New businesses can open in downtown Longview in July, following roughly six-month pause

LONGVIEW — Longview’s roughly six-month moratorium preventing new downtown businesses from opening will officially end the first week of July.

The Longview City Council issued final approval for an ordinance ending the moratorium and establishing a set of revised zoning rules during its June 6 meeting. Both aspects of the measure will take effect on July 6, 30 days after the council vote.

The moratorium put in place by the city council in January paused most new businesses from applying for licenses or moving to the downtown stretch of Commerce Avenue for the first half of 2022. Councilors set the moratorium to allow the city to review and update the permitted zoning uses to manage the balance of business types allowed in the area.

The new zoning will allow downtown businesses to open drive-thru windows and offer outdoor entertainment uses, such as miniature golf or cornhole. Congregate care and assisted living facilities will no longer be permitted downtown.

An easier process was established for food trucks, walk-up food windows and other businesses that do not offer set indoor seating to be approved in the downtown corridor by no longer requiring a special permit hearing.

Mixed-use housing developments and meeting places for membership clubs will be allowed in the downtown zone, but only if they face onto 12th Avenue and 14th Avenue instead of Commerce.

The revised zoning establishes a new definition for restaurants across Longview, describing them as establishments where “food and beverages are sold to the public on demand from a menu.” The definition will, in part, serve to distinguish restaurants from soup kitchens and other food providers.