by Nicole Bradford
Pearland City leaders on Monday rejected a zone change that would allow an office complex to be built on Cullen Parkway but didn’t close the door on the proposal entirely.
“Something like this — this size of project is well needed in our community,” Mayor Kevin Cole said regarding a proposed office warehouse at 2849 Cullen Parkway.
But the council on Monday rejected the needed rezoning of the site from general business to general commercial, which is a more intense zoning. Councilmembers and city staff instead recommended the developer submit the proposal as a “planned development” — a type of zoning that can be customized for a specific project. Unlike rezoning land as a general commercial, a planned development ensures that the approved plans are exactly what is built.
In December, the council rejected the same proposed zone change. Still, applicant Faraz Hemani said on Monday that he hoped members would reconsider after hearing more information about the project, which would provide affordable spaces for small, locally owned businesses.
“I know the name is office warehouse and you might imagine a warehouse industrial style — that’s not at all what we plan to put here. There look like nice, professional office parks that look like everything else in the area,” he told the council.
At more than 82,000 square feet, the project would be home to more than 50 small businesses such as plumbers, dance studios, and therapists, he said, “that today can’t afford to get out of their garage because they can’t afford strip center rents, or more likely, they’re taking their business somewhere else outside of Pearland.”
