Term and expiration; application to rescind; application to renew.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 42-207
in effectSec. 42-207. - Term and expiration; application to rescind; application to renew.
(a) A special minimum lot size requirement established pursuant to an application that the director determines to be complete after May 24, 2013 shall be effective for 40 years after the effective date of the ordinance establishing the requirement unless terminated earlier by an ordinance adopted by city council. A special minimum lot size requirement established pursuant to an application that the director determines to be complete before May 24, 2013 shall be effective for 20 years after the effective date of the ordinance establishing the minimum lot size requirement unless terminated earlier by an ordinance adopted by city council.
(b) An application to rescind a special minimum lot size requirement shall comply with the application requirements of section 42-198 of this Code for establishing a special minimum lot size requirement except that items (2) and (5) of subsection (a) of section 42-198 of this Code shall not be required. The application to rescind shall be accepted by the director no earlier than five years after the effective date of the ordinance establishing the special minimum lot size requirement and no earlier than five years after the final action on the most recent application to rescind the special minimum lot size requirement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an application may be accepted by the director if the applicant provides new information regarding changed circumstances that the director determines warrants the acceptance of the application The application shall be reviewed in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision for a new application for designation of a special minimum lot size block or special minimum lot size area, as applicable, except as provided by subsection (c) of this section.
(c) In addition to the criteria for reviewing an application to establish a special minimum lot size requirement in this subdivision, an application to rescind a special minimum lot size requirement shall be evaluated in accordance with the following:
(1) For an application to rescind a special minimum lot size block:
a. If the application is not signed by the property owners of 67 percent of the area within the special minimum lot size block, the application fails and no further action shall be taken;
b. If the application is signed by the property owners of 67 percent of the area within the special minimum lot size block and no timely written protest is received by the department, the director shall approve the application and refer the application directly to city council for consideration; and
c. If the application is signed by property owners of 67 percent of the area within the special minimum lot size block and a timely written protest is received by the department, the director shall refer the application to the commission. The commission shall approve the application and refer the application to city council for consideration if the special minimum lot size block no longer satisfies the criteria of section 42-204 of this Code.
(2) For an application to rescind a special minimum lot size area:
a. If the application does not receive the support of the property owners of 67 percent of the area after return of the response forms required by section 42-201 of this Code, the application fails and no further action shall be taken; and
b. If the application receives the support of the property owners of 67 percent of the area within the special minimum lot size area after return of the response forms required by section 42-201 of this Code, the commission shall approve the application and refer the application to city council if it finds the special minimum lot size area no longer satisfies the requirements of section 42-204 of this Code.
(d) An application to renew a special minimum lot size requirement shall comply with the application requirements of section 42-198 of this Code except that items (2), (3), and (5) of subsection (a) of section 42-198 shall not be required. The application to renew shall be accepted by the director no earlier than two years before the expiration of the ordinance establishing the special minimum lot size requirement. The application shall be reviewed in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision for a new application for designation of a special minimum lot size block or special minimum lot size area, as applicable, except as provided by subsection (e) of this section.
(e) In addition to the criteria for reviewing an application to establish a special minimum lot size requirement in this subdivision, an application to renew a special minimum lot size requirement shall be evaluated in accordance with the following:
(1) For an application to renew a special minimum lot size block that does not receive a timely protest by an owner of a lot within the proposed special minimum lot size block, and the director finds that the application meets the approval criteria of 42-204 of this chapter, the director shall approve the application and refer the application directly to city council for consideration;
(2) For a special minimum lot size area, the application to renew shall be administratively approved by the director and forwarded to city council for consideration if the owners of less than 10 percent of the special minimum lot size area oppose the renewal of the special minimum lot size requirement after return of the response forms required by section 42-201 of this Code, and the director finds that the application meets the approval criteria of 42-204 of this chapter; and
(3) Applications that cannot be administratively approved by the director shall be evaluated in accordance with the procedures for applications to establish a special minimum lot size requirement.
(Ord. No. 2013-343, § 3(Exh. A), 4-24-2013; Ord. No. 2015-639, § 40, 6-24-2015, eff. 7-24-2015)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH42SUDEPL_ARTIIIPLST_DIV4LORE_SDBSPMILOSIRE_S42-207TEEXAPREAPREFetched: 10/26/2026