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The Tomball City Council had another round with a proposed fencing ordinance, before finally approving the measure Feb. 4. Members also looked at the possibility of regulating the large donation boxes located around town, as well as approved waving impact fees for new businesses locating downtown.

Council started the meeting by revisiting the long debated fencing ordinance.

Councilman Derek Townsend's wife Lisa sent an email, which city secretary Doris Speer read.

"I oppose such laws where government regulations limit our decision making ability or puts undue stress on property owners and taxpayers," she wrote. "I hope there are elected officials which support the rights of homeowners and taxpayers."

Derek Townsend then suggested tabling the ordinance to allow for more discussion on what will be permissible. Other council members did not support Townsend and ultimately passed the new fencing ordinance. Townsend was the lone dissenting vote, while Councilman Mark Stoll wasn't present.

The discussion then turned to the charitable donation boxes located around town.

Assistant City Manager Christal Kliewer Weber told the council that most of the boxes are owned by private businesses, which then donate a portion of the proceeds to the charity named on the box. That drew the ire of Councilman Rick Brown, as he suggested charging a fee for those boxes. He had concerns that Goodwill maintains and pay rent at a storefront in the city, while the owners of the boxes do not.

"It seems like they need some kind of fee," Brown said. "Now the questions for staff is, what kind of burden does that put on staff?"

"There are only 16 (boxes) now," Weber said. "We can limit them, depending on what council wants to do."

Councilman Preston Dodson agreed that the boxes need to be regulated.

"I don't see a need for them to pay the city, but I do see a need for them to be well maintained," he said.

Townsend suggested the possibility of placing all donation boxes in a central location.

"Do we have a piece of property that we can set these on and say this is the donation area?" he asked.

Weber replied that some cities do.

Weber will take the council's suggestions and questions and city staffers will come up with a proposed ordinance in the future.

The council then voted unanimously to waive impact fees for new businesses in the downtown area for the next two years, as a way to lure new businesses to the area.
Rodney Hudson, a downtown property owner, thanked the council for the proposal.

"Waving these impact fees will make a difference and I think it's a positive move forward," he said.

Councilman Field Hudgens said he didn't think the move would have a big impact in the end, but still voted to approve the measure.

"I voted against this last time considering I don't think it will have such an impact in the way you guys really think it will," he said.

The Tomball City Council took steps to begin regulating donation canisters that are located within the city, while also hearing about a proposal for a new multi-family apartment building, during their regular meeting April 15.

The council unanimously passed an ordinance that will regulate donation boxes in Tomball.

"This will set the regulations for the type of containers that are allowable, who can operate them, where they can exist, a permitting process and then a process for violations," said Christal Kliewer Weber, Tomball Assistant City Manager.

The new ordinance will require that the containers must be operated on behalf of a non-profit organization, as well as be placed only in non-residential areas.

The new regulations also require that no more than two may be located on any lot and that they must be at least 300 feet away from any other container on any other lot.

They may not be larger than 96 cubic feet and must be neutral colored, while also maintained in good condition and emptied regularly.

The new law also requires operators of the donation boxes to get them permitted each year, at a fee of $25.

In other business, a joint workshop of the council and planning and zoning commission heard a proposal from Sean Rae, of Trammell Crow, about a planned multi-family apartment building on the northeast corner of SH 249 and Holderreith Road.

"A month or so ago we were approached by Trammell Crow Residential, wanting to talk about development of a multi-family complex here in Tomball," City Manager George Shackelford said. "We decided it would be best if they made a presentation before submitting a pro-posal."

Sean Rae, a development associate with the company, told the members about the proposal.

"This is not section eight or government subsidized housing," Rae said. "This is luxury, market rate housing."

The proposal laid out by Rae spells out a 376 unit complex on 19 acres. A formal proposal has yet to be submitted to the city.