It's Not 'Zoning', But It's Zoning

"The Houston Area Survey, conducted for 26 years by Rice University's Dr. Stephen Klineberg, is an unmatched tool for civic discussion about our region. Recent coverage of the newest survey (Chronicle, April 20 "Guiding growth will be a key issue in '09 mayoral tilt") raised the specter of zoning in the city. Responses make it very clear that Houstonians want the city to balance development with quality of life, and they believe planning and regulation is necessary to improve the situation."

"Only 23 percent of residents think 'more land-use planning would be bad for Houston because it will slow economic growth and increase the cost of housing.' On the other hand, 61 percent say 'More land-use planning would be good for Houston because it will improve the region's quality of life and long-term prosperity.' That is, even considering possible negative outcomes, most of us consider planning beneficial."

"But the question that has stirred debate was 'Are you in favor or opposed to zoning in Houston — that is, citywide control over the uses of the land in different areas?' Fifty-four percent favored this idea, 29 percent did not. Almost twice as many favor zoning as oppose it."

"In response to the story on the survey, former Mayor Bob Lanier, a co-founder of the anti-planning, anti-regulation Houstonians for Responsible Growth, sent a letter to the Chronicle worrying about 'calls for prescriptive land-use restrictions on every piece of Houston property.'"

"Guess what? We already have those, and have had them since 1982.

"Land use is heavily controlled in the city's Code of Ordinances. In fact, scholarly papers suggest Houston has an unusually large number of rules governing development."