The Fulshear Planning and Zoning Commission voted on May 2 to recommend approval of proposed amendments to the City’s Coordinated Development Ordinance (CDO), with two clarifications requested by commissioners: more precise hardship language for tree preservation and guidance on allowable size increases for retail anchors.

Why it matters: The amendments aim to remove barriers to larger retail anchors in the downtown district, require buried utility lines on new private development, and strengthen tree-preservation requirements for larger parcels. Each change affects how future commercial and large-site residential projects will be designed and reviewed in the city.

Key provisions described by city staff
A city staff presenter explained the three main amendment areas:
- Large grocery/retail: The downtown district’s strict 35,000-square-foot cap would remain a conditional-use threshold but would allow exceptions under specified conditions. Staff outlined screening rules for loading, trash and mechanical equipment; requirements for pedestrian connections and on-site pedestrian amenities (for example, plazas and raised landscaped walkways); limits and placement rules for wall signage; façade articulation and landscaping; and a requirement that such stores front a TxDOT roadway (for example, FM 359 or FM 1093).
- Tree preservation: For larger residential and commercial developments, any tree with a 24-inch diameter at breast height (DBH) would be required to be preserved until 5% canopy coverage of the property is reached. If removal is needed due to a defined hardship, the amendment would require replacement with two trees of similar species and a 4-inch DBH; commissioners asked staff to provide a clearer, narrower definition of “hardship.”
- Fiber and electrical lines: The amendments would extend the city’s existing undergrounding requirement in the right-of-way to new private development as well, so fiber and electrical lines placed with new development are also buried rather than placed on poles.

Commission feedback and motion
Commissioners asked staff to further define what qualifies as a hardship under the tree-preservation rules and to consider whether an upper building-size limit (for example, by floor-area ratio or maximum footprint) should accompany the exception to the 35,000-square-foot cap. One commissioner said: "I would like to see the hardship more defined because developers will say anything is a hardship if it's an inconvenience for them." City staff said the amendments are intended to balance the downtown district’s character with flexibility to secure larger retail anchors that could serve the growing city.

A motion recommending approval of the ordinance (with the two clarifications requested) was made, seconded and carried by the commission. Staff indicated the recommendation will proceed to city council for final action along with the edited amendment language.

Next steps
The recommended ordinance amendments will appear before Fulshear City Council for final consideration at the council public hearing scheduled in May. Staff said additional edits (defining the tree-preservation hardship and clarifying size/height trade-offs for large anchors) would be incorporated before the Council packet.