A. The requirements to be met for each use shall be as follows:
1. Home Occupations: The applicable conditions for home occupations shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. The area used in conducting the home occupation will be clearly secondary to the residential use.
b. One nameplate attached to the building not larger than two (2) square feet is permitted in all districts except R-l single-family residential district.
c. There shall be no exterior display or alterations, or banner flags, banners, or other eye-catching gimmicks to indicate that the building is being used for any purpose other than that of a dwelling.
d. There shall be no more than one additional unrelated employee other than immediate members of the family residing on the premises.
e. There shall be no outside storage of materials or products.
f. The permitted use shall not create frequent or heavy traffic, not greater than ten percent (10%) of the average load per hour as determined by the Planning Director of the city. Also, the City of Alamo may require additional paved parking spaces but not to the degree to appear ‘non-residential’.
g. No retail sales (Note: items can be delivered).
h. No additions to the residence or accessory buildings specifically to accommodate the business.
i. The business must take place in the primary residential structure on the property rather than in a detached garage or separate accessory building.
j. The activity must take place at the location for which the permit was issued.
2. Entertainment Establishments: Bars, cocktail lounges, taverns, cantinas, saloons, dance halls, discotheques, discos, or nightclubs:
a. The property line of the lot of any of the above mentioned businesses, especially those businesses having late hours (after 10:00 P.M.), must be at least three hundred feet (300') from the nearest residence, and/or church, school, or publicly owned (institutional) property. Such entertainment establishments must provide six feet (6') to eight feet (8') fence buffering so that the business is not visible from said residential/institutional areas; and provide sufficient soundproof insulation of the building such that the business cannot be heard from residential/institutional areas. Furthermore, such entertainment establishments must be designed to minimize damage of the character of nearby residential areas. Regarding the 300-foot regulation cited above, the Zoning Board of Adjustments shall not have stewardship for variance review but it shall be delegated to the Planning and Zoning Commission who may, under extenuating or special circumstances unique to the site or event, recommend waiver of the 300-foot requirement to the Board of Commissioners who shall have ultimate decision on the matter. On the occasion when a variance is sought to the 300-foot distance, the residential/institutional property owners within this radius shall be justly notified of the (CUP) public hearings; thus, the process being fully transparent and due process legitimately complied with.
b. The above-mentioned businesses must be as close as possible to a major arterial, and shall not allow the traffic generated by such businesses onto residential streets, or allow such traffic to exit into and disrupt residential areas.
c. The above-mentioned businesses must provide parking in accordance with the city off street parking ordinance as a minimum, and make provisions to prevent use of adjacent streets for parking, especially those in adjacent residential areas, by providing additional on-site parking.
d. The above-mentioned businesses must do everything possible to prevent the unauthorized parking by the patrons of such businesses on adjacent business or residential properties including, when necessary, the installation offences and hedges, and the reorientation of entrances.
e. The above-mentioned businesses should do everything possible and be designed to discourage criminal activities and vandalism, both on the site and on adjacent properties. Included would be provision of sufficient lighting and perimeter fencing, elimination of dark areas, and the orientation of the building such that it provides maximum visibility of as much as possible of the site from a public street.
f. The above-mentioned businesses must make provisions to keep litter to a minimum, and to keep it from blowing onto adjacent streets and properties.
3. Personal Wireless Service Facility: The applicable conditions for a personal wireless service facility include, but are not limited to:
a. Maximum height of pole or tower structure of one hundred twenty feet (120') within a commercial or industrial district;
b. Only one pole or tower structure allowed per lot within a commercial or industrial district;
c. Minimum spacing between poles and tower structures within commercial or industrial district of one thousand feet (1,000') measured in a direct line from another tower or structure;
d. Minimum setback of twenty-five feet (25') from property line, ten feet (10') from side yard and ten feet (10') from rear, unless greater requirements as noted on subdivision plat;
e. Buffering of ground site including fence and landscape material required if pole or tower structure located within the front or side yard, or adjacent to a residential use or district;
f. The pole or tower structure will be constructed or installed with the capabilities of locating thereon additional personal wireless service facilities. The applicant agrees to cooperate with other personal wireless service facilities on permitted support structures. A permittee shall exercise good faith in collocating with other providers and sharing the permitted structure, provided such shared use does not give rise to a substantial technical level impairment of the ability to provide the permitted use (i.e., a significant interference in broadcast or reception capabilities as opposed to a competitive conflict or financial burden). Such good faith shall include sharing technical information to evaluate the feasibility of collocation. In the event a dispute arises as to whether a permittee has exercised good faith in accommodating other users, the city may require a third-party technical study at the expense of either or both the applicant and permittee;
g. All conditional use applicants shall demonstrate reasonable efforts in developing a collocation alternative for their proposed personal wire service facility site;
h. Failure to comply with the collocation requirements of this section may result in the denial of a permit request or revocation of an existing permit.
