Several Tamina residents criticized the city’s plan to allow commercial development on three city-owned properties which are adjacent to Tamina residential areas. Speaking as an advocate for the community, at both the February 21 Planning and Zoning meeting and the February 22 City Council meeting, Minister Tyrone Price said zoning should be consistent with existing uses and that the city should respect Tamina’s history. Founded in 1871, Tamina is considered the oldest freedman’s town in Texas and one of the few surviving emancipation communities in the nation.
Price questioned why the zoning changes were being proposed at this time and challenged city officials to provide residents with details as to when groundbreaking would begin for the new water and sewer project, along with other estimated timelines. Last December, Shenandoah and Montgomery County finalized an interlocal agreement to spend $21 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to install water and sewer lines throughout Tamina.
Tamina residents voiced their opposition during last Tuesday’s public hearings in an unusually long, three-hour Planning and Zoning meeting and said they only became aware of the issue because of a sign posted on Main Street. P&Z Chairman Wes Stephens said the Tamina community should monitor the city’s website for information pertaining to their community.
This was the first of two public hearings scheduled for the re-zoning of recently annexed, city owned property. The second one will be held March 21, 2023 during the next P&Z meeting.
