Lubbock’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted Thursday night against recommending a zoning change that would allow a permanent asphalt batch plant across from homes in the Parkway Cherry Point neighborhood, KCBD reported.
The motion to approve the request failed 1–5, with six commission members present, according to Kristen Sager, MPA, AICP, Director of Planning for the City of Lubbock. The case still goes to the Lubbock City Council next month — without a recommendation from the commission to approve the change.
What was on the agenda
According to the city’s Nov. 5 P&Z agenda, Zone Case 3564 is a request from Frontier Land & Cattle Co., LLC. It seeks to change zoning from SF-2 and AC to Light Industrial on about 72.3 acres, and from SF-2 to Light Industrial with a Specific Use for a Permanent Batch Plant on about 12.6 acres. The property is generally south of East Erskine Street and northeast of Northeast Loop 289 — about 84.9 acres of unplatted land in Block A, Section 3.
A city legal notice schedules the City Council public hearing for Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2026, beginning at 2:00 p.m. Sager confirmed that path in a written reply Friday.
Why neighbors showed up
Before the hearing, KTTZ (Brad Burt) reported that an asphalt batch plant had been operating earlier this year less than 600 feet from homes, on land zoned for single-family residential, just south of Erskine Street across Northeast Loop 289 from Parkway Cherry Point.
Sandra Chatham, with the neighborhood association, told KTTZ that dust and cement blowing into the neighborhood had been a problem, and that residents thought the plant would be temporary. “It’s been here as a temporary thing for a couple of months, that was going to be temporary,” she said, according to KTTZ. “What we want them to do is take a look at it and move it out of our neighborhood.”
Rose Wilson, 99, who KTTZ notes was elected the first Black female president of Lubbock’s NAACP in the 1970s, voiced concern for children on her street when the wind blows sand and dust. Adam Pirtle, an attorney with Legal Aid of Northwest Texas representing the neighborhood, told KTTZ that once land flips to light industrial, “imagine dominoes starting to fall,” and that the city continues to concentrate industrial zoning on the east and north sides.
At the Thursday hearing, Parkway Cherry Point residents raised air quality and health concerns and said the request follows a long pattern of placing industry near homes in North and East Lubbock, KCBD reported. They asked the board to deny the request.
What plant representatives said
Representatives for the plant told the commission the operation complies with city standards, would maintain the road near the plant and would be a good neighbor, according to KCBD. The commission still voted against recommending the zoning change.
Permits, code and the compliance clock
KTTZ reported that construction engineering company Webber LLC applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in April for an air quality standard permit. The application, as described by KTTZ, lists production of 1,310,400 tons of asphalt mix per year, with a maximum schedule of 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
City zoning standards for a specific use require batch plants to sit a minimum of 600 feet from residentially used or zoned property, KTTZ reported, citing the city code. Temporary batch plants have more leeway in where they can locate, attorney Adam Pirtle told KTTZ, but still must stay more than 600 feet from residentially zoned land or homes.
Lubbock Code Enforcement issued a land-use violation against the facility on Sept. 1, with a compliance date of Dec. 7, 2026, according to KTTZ. Pirtle told KTTZ the neighborhood objected to allowing the facility to operate for months while out of compliance.
The vote, in Planning’s words
City minutes for the Nov. 5 meeting were not posted when this draft was written. In a written reply Friday, Kristen Sager, Director of Planning, gave the official tally:
“There were 6 commission members at the meeting. The motion was to approve the request and the final vote was 1 in favor to 5 in opposition.”
So the motion to approve failed 1–5. That matches KCBD’s reporting that the commission voted against recommending the change — and now neighbors and Council have an official count from Planning.
What happens next
Zone Case 3564 still goes to the Lubbock City Council. On the Council path, Sager wrote:
“Yes, it will be presented to City Council on December 1st during the regular meeting, starting at 2:00 pm. If approved at that meeting, the second reading and vote on the ordinance will take place at the December 8th City Council meeting.”
In plain terms: first reading is Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. If Council approves then, a second reading and vote would follow on Dec. 8. The Dec. 7 Code Enforcement compliance date sits between those two Council dates — something neighbors and Council will be watching.
After the P&Z vote, one resident who spoke with KCBD said they were not shocked by the outcome, praising both the evidence presented and the neighbors who showed up: “That’s how you do city business. You do what the people want,” the person said, according to KCBD.
The same Thursday night meeting, the commission also recommended staff amendments on large-scale data center rules to City Council on a 6–0 vote. We covered that outcome here.
Residents told KCBD they hope the City Council reaches the same outcome on the asphalt case. We’ll follow the Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 Council meetings and the Dec. 7 compliance deadline.
Sources
- City of Lubbock, Nov. 5, 2026 P&Z agenda (Zone Case 3564): https://www.mylubbock.us/DocumentCenter/View/11431/11526-PZC-Agenda—final
- City of Lubbock, November 5, 2026 PZC legal advertisement (Council hearing Dec. 1): https://www.mylubbock.us/DocumentCenter/View/11247/November-5-2026-PZC-Legal-Ad-pdf
- Kristen Sager, MPA, AICP, Director of Planning, City of Lubbock — written email reply to Hub City UnCovered, Nov. 6, 2026 (vote tally and Council path for Zone Case 3564)
- KCBD, Natalie Reyna, Nov. 5, 2026 — commission votes against recommending asphalt zoning change: https://www.kcbd.com/2026/11/06/lubbock-commission-votes-against-recommending-zoning-change-asphalt-plant/
- KTTZ, Brad Burt, Nov. 5, 2026 — asphalt plant heads to P&Z; neighbors' health concerns: https://radio.kttz.org/2026-11-05/asphalt-plant-heads-to-planning-and-zoning-hearing-neighbors-are-concerned-about-health-impact
- Hub City UnCovered, P&Z recommends data center rules (same night): https://hubcityuncovered.com/lubbock-pz-recommends-data-center-rules-city-council-nov-5-2026/
