(a) 
The city declares the enactment of these regulations governing the use and development of land, buildings, and structures as a measure necessary to the orderly development of the community. Therefore, no change shall be made in these regulations or in the boundaries of the zoning districts except:
(1) 
To correct any error in the regulations or map;
(2) 
To recognize changed or changing conditions or circumstances in a particular locality;
(3) 
To recognize changes in technology, the style of living, or manner of conducting business;
(4) 
To change the property to uses in accordance with the city’s adopted comprehensive plan; or
(5) 
To promote the general welfare of the community in furtherance of legitimate governmental objectives.
(b) 
In making a determination regarding a requested zoning change, the planning and zoning commission and the city council shall consider the following factors:
(1) 
Whether the uses permitted by the proposed change will be appropriate in the immediate area concerned, and their relationship to the general area and to the city as a whole;
(2) 
Whether the proposed change is in accord with any existing or proposed plans for providing public schools, streets, water supply, sanitary sewers, and other utilities to the area;
(3) 
The amount of vacant land currently classified for similar development in the vicinity and elsewhere in the city, and any special circumstances which may make a substantial part of such vacant land unavailable for development;
(4) 
The recent rate at which land is being developed in the same zoning classification as the request, particularly in the vicinity of the proposed change;
(5) 
How other areas designated for similar development will be, or are likely to be, affected if the proposed amendment is approved; and
(6) 
Any other factors which will affect or impact the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-141; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.1, adopted 5/17/04)
(a) 
The city council may from time to time, after receiving a recommendation thereon by the planning and zoning commission and after public hearings required by law, amend, supplement, or change the regulations herein provided or the boundaries of the zoning districts specified on the zoning map. Any amendment to the text of this chapter or to zoning district boundaries may be ordered for consideration by the city council, may be initiated by the planning and zoning commission, or may be requested by the owner of real property, or his authorized representative.
(b) 
Consideration for a change in any zoning district boundary line or special zoning regulation may be initiated only by the property owner or his authorized agent (proof of such authorization must be submitted with the zoning application, per section 30.02.153), or by the planning and zoning commission or the city council on its own motion when it finds that public benefit will be derived from consideration of such matter. In the event the ownership stated on an application and that shown in city records are different, the applicant shall submit proof of ownership and verification that he is acting as an authorized agent for the property owner.
(c) 
No person who owes delinquent taxes, delinquent paving assessments, impact fees, or any other delinquent debts or obligations to the city, and which are directly attributable to a piece of property requested for zoning shall be allowed to submit a zoning request until the taxes, assessments, debts, or obligations directly attributable to said property and owned by the owner or previous owner thereof shall have been first fully discharged by payment, or until an arrangement satisfactory to the city has been made for the payment of such debts or obligations. It shall be the applicant’s responsibility to provide evidence or proof that all taxes have been paid.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-142; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.2, adopted 5/17/04)
(a) 
Each application for zoning, rezoning, specific use permit (SUP), or for a text amendment to a provision of this chapter, shall be made in writing on an application form available in the city manager's or their designee's office. The application shall be made in accordance with the adopted development submittal schedule maintained by the city manager's designee, and shall be accompanied by payment of the appropriate fee as established in the currently adopted city fee schedule as printed in appendix A to this code. An accurate metes and bounds description of the subject property, or other suitable legal description, a survey exhibit, and other appropriate exhibits such as: site plans, maps, architectural elevations, information about proposed uses, etc., that are determined necessary by the city manager, or their designee, shall also be submitted with the zoning application in order to ensure that the request is understood. A concept plan, as prescribed in division 7 of this article, shall also be submitted along with any zoning request involving a specific use permit (SUP) request or the formation of a planned development (PD) district.
(b) 
All zoning change requests involving real property shall be accompanied by a notarized statement verifying land ownership and, if applicable, authorization of the land owner's agent to file the zoning change request.
(c) 
Official submission date and completeness of application:
(1) 
For the purpose of these regulations, the "official submission date" shall be the date upon which a complete application for a zoning change request, containing all elements and information required by this chapter, is submitted to the city manager or their designee. No application shall be deemed officially submitted until the city manager, or their designee, determines that the application is complete and a fee receipt is issued by the city. Failure by the city manager, or their designee, to make a determination of incompleteness within ten calendar days following the date on which the application was first received by the city shall result in the application being deemed complete, and the "official submission date" shall become the tenth calendar day following initial receipt of the application by the city.