4. Daycare Facilities: The applicable requirements for daycare facilities include, but are not limited to:
a. Must be licensed by the state of Texas;
b. Must have a minimum six foot (6') high fenced-in area for outside activities of children;
c. Must have a privacy fence buffer between adjacent properties;
d. Must have off street paved area adjacent to street for pick-up and delivery of children;
e. The building used for daycare facilities must be constructed to serve as a residential dwelling, and the building’s exterior roof and facade must conform to the architectural characteristics and overall appearance of the residential district;
f. No part of a daycare facility shall be within a radius of one thousand feet (1,000') of another daycare facility, as measured from any point on the property line of each respective facility’s property;
g. No daycare facility shall be permitted on a half street;
h. Daycare facilities which care for more than forty (40) children shall not be permitted in a residential district;
i. No on-site signage of any kind shall be permitted to advertise the daycare facility other than a two square foot nonilluminated nameplate bearing the person’s name and occupation may be displayed if attached flat against the front wall of the building; no ground pole sign or flags, etc.,,shall be permitted
j. If the person operating the daycare facility is not the owner of the property, then the application must be signed by the owner or a letter of authorization from the owner must be submitted.
5. Parking facilities for nonresidential uses: The applicable requirements for parking facilities include but are not limited to:
a. Access shall not be granted through the residential neighborhood street or lot frontage.
b. A minimum six feet (6') opaque buffer fence (Block, Brick or Cedar) shall be installed to divide the residential uses from the non-residential uses.
c. The non -residential parking shall only be used during the hours of operation of the adjacent commercial business for which the additional parking is intended to serve.
d. Any proposed commercial lighting shall be affixed with downcast lighting to illuminate the parking area only and not to affect the residential areas.
e. Must be constructed of asphalt or concrete as required by the City’s parking ordinance.
f. Shall provide an engineered drainage plan in order to ensure proper drainage that will not affect the residential properties.
h. Shall install any necessary sidewalks in compliance with ADA requirements.
i. Shall not be utilized for the parking of large commercial vehicles or semi-truck parking.
j. Shall comply with any other requirements, such as landscaping regulations and additional private/public security lighting, imposed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Alamo Board of Commissioners.
6. Wrecker Services: The following regulations, though not all inclusive, shall be complied with:
a. Must be in full compliance of applicable provisions of Title 6, Chapter 6
- Wreckers, as these regulations pertain to State Inspections; vehicle safety certifications; annual fees and inspection fees; driver vetting and registration; insurance requirements; no delinquent taxes due on the vehicle storage facility; Police Chief assessment and approval protocol, including abiding by approved maximum towing service fees, or reasonable fees pursuant to circumstances of the accident/incident; being placed on the city*s rotation list; plus all other measures of Chapter 6
. However, in regard to Chapter 6
, Sec. 6-6-7
Suspension or Revocation of Permit Hearing, this PUD procedure shall defer to the Development, Revocation and/or Automatic Cancellation protocol as ordained by the Board of Commissioners in Title 10, Section 10-13-6 wherein the Police Department’s evidentiary hearing can be included in this process.
b. Any and all proposed signage must be pre-approved pursuant to the City’s Sign Ordinance and any applicable provision(s) of Title 6, Chapter 6
, prior to issuance of the required sign permit
c. Landscaping regulations will be applied should the subject site not be fully compliant to the commercial landscaping standard(s).
