6-0; P&Z recommended approval.
- Agenda item 16 — Multiple parcels in HD-2 (see text): rezoned SF-1 → SF-2 (lot-size correction); vote 5-0; P&Z recommended approval.

Council did not state ordinance numbers or effective dates on the record during the meeting. Staff repeatedly advised property owners that existing legal nonconforming uses would not be forced to cease immediate operations by the rezoning but that future redevelopment would require standard review.

The council moved on to other business after completing the public hearings and votes.