(2) 
Zoning applications which do not include all required information and materials will be considered incomplete, shall not be accepted for official submission by the city, and shall not be scheduled on a planning and zoning commission agenda until the proper information is provided to city staff.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-143; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.3, adopted 5/17/04; Ordinance 25-02-1377 adopted 2/4/2025)
(a) 
Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing.
Before taking action on any proposed amendment, supplement, or change, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall hold a public hearing on any application for any amendment, supplement, or change prior to making its recommendation and report to the City Council.
(b) 
City Council public hearing.
A public hearing shall be held by the City Council before adopting any proposed amendment, supplement, or change.
(c) 
Notice.
(1) 
Written notice of all public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission on a proposed amendment, supplement, or change to a district boundary shall be sent to all owners or persons rendering taxes on real property lying within 200 feet of the property for which the change is requested. Such notice shall be given not less than 10 days before the date set for hearing by depositing a notice properly addressed and postage paid in the United States Post Office to such property owners as their ownership appears on the last approved tax roll. Additionally, a courtesy notice shall be sent to all owners or persons rendering taxes on real property lying beyond 200 feet as far as 500 feet from the subject property. The failure to receive a notice beyond 200 feet, shall not invalidate the scheduled public hearing process. Furthermore, protests received from those recipients of courtesy notices shall not be calculated as being a part of the protest area as defined in Texas Local Government Code.
(2) 
In addition, written notice of each public hearing shall be provided regarding any proposed adoption of or change to a zoning regulation or boundary under which a current conforming use of a property may become a nonconforming use if the regulation or boundary is adopted or changed. Written notice shall be provided by United States mail to each owner of real or personal property where the proposed nonconforming use is located as indicated by the most recently approved tax roll and each occupant of the property not later than the 10th day before the hearing date. The notice must contain the time and place of each public hearing and include the following text in bold 14-point type or larger: "THE CITY OF MURPHY IS HOLDING A HEARING THAT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER YOU MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE USING YOUR PROPERTY FOR ITS CURRENT USE. PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY."
(3) 
Before the 15th day before the date of the public hearing, the time and place of such hearing shall be published in the official newspaper of the City of Murphy and posted on the City’s internet website.
(4) 
Furthermore, the City Manager or their designee are directed to cause a sign to be placed upon each property to be rezoned, or in the public right-of-way for a change initiated by the City that affects multiple properties, that is at least 24 inches long by 48 inches wide and clearly visible to passersby which states that the property is the subject of a rezoning application (or words of like intent). The sign shall be posted not later than the 10th day prior to the public hearing at the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing and shall remain posted until the date of the final determination on the proposed change.
(d) 
Protests.
A protest of a proposed change to a zoning regulation or district boundary, other than a proposed comprehensive zoning change, must be written and signed by the owners of:
(1) 
At least twenty (20) percent of the area of the lots or land covered by the proposed change;
(2) 
Except as provided by in subsection (d)(3) below, at least twenty (20) percent of the area of the lots or land immediately adjoining the area covered by the proposed change and extending 200 feet from that area; or
(3) 
At least 60 percent of the area of the lots or land immediately adjoining the area covered by the proposed change and extending 200 feet from that area if the proposed change has the effect of allowing more residential development than the existing zoning regulation or district boundary and does not have the effect of allowing additional commercial or industrial uses unless the additional use is limited to the first floor of any residential development and does not exceed 35 percent of the overall development.
(e) 
If a proposed change to a regulation or district boundary is protested in accordance with subsection (d) above, the proposed change must receive, in order to take effect, the affirmative vote of at least: three-fourths of all members of the City Council for a protest described by subsection (d)(1) or (2); or a majority of all members of the City Council for a protest described by subsection (d)(3).