d. Drainage detention will be applied should the subject site not be fully compliant to the city’s prevailing storm frequency requirement. An engineered plan can be required by the city, if the property’s (proposed) impermeable surface is found extensive and may have a detrimental spillover effect to adjoining property/properties. After improving the wrecker property to its final occupancy status, the measure of permeable detention will substantially be the same as before improvement, i.e., there should be no substantial increased drainage flow onto adjoiners.
e. A business license/permit must be secured for the new wrecker service. In this process, the Building Codes, Fire Codes, Paving Codes, etc., will all be complied with. Also, if the Fire Marshal determines that the commercial use will require an additional fire hydrant, then this shall be installed by the applicant pursuant to the city’s utility policies, and must be enabled prior to occupancy.
f. If the Planning Director determines that paved sidewalks are needed to maximize pedestrian safety and magnify neighborhood assimilation, then this may be imposed, and the sidewalk(s) constructed (or construction cost escrowed with the City of Alamo) prior to occupancy.
g. No wrecker CUP shall be transferable to any new owner(s); the prerequisite CUP public hearing requirements must be fully processed and complied with prior to activation by any new owner.
h. No CUP shall be issued to a wrecker service if it is within one-thousand feet (1000') to another wrecker service’s vehicle storage facility (VSF), to be measured from nearest point to nearest point; except that on commercially zoned properties along U.S. Expressway 83 or U.S. Business Highway 83, and commercially zoned properties between said major thoroughfares east of Tower Road, the 1000' VSF interval may be suspended dependent on the applicant’s site plan, especially as it pertains to uniform fencing/buffering. It is further expressed that should there be one (1) commercially zoned property that desires to house several VSFs within the specific boundaries just cited, this may be permitted during the CUP process, but only if there will be a uniformly built eight-foot (8') fence/buffer that contains the multiple VSFs; thus, visually appearing to the normal passerby that the stored vehicles are in a single VSF. Any signage for multiple VSFs in a single property will afford only one tenant sign; the containment security fence will not have any markings, phone numbers, insignias, etc.
i. Security lighting shall be mandated of the wrecker service with strong inclination for internal downcast lighting, especially where there may be residential areas nearby. Adequate lighting must be evident so vehicle owners may satisfactorily inspect their vehicle for damages during evening hours.
j. Minimum six feet (6') opaque or solid buffer fence/wall shall be required around all the entire perimeter of the vehicle storage facility. As it pertains to CUP applicants, such buffering shall be constructed of wood fencing and/or masonry material on the property’s side that is most visible to passing motorists and the general public; however, should circumstances warrant, similar type of buffering may also be imposed to the vehicle storage facility’s other sides, too. At the facility’s entry/exit gate, such buffering shall be indented sufficiently inward to allow for the wrecker vehicle(s) to temporarily park off-the-street while pending entry into the storage yard.
k. The vehicle storage facility shall have all-weather surface wherein stored vehicles are (temporarily) placed. Such all-weather surface material shall be considered ‘impermeable’ for square footage calculations as it relates to drainage detention purposes.
l. A wrecker CUP shall initially be approved for one (1) year, reflecting the intent of being commercially enabled for one year prior to re-assessment/possible renewal to provide a fair tenure to consider renewal. It is noted here that, pursuant to Title 10, Chapter 19, Sec. 10-13-6 (D), the applicant shall have six (6) months to fully activate and comply with all applicable wrecker regulations, or else the CUP shall be deemed null and void.
m. The City of Alamo reserves the right to impose other reasonable restrictions and traffic safety measures to a wrecker CUP, at any time, in order to maximize assimilation to its neighborhood.
7. Vendors Market: The following regulations, though not all-inclusive, shall be complied with:
a. The location of a vendors market shall be on property that has a commercial zoning district.
b. The location of a vendors market may be within an enclosed facility or open-air parking lot or exterior paved area; if in a paved parking lot, the total number of ‘available’ parking spaces shall be sufficient for both the existing business(es) and the vendors market’s occupied areas. No CUP shall be approved if the number of ‘available’ paved parking spaces are depleted below the regulatory parking space criteria for the business(es) that use the same paved parking lot.
c. The hours of operation shall no earlier than eight (8:00) A.M. nor later than seven (7:00) P.M.
