| The Land Use Element for Harlingen's Vision
2020 Comprehensive Plan addresses the interrelated goals, objectives and policies that
guide the future physical development of the city. This chapter documents the results of
data collection, analysis, findings and recommendations relating to land use in the City
and its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). The Land Use Chapter includes the Existing
and Future Land Use Plans. The Existing Land Use Plan is the map indicating
current land usage and the Future Land Use Plan is the general plan for guiding future
land use and development. The development of the Land Use Chapter involved the compilation of an extensive amount of data including previous plans and studies, analyses of existing conditions, and development of projections and forecasts for future development within the city and the planning area. Land use analyses were coordinated with other elements of the Comprehensive Plan, recognizing the important interrelationships of land use with transportation, public utilities, recreation, and other elements. Comprehensive Planning Study Area The City Limits and Study Area boundary are shown in Figure 1-1 in Chapter 1 - Introduction. The City of Harlingen encompasses a total area amounting to approximately 24,957 acres or 39.0 square miles. This is an increase of 3,197 acres in five years or approximately 14.7% land area. The area outside the City's corporate limits that is included in the study area is approximately 191.8 square miles of unincorporated Cameron County. The study area excludes the corporate limits and ETJ of other municipalities located within the Harlingen area. These other cities are identified on Figure 1-1. For purposes of the subdivision controls, the ETJ of the City of Harlingen extends 5 miles beyond the city limits, except where another ETJ boundary has been mutually agreed upon by the City of Harlingen and another municipality. For annexation purposes, the ETJ of Harlingen increased from two miles to three and one half when the 2000 Census figures indicated population exceeding 50,000. Previously Prepared Land Use Plans Harlingen's original townsite was developed by Lon C. Hill, Sr. in 1911. This early plan for Harlingen established a uniform grid pattern of 300 foot square blocks separated by 80 foot wide avenues running east-west and 60-foot streets running north-south. The intersection of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railroad lines dominated the townsite with the 200 foot wide rail right-of-way transecting the town from northwest to southeast. Harland Bartholomew Plan In 1968-69, the City of Harlingen retained the planning consulting firm of Harland Bartholomew and Associates to develop a Comprehensive Plan for Harlingen, Texas. The major goals of the plan were to reduce out-migration of population, attract new industries, and stimulate growth of tourism and recreation. The land use plan envisioned a compact and efficient urban area and called for new technical education facilities, highways, major streets, and community facilities. In the downtown area, the plan proposed a new lake expanding the existing water storage reservoir, auto and pedestrian oriented shopping areas, new parks, and a major tourism convention complex. Many of the proposals made in the Harland Bartholomew plan have become reality in the last 30 years. Wayne W. Snyder Plan More recently, Wayne W. Snyder Associates prepared a Comprehensive Plan Update for the City of Harlingen in 1982. The land use plan reflected established and emerging development patterns of intensive commercial uses concentrated downtown and in the Valley Vista and Sun Valley mall areas, and industrial uses located along the railroad and northwest areas. An updated inventory of the generalized existing land uses in the City of Harlingen and its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) was conducted in July-November, 2000. The land use inventory was performed by driving and reviewing areas known to have changed significantly in the last five years. The current zoning map was also reviewed extensively for compatibility with the future land use map. The land use inventory was revised on the previously adopted land use map to show a generalized map of existing land use for the study area. The level of detail and accuracy is appropriate for the purpose of determining the generalized pattern and location of existing land uses within the city and ETJ. The existing land use map for the City of Harlingen is shown in Figure 3-1. The categories of land use are identified according to the following classification system:
The estimated total area of existing land uses within the corporate limits of the City of Harlingen for each category of land use is summarized in Figure 3-2. The acres for each type of use were estimated using a query method on the land use inventory map and summing up the estimated acreage for different uses. Each figure represents the estimated amount of built-up area for each type of use. The relative amount of each type of existing land use within the City of Harlingen is graphically illustrated by the pie chart in Figure 3-3. The largest category of developed land use is single family residential, which occupies approximately 3,069 acres. All types of residential use including single family, multi-family and mobile home, amount to a total of approximately 4,249 acres or 17.0 percent of the incorporated area of the city. Medium density residential and high density residential areas represent approximately 468 acres and 712 acres, respectively. The airport area accounts for the relatively large area of public institutional use. Other institutional uses such as schools, churches and the TSTC campus are included in the 2,215 acres, or 8.9 percent of the city's corporate area. Table 3-2
SOURCE: Land use inventory performed by city staff in July - Novermber, 2000.
Commercial uses account for approximately 1,492 acres or 6.0 percent. These include retail, wholesale, services and office uses. Recreation areas and public facilities occupy approximately 573 acres or 2.3 percent of land area. Industrial land uses include approximately 615 acres or 2.5 percent area. The Harlingen Industrial Parks are located outside the City Limits and are not included in the acreage shown in the table and figure, but comprise just over 300 acres of industrial land with all but 60 acres currently developed. The Future Land Use Plan for the City of Harlingen is shown in Figure 3-4. This is the general plan for future development of the city based upon forecast growth and known infrastructure improvements planned to the year 2020. It shows the generalized pattern of planned future land use, taking into consideration the City's land use goals and objectives. The Future Land Use Plan is not a zoning map, nor should it be used as such. A comprehensive plan shall not constitute zoning regulations or establish zoning district boundaries. The detailed pattern and location of land uses on a parcel-specific basis cannot be accurately predicted 20 years into the future. Small area land use decisions should appropriately be made at the scale of neighborhood, subarea, and development project planning, which are to be considered in subsequent zoning and rezoning actions by the City. These decisions should be based upon consideration of the Future Land Use Plan and should take into contemplation significant changes in infrastructure and land use patterns since the adoption of the Plan and should ultimately be consistent with the generalized land uses shown. The Future Land Use Plan was developed based on the following policy considerations:
In addition, four public hearings were held to solicit public input. They were held March 29, 2000 at the public library, April 26, 2000 at Austin Elementary, at the public library on November 14, 2000, at Harlingen South High School on November 15, 2000. Finally, on December 15, 2000, a land use charrette was held by the Planning Department. A charrette is an intense problem solving session. In this case, the charrette was held in a limited time frame, 2 ½ hours. While everyone in the public was invited and the event was advertised several times, a number of participants were particularly sought. These participants were carefully chosen to represent a broad range of community interests in six categories: homeowners who have demonstrated neighborhood leadership ability, social service representatives, engineers, real estate agents, large landowner/developers and public representatives like chamber of commerce, schools, waterworks, and Planning & Zoning officials. The actual attendance was a good representative mixture of those groups. The group was welcomed and the procedure and ground rules were explained to them before breaking them into six groups. Each group received several large maps illustrating existing land use, city limits and significant water features. They were also given a set of markers and asked to show what they believed would be the future use of the vacant land in and around the existing city limits. It sounds simple, but given the divergent interests and backgrounds present in each group, proved challenging for all. City staff members participated minimally, serving only as moderators for the groups, to answer technical questions and give a little push if the groups got stuck. At the end of the session, each group was asked to present their results to the overall group. While there were variations between the group's maps, there were amazing similarities among the six final products. These maps, along with the justifications provided by the presenters as to why certain land uses were allocated to certain spaces provided valuable input into the final product provided here. Many thanks are owed to the participants in this session representing the Harlingen citizenry. They include the following:
Goals and Objectives
Minimize Urban Sprawl
Utilize Existing Infrastructure to Maximize Efficiency
and Cost-Effectiveness of Future Growth
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