(2006 Code, sec. 86-144; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.4, adopted 5/17/04; Ordinance 18-01-1075 adopted 1/16/18; Ordinance 25-02-1377 adopted 2/4/2025; Ordinance 25-11-1401 adopted 11/18/2025)
Failure of the applicant or his authorized representative to appear before the planning and zoning commission or the city council for one hearing without an approved delay by the city manager, or his designee, shall constitute sufficient grounds for the planning and zoning commission or the city council to table or deny the application unless the city is notified in writing by the applicant at least 72 hours prior to the hearing.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-145; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.5, adopted 5/17/04)
(a) 
The planning and zoning commission shall perform its duties in accordance with division 3 of this article and with applicable provisions in this code.
(b) 
The planning and zoning commission shall hold a public hearing on a zoning or rezoning request. After all public input has been received and the public hearing closed, the commission shall make its recommendations on the proposed zoning request and concept plan, if applicable, stating its findings, its overall evaluation of the request, and its assessment regarding how the request relates to the city’s comprehensive plan. The planning and zoning commission may, on its own motion or at the applicant’s request, defer its decision/recommendation for not more than 90 calendar days from the time the public hearing was first opened, or until it has had an opportunity to consider other information or proposed modifications to the request which may have a direct bearing thereon. If the commission elects to defer the request, such deferment shall specifically state the time period of the deferment by citing the meeting date whereon the request will reappear on the commission’s agenda, and further notice in the newspaper and to surrounding property owners shall not be required.
(c) 
When the planning and zoning commission is ready to act upon the zoning request, it may recommend approval of the request as it was submitted by the applicant, approval of the request subject to certain conditions or disapproval of the request. If the planning and zoning commission’s recommendation is to approve the request, either as submitted or with additional conditions, then the request will be automatically forwarded to the city council for a second public hearing thereon, as provided in section 30.02.157.
(d) 
If the planning and zoning commission recommends denial of the zoning change request, it shall provide reasons to the applicant for the denial, if requested by the applicant. The planning and zoning chairperson shall inform the applicant of the right to receive reasons for the denial.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-146; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.6, adopted 5/17/04)
(a) 
Applications forwarded from the planning and zoning commission to the city council.
(1) 
Every zoning application which is recommended for approval or approval with conditions by the planning and zoning commission shall be automatically forwarded to the city council for a second public hearing to be held following appropriate public hearing notification as prescribed in section 30.02.154. The city council may then approve the request, approve it with conditions, or disapprove it by a single majority vote of the council members present and voting.
(2) 
An application which is recommended by the planning and zoning commission for denial shall not be forwarded to the city council unless the applicant files a written appeal with the city secretary within ten calendar days after the commission’s decision. Upon notice of appeal, the application will be forwarded to the city council along with the commission’s reasons for denial of the request. The appeal shall be scheduled for the next possible city council agenda, following appropriate public notification as prescribed in section 30.02.154. Ultimate approval of any zoning request which was recommended for denial by the planning and zoning commission will require a three-fourths majority vote of the full city council. No zoning change, however, shall become effective until after the adoption of an ordinance by the city council for same and its publication as required by law.
(b) 
City council action on zoning, rezoning or text amendment requests.
After a public hearing is held before the city council regarding the zoning application, the city council may approve the request in whole or in part, deny the request in whole or in part, defer the application to a future meeting, specifically citing the city council meeting to which it is deferred, or it may refer the application back to the planning and zoning commission for further study.
(1) 
If the city council approves the request, then subsection (f) of this section will apply.
(2) 
If the city council denies the request, then no other zoning application may be filed for all or part of the subject tract of land, or for that portion of this chapter, in the case of a text amendment request submitted by a property owner or citizen, for a period of one year following the denial. Where the request was initiated by the city and involved a proposed amendment to the text of this chapter, a waiting period is not required before the request can be reconsidered. The city council may, at its option, waive the one-year waiting period.
(c) 
Notice of the city council hearing for zoning changes.
Notice of the city council public hearing for a zoning, rezoning or text amendment request to this chapter shall be given in the same manner as that for the public hearing before the planning and zoning commission as required in section 30.02.154.
(d) 
Protests.