d. The applicant will assure that his/her vendors shall have valid food-handler’s certificates that may be verifiable by the County of Hidalgo Health Department authorities; copies of such will be provided to the City of Alamo’s Planning Department
e. Paved parking shall be sufficient for the private vehicles of each vendor plus the overall square footage requirement for incoming patrons; the primary intent is to minimize or eliminate parking from occurring on adjoining street(s) or on parking lots of other neighboring commercial users (unless there is signed consent from said neighboring commercial users that such may occur) if it is observed that the parking is insufficient for the number of vendors accommodated, then either the number of permitted vendors must be eroded or additional paved parking must be secured via prevailing ordinances, i.e., written consent of any nearby commercial properties.
f. A business license for a ‘vendors market’ must be secured by the CUP applicant; thus, assuring that the prevailing zoning codes, building codes, and fire codes are complied with. In this regard, the Fire Marshal may or may not require additional fire hydrants to serve the facility, plus require that ‘fire lanes’ or ‘no parking’ be (re)painted in appropriate areas.
g. Sufficient accommodations must be made for garbage pick-up where the garbage container area will comply with prevailing city ordinances, including (as deemed applicable) to have the container buffered.
h. Should there be a required need to hire City of Alamo police officer(s), then said costs shall be privately paid by the applicant directly to the off-duty officer. The City of Alamo will not pay for its officers to provide security to a private business enterprise, within the context of this CUP process.
i. Provide a signed copy of any lease/rent agreement attesting the owner’s consent of occupancy and the terms thereby. In this regard, there shall be arrangements made for vendors and patrons to use the business’ restroom facilities. If this is not a viable option, then any port-a-potty must be shown on the CUP’s Site Plan; assuring that it is reasonably distant to nearby residences.
j. After one (1) year of operations and as a part of any CUP’s renewal, the City of Alamo may impose other reasonable conditions to further assimilate compliance of the subject site to the neighborhood; such improvements may include perimeter sidewalks, landscaping with trees/three (3) feet continuous landscape hedging, security lighting, etc.
k. There shall be no alcoholic beverages sold for on-site or off-site consumption whatsoever. Furthermore, no vendor shall consume any alcoholic beverage during the vendors market event.
l. Any signage must comply with prevailing sign code regulations; no ‘flag’ or v-type signs, etc., are permitted.
8. Business Recycling Facility (BRF): a commercial venture that processes, cuts, reduces, or modifies materials to a degree that it may facilitate the item to be stored and then transported off-site for recycling purposes. A BRF is prohibited along the City’s Commercial Corridor. Such items may include, but not be limited to, precious or semiprecious metals, plastics, paper, canvas, fiber, etc.
a. Must secure and acquire any applicable licensing or certifications that may be required by monitoring County, State, and/or Federal agencies.
b. BRF site must not be less than three (30 acres gross.
c. BRF site must be a minimum distance of one-thousand feet (1,000') from any other recycling facility; said separation measured from nearest property line to nearest property line.
d. BRF site is prohibited along the commercial corridor; encouraged to have frontage to the railroad right-of-way from which to construct a RR spur to facilitate transportation of modified materials.
e. The specific recycling/modifying activity area shall be a minimum of 300' from any residentially used properties, such that it shall not detrimentally affect any of the surrounding residential land uses. Storing or piling of recycling items may be within the 300' interval, though.
f. The recycling or modifying of items shall be conducted within an enclosed structure/building; there shall be no processing, cutting or modifying of recyclable materials in the open.
g. It is expected that there shall be some piles of modified materials in the project site; as such, a minimum ten foot (10') solid buffer wall or fence shall be constructed for such a storage area to totally obscure the stored piles of materials. The buffering wall/fence may be of pre-cast concrete wall panels, concrete masonry unit (CMU), wood, masonry or masonry columns in combination with other permitted materials, or any like material. Accent lighting, at 25' to 35' intervals, in the front of the buffer area is mandated to maximize aesthetics and deflect optics from the storage of recycled/modified materials. Aluminum sheet material shall not be permitted. It is further declared that said buffer shall not have large lettering of the business site, phone number, or any such character or rendering.
