PRESENTER: Presenter
Colton Barker, Assistant Planner
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SUBJECT: Title
ORD26-228 Public hearing and recommendation to City Council, amending the New Braunfels Code of Ordinances, Chapter 144 Zoning, Section 1.4, Section 3.3, Section 3.4, Section 4.2, and Section 5.5 to align home occupation definitions and regulations with House Bill 2464 and Chapter 229 of the Texas Local Government Code.
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DEPARTMENT: Neighborhood & Community Planning
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Case No: ORD26-228
Staff Contact:
Colton Barker, Assistant Planner
(830) 221-4274 | cbarker@newbraunfels.gov
Historically, the City has adopted standards for home occupations that identified specific occupations as allowed or not allowed within residential zoning districts. These rules were adopted prior to the enactment of House Bill (HB) 2464 by the 89th Texas Legislature that became effective on June 12, 2025.
HB 2464 establishes statewide standards for qualifying “no-impact home-based businesses” and limits a municipality's authority to regulate businesses based solely on the type of business conducted. Instead, municipalities may regulate objective operational impacts, such as traffic, parking, noise, and similar characteristics. As a result, the City must amend its Code of Ordinances to remove provisions preempted by state law while preserving the regulatory authority expressly authorized under Chapter 229 of the Texas Local Government Code.
ISSUE:
HB 2464, codified in Section 229.902 of the Texas Local Government Code, prohibits municipalities from requiring zoning changes, permits, or licenses for qualifying no-impact home-based businesses* and limits local regulation based on business type. The legislation reflects a shift in state policy from regulating the type of home-based business to regulating the impacts that business has on surrounding residential properties. (*The City of New Braunfels does not currently require such permits, licenses, etc.)
Because the City's current Home Occupation Regulations were adopted before HB 2464 became effective, portions of the ordinance are now preempted by state law. The proposed ordinance replaces the City's existing Home Occupation Regulations with a performance-based framework for qualifying no-impact home-based businesses that regulates measurable operational impacts rather than specific occupations.
The proposed amendments do not authorize unrestricted commercial activity in residential districts; rather, they establish objective standards to ensure home-based businesses operate in a manner consistent with surrounding residential uses. These changes still allow Texas Cities to protect nearby residences from home business impacts, just with a different approach.
Rather than simply restating the statute, the proposed ordinance integrates HB 2464 into the City's zoning ordinance while preserving the City's authority to enforce generally applicable building, fire, health, safety, environmental, nuisance, parking, traffic, and noise protections. Examples of regulated operational impacts include excessive customer traffic, parking demand, outdoor storage, noise, and similar activities that are incompatible with surrounding residential uses. This approach maintains neighborhood compatibility while providing a clearer and more consistent framework aligned with state law.
Overall, the proposed amendments balance the requirements of state statute with the City's interest in maintaining neighborhood character and ensuring that home-based businesses remain compatible with surrounding residential uses.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REFERENCE:
The proposed amendment is supported by the following action items from Envision New Braunfels:
• Action 1.3: Encourage balanced and fiscally responsible land use patterns.
• Action 1.11: Update policies and codes to achieve development patterns that implement the goals of the comprehensive plan.
• Action 2.1: Sustain community livability for all ages and economic backgrounds.
• Action 2.5: Encourage diversification of commercial activity Downtown to build on and sustain existing historic resources and maximize structure utilization for economic expansion.
• Action 3.1: Plan for healthy jobs/ housing balance.
• Action 3.6: Pro actively provide a regulatory environment that remains business and resident friendly.
• Action 3.11: Target new industries that integrate well with the New Braunfels workforce, as well as industries with intact labor.
• Action 3.31: Adopt policies and ordinances supportive of workforce housing, creating opportunities that make investment in workforce housing more feasible for private and nonprofit developers.
• Action 8.16: Create an environment that increases employment opportunities at all education and skill levels.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☒Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☐Community Identity
☒Organizational Excellence ☒Community Well-Being ☐N/A
• Economic Mobility - Goal: Create an economic ecosystem where all people have access to housing and meaningful work to live self-reliantly within the community.
• Economic Mobility - Objective: Support Confluence, the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Strategic Plan, by helping to ensure a community that supports the targeted industries and increases the diversity of job opportunities in the community.
• Economic Mobility - Objective: In partnership with the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation (NBEDC) and New Braunfels Utilities, develop a cohesive framework for economic development incentives that encourage a built environment that results in enhanced walkability, mixed housing types, and the co-location of commercial and residential uses.
• Economic Mobility - Objective: Continue to develop a series of policies and programs to encourage the construction of different housing types, such as accessory dwelling units, to increase the diversity of the housing supply, especially in areas of the community that are undergoing changes to current development patterns and where demand is outpacing supply.
• Economic Mobility - Outcome: Increased percentage of citizens who work and reside in New Braunfels.
• Economic Mobility - Outcome: Reduce collective percentage of household income dedicated to housing and transportation.
• Economic Mobility - Outcome: Decrease in percentage of cost-burdened households.
• Organizational Excellence - Objective: Continue to utilize cross departmental teams to enhance services provided to internal and external customers.
• Organizational Excellence - Objective: Considering statutory and market-based factors, continue to diversify revenue streams to support long-term fiscal sustainability of the organization.
• Community Well-Being - Goal: Implement services that enhance health and well-being to improve overall quality of life for residents.
• Community Well-Being - Outcome: Maintain National Citizen Survey overall satisfaction for “Overall health and wellness opportunities.”
• Community Well-Being - Outcome: Maintain National Citizen Survey overall satisfaction for “Overall feeling of safety.”
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
• Economic Vision: Compete for and create jobs that align with the skills of our residents.
• Community Vision: Preserve community character, charm, and heritage while still investing in housing, infrastructure, and services.
• Development Vision: Focus on development patterns and bring jobs and people closer together.
• Attract Quality Jobs in Target Industries: Measure success by percent of residents who live and work in New Braunfels segmented by wages.
• Support the Success of Start Ups: Study of the startup economy and identify niche opportunities for targeted support in New Braunfels; Measure success by self-employment as a share of total employment.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Administrative workload associated with home occupation approvals may decrease due to the removal of certain standards preempted by state statute. Any ongoing compliance and enforcement activities are expected to be accommodated within existing department resources.
These amendments are in alignment with the following recommendations and strategies of the Land Use Fiscal Analysis:
• A mix of uses on a single parcel of land increases revenue to cover costs of services supporting community-wide fiscal health and affordability.
• With residents, identifying low-cost, incremental improvements that can be seen and appreciated in a short amount of time.
• Cultivating with local entrepreneurs small, incremental development and infill.
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval as this amendment is required to ensure the City is in compliance with Section 229.902 of the Texas Local Government Code. The proposed amendments replace the City's existing use-based Home Occupation rules with a performance-based framework that focuses on objective operational impacts while preserving the City's remaining neighborhood protection authority. The ordinance removes provisions preempted by state statute, incorporates the requirements of HB 2464 into the City's zoning ordinance, and maintains the City's currently adopted building, fire, health, safety, environmental, nuisance, parking, traffic, and noise standards.
RESOURCE LINKS:
HB 2464: <https://capitol.texas.gov/billlookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB2464> <%3chttps://capitol.texas.gov/billlookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB2464%3e>
New Braunfels Chapter 144 Zoning: <https://library.municode.com/tx/new_braunfels/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH144ZO> <https://library.municode.com/tx/new_braunfels/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH144ZO_ARTIGEPR_S144-1.4DE>