For zoning and rezoning requests involving real property, a favorable vote of three-fourths of all members of the city council shall be required to approve any change in zoning when written objections are received from 20 percent or more of the land area covered by the proposed change, or of the land area within 200 feet of the subject property, in accordance with the provisions of V.T.C.A., Local Government Code section 211.006, commonly referred to as the “20 percent rule.” If a protest against such proposed zoning change has been filed with the city secretary, duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of 20 percent or more, either of the area of the land included in such a proposed change or those owners of property immediately adjacent to the subject property and extending 200 feet therefrom, such zoning change shall not become effective except by a three-fourths vote of the full city council.
(1) 
Filing deadline.
A written protest must be filed with the city secretary before 5:00 p.m. of the fifth working day immediately preceding the date advertised for the city council public hearing in the statutory notice published in the official newspaper of the city. (For example, a written protest must be received by 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday prior to a regularly scheduled Tuesday council meeting.) The filing deadline is automatically extended whenever the public hearing is re-advertised in the official newspaper of the city pursuant to statutory notice requirements.
(2) 
Written protest procedures.
A protest must be in writing, and at a minimum, contain the following information:
(A) 
Description of the zoning case at issue;
(B) 
Names of all persons protesting the change in zoning district classification or boundary;
(C) 
Address of property owned by the protesting parties that is covered by the proposed change; and
(D) 
Date and time of its execution.
(e) 
Joint public hearings.
The city council may hold a joint public hearing on a zoning, rezoning or text amendment request to this chapter along with the planning and zoning commission, but the city council shall not take action on the request until it has received a final recommendation from the commission. Notification for the city council’s public hearing, whether held separately or jointly with the commission, may be accomplished simultaneously with the public notification given for the public hearing to be held before the planning and zoning commission.
(f) 
Final approval and ordinance adoption.
Upon approval of the zoning request by the city council, the applicant shall submit all related material with revisions, if necessary, to the city manager, or his designee, for the preparation of the amending ordinance. The zoning request shall be deemed approved at the time the city council takes action to approve the request as submitted or with certain conditions. However, the amending ordinance will not be prepared for adoption until a correct description and all required exhibits have been submitted to the city manager, or his designee, and the amending ordinance shall not be formally adopted until it is adopted by the city council, signed by the mayor, and attested by the city secretary.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-147; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.7, adopted 5/17/04; Ordinance 17-08-1055 adopted 8/15/17)
(a) 
Generally.
The city manager, or his authorized representative, shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. If the city manager, or his authorized representative finds upon his own personal observation, or upon receipt of a complaint, that the provisions of this chapter are being violated, he shall immediately investigate and, when necessary, give written notice to the person responsible to cease or correct such violation immediately. Notice shall be delivered in person or by certified mail to the violator or to any person owning or leasing a property where the violation is occurring. The city manager, or his authorized representative, shall have the right to enter upon any premises at any reasonable time in conformance with local and state laws, for the purpose of making inspections of buildings or premises that may be necessary to carry out the duties in the enforcement of this chapter.
(b) 
Stop work orders.
Whenever any building or construction work is being done contrary to the provisions of this chapter, the city manager, or his authorized representative, shall have the authority to order the work stopped by notice in writing served on the property owner or the contractor doing the work or causing such work to be done, and any such person shall forthwith stop such work until authorized in writing by the city to proceed with such work. Failure to immediately stop work as provided herein shall constitute a violation of this chapter, in accordance with section 30.08.003 (penalty for violations), and may incur penalties for such violation.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-148; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.8, adopted 5/17/04)
(a) 
Until all applicable fees, charges and expenses have been paid in full, no action shall be taken on any zoning or development application or on any appeal.
(b) 
The city council, upon the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission, shall determine and adopt a fee schedule for the purpose of recovering a portion of the administrative costs associated with processing zoning and development requests, including public hearings, that are called for in this chapter, as set forth in the currently adopted city fee schedule as printed in appendix A to this code, for the city’s filing fee schedule. Such fees shall be paid by the applicant and shall not be designed to in any way restrict the applicant’s ability to seek and receive a hearing or to generate revenue for other than recovery of actual administrative costs incurred by the city in the review and processing of applications. Immediately upon receipt of a complete submission for a zoning change or other development plan approval, in accordance with section 30.02.153(c), the city manager, or his designee, shall issue a fee receipt and shall create a case file as a permanent city record thereof.
(2006 Code, sec. 86-149; Ordinance 04-05-610, sec. 10.9, adopted 5/17/04)