h. In conjunction with the 10" buffer, there shall be shade trees within the storage area to further obstruct any stored piles; such shade trees shall be a minimum height of fifteen (15') with each tree being a minimum 6" caliper, spaced at approximately twenty-five (25') from each other. Should a tree be damaged to the degree that it is not viable, the tree shall be replaced within thirty (30) calendar days in a like manner as provided in these regulations.
i. The height of the stored piles of processed, cut or modified materials shall not be visible from the adjoining public street system. Should there be a pile above the wall’s height to thus be visible, said pile shall not lowered in height within 24 consecutive hours after the pile became visually evident.
j. The internal access drives in and around the piles shall be of an all-weather surfaced grade, e.g., paved asphalt, compacted caliche, etc.
k. Except for movement noise incidental to any business venture, the City of Alamo’s Noise Ordinance shall be perpetually complied with as it currently is written or as said ordinance may be amended.
l. Any needful security lighting of the project site shall be internally downcast, and not installed so as to produce significant amount of lit glare outside the project site.
m. Should there be any perimeter streets that do not have parallel sidewalks, then as part of the city’s approval, the sidewalk shall be paved pursuant to prevailing (4' or 5'} width codes; such paved sidewalks shall be completed prior to occupancy, though an extension of a maximum 20 calendar days may be provided by the City if there are inclement weather issues, public health issues, or similar circumstances that impedes construction or materials from being adequately supplied.
n. A detention plan, prepared by a professional engineer licensed to practice in the State of Texas, shall be provided prior to the initial building permit issuance, reflecting that the City of Alamo’s prevailing detention policies shall be abided post-construction.
o. The City of Alamo’s Fire Marshal, Building Official, Code Enforcement Officer, and/or other needful city employee shall have the inherent right and need to make on-site inspections to monitor compliance to prevailing city ordinances, statutes, etc.
9. Mobile food vendors and/or mobile food courts: Mobile food vendors and/or mobile food courts must comply with Title 3, Chapter 17
regulations, as well as applicable provisions of Title 10, Chapter 19
‘Conditional Use Permits’ and be strictly compliant with the ‘Commercial Corridor - Restricted Use’ provision declared in Section 10-2-2
.
10. Sale of Alcoholic Beverages for On-Site Consumption: Businesses, such as restaurants, that desire to sell alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption. Such restaurants may be within 300' of a residence, church, school, or publicly owned property.
11. A dependent travel trailer for temporary residency of medically/emotionally afflicted family member(s) related to the primary resident(s) which shall be subject to:
a. City Staff to monitor the health care need at the site, which may be on-or-about every 6 months, to assure that the vigilant need by the primary resident’s household is still evident - such reports to be made part of the applicants’ CUP file;
b. The travel trailer shall be only for temporary residency, and shall not ever be used to generate any type of rental fee and/or service value of the occupants;
c. This CUP shall not ever be transferable to any new property owner;
d. Applicable building permits, plus other incidental permits, shall be required according to protocol;
e. No renewed approval of such a CUP shall ever be beyond two (2) years to thus assure continual monitoring by the City in a public hearing setting;
f. A 6' buffer (wood framed fence may be required to obscure the travel trailer from area single family homes; dependent on neighborhood circumstances;
g. If determined that the usage is no longer needed, the travel trailer shall either be removed from the property within 30-calendar days’ written notice by the City or be entirely de-activated from utility connections and simply be ‘stored’ on the premises; and/or
h. other reasonable measures may be imposed during the public hearing process to assure gentle assimilation into the residential neighborhood.
12. A family-oriented events facility with predominantly outdoor activity stations. Such a CUP must be on a minimum sized tract of 1.5 acres; only have access to an arterial type street; must not have live music; must be buffered to residential adjoiners; must have sufficient off-street parking areas; shall not have operable hours after 9:00 pm; and there shall be no selling of alcoholic refreshments at any time. The maximum occupancy capacity will be determined by the City’s Fire Marshal.
13. Bed and Breakfast Facility. Such an approved conditional use shall have the pre-clearance from the City’s Building Inspector and Fire Marshal as to safety and overall Code compliance; each available B&B room shall require 1 unobstructed paved parking space. A business license shall be issued prior to an approved CUP and shall be required prior to any B&B occupancy. An instrument shall be recorded citing the City of Alamo’s approval and the conditions of approval which shall include that such conditional uses are not transferable to new owners, heirs, and/or assigns.
