by Wendy Cawthon, Community Impact Newspaper
New businesses coming to Tomball will soon have extra restrictions to adhere to when building along the city’s major thoroughfares. During the Aug. 17 meeting, Tomball City Council approved on first reading an ordinance to create a facade overlay district along three major corridors stretching across city limits — FM 2920, Hwy. 249 and Business 249.
The overlay district will extend the existing restrictions already in place along Main Street (FM 2920), which required buildings to meet certain aesthetic requirements, including paint color and building materials, Tomball City Planner Harold Ellis said.
Under the proposed ordinance, all facades of new, non-residential buildings along the three corridors must be constructed using masonry—defined as brick, stone, glass or stucco—on all visible sides of the building, Ellis said. Existing businesses will be exempt from the ordinance unless the square footage of the buildings are expanded by more than 25 percent.