14. Centers that provides basic, social, daily living and learning services to people with disabilities, special needs (physical, emotional, etc.), or similar conditions to magnify independent living abilities. Such use(s) must have its primary access to a collector street classification or of higher intensity; must be a minimum one and a half (1.5) acres in size, must be certified/cleared by the appropriate State of Texas agency for such services to receive the required city business license; and have paved off-street parking to be compliant to typical day-care parking regulations found in Section 10-3-6 (A). Also, any CUP may be required to provide additional fire hydrant(s), pave perimeter five foot (5') sidewalks, provide minimum six foot (6') fence buffering, and meet the most prevailing building/fire codes. Finally, landscaping for such a use will be one (1) shade tree (seven feet (7') tall at three inch (3") caliper) for every thirty feet (30') of street frontage inclusive of corner lot frontage; and any signage must comply with prevailing regulations for residential districts as found in Section 9-4-12
(A).
15. Temporary Religious RV Residency on Church Premises for Charitable Purposes. An approved CUP will impose the following requirements:
a. No more than 2 RV spaces may be permitted - such spaces shall be within a paved area; and,
b. The placement of RV residency shall not cause a reduction of available paved parking spaces for the church’s main assembly during regular worship services; and,
c. Such RV use shall not be contingent, directly or indirectly, as rentable property or premises for a short-term lease; and,
d. The primary purpose of the RV’s occupants are purely charitable; and,
e. The CUP approved for RV residency may be approved for 1 year or lengthier intervals subject to random monitoring by the City of Alamo; however, each RV resident/tenant shall not be more than 3 months each - any lengthier stay per tenant will require the approval of the City Manager, based on unique relief circumstances that may warrant a higher measure of sensitive consideration by the City; and,
f. Other reasonable requirements imposed by the City based on the property’s special circumstances.
16. Boarding and Lodging Houses. One (1) un-obstructed paved off-street parking space will be required for each available room for residency for all boarding, lodging and rooming houses.
17. Neighborhood Bars. A pre-existing ‘bar’ that historically has served a neighborhood for a minimum of five (5) continuous years and has assimilated well within the fabric of its (mixed use) neighborhood, but which may be desired to operate under new ownership (w/CUP approval/compliance); said ‘bars’ must erect and perpetually maintain a minimum six foot (6') buffer from any adjoining residential uses; such a proposed CUP will comply, if possible, with the city’s prevailing landscaping codes; the CUP grantee must buffer any dumpster trash bin via prevailing ordinances, and must have paved and striped parking where, if needed, such should be re-furbished via the city’s property maintenance codes; if additional street lighting is needed to maximize security, such shall be assessed to be required during the CUP process; if paved sidewalks are needed to maximize pedestrian security, such may also be assessed to be imposed during the CUP process; the bar’s ownership/management shall also be responsible to have the exterior premises and perimeter street areas free from any littering that was seemingly induced by the bars’ patrons; and the City reserves its right under its police powers to require on-site security if circumstances are confirmed that such a measure will restore safety to the site/general area. No ‘Neighborhood Bar’ CUP shall be operated by any new owner(s) without first securing his/her own city business license which may impose a fire hydrant (if needed); furthermore, no such CUP shall be transferable to new owner(s) without first undergoing the prevailing CUP process. (Ord. 95-04-04,4-4-1995; amd. Ord. 1-18-00,1-18-2000; Ord. 5-16-00, 5-16-2000; Ord. 15-09-10,9-21-2010; Ord. 13-08-18, 8-7-2018; Ord. 03-01-21, - -2021; Ord. 06-02-21, 2-2-2021; Ord. 22-04-21, 4-20-2021; Ord. 86-11-22, 11-22-2022; Ord. 22-04-23, 4-4-2023; Ord. 40-08-23, 8-1-2023; Ord. 75-1-24, 1-2-2024; Ord. 133-10-2024, 10-1-2024; Ord. 155-12-2024,1 2-17-2024; Ord. 158-02-25, 2-24-2025; Ord. 174-04-25, 4-15-2025; Ord. 176-05-25, 5-6-2025; Ord. 228-03-26, 3-3-2026)