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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2006-01-09 Regular 1/9/06 2415 STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( JANUARY 09, 2006 )( MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 09, 2006, AT 4:30 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR KIMBALL BRIZENDINE MAYOR PRO-TEM DAVID SMITH COUNCILMEMBER LAURA EWING (arr. 4:40 PM) COUNCILMEMBER JOHN LECOUR COUNCILMEMBER TRACY GOZA COUNCILMEMBER CHRIS PEDEN (arr. 6:25 PM) COUNCILMEMBER MEL MEASELES CITY ATTORNEY JOHN OLSON CITY MANAGER RON COX DEPUTY CITY SECRETARY MELINDA WELSH City Secretary Deloris McKenzie was absent from the meeting. Mayor Brizendine called the meeting to order. 4:30 PM —WORK SESSION In a Joint Work Session with the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), discussion was held regarding amending the Zoning Ordinance to accommodate gasoline stations. Commissioner Bob Bertrand with P&Z explained the situation and history on Entryway Overlay Districts (EOD). The City needs to develop a process and make changes. An immediate fix would be the 50% solution and the long range would be to go through the process of changing the ordinance. P&Z Commissioner Sherry Weesner stated she has an issue with pulling out this particular gas station for consideration and asked since it is part of a shopping center, would it make the shopping center exempt too, further stated it is a redevelopment issue. Mayor Brizendine stated the City should bring no harm to a commercial development and the corner of FM 2351 and FM 518 is a unique issue and Council has been working on it for years, thinks an exemption for this gas station should be done and stated adjustments can be made further down the road. The Mayor polled Council and Councilmember Goza stated the City needs to help this owner out and agreed with the Mayor, Councilmember Measeles stated he was concerned about spot zoning and asked about the legality of it. City Attorney John Olson stated this is not spot zoning with gas stations being a permitted use in this area. Interim Director of Community Development Dan Johnson stated gas station exceptions allow unattached canopies to extend into required yards (front, side and rear set backs reduced), reduce landscape buffer requirement to 5 feet, corner lots only garage bays, verbiage from Ordinance 2005-35 addresses corner lot-overlap, he further asked Council to clarify this change in philosophy, as compared to current regulations which state in Appendix C, Section 6.A.4, "It is the intent of this ordinance to permit those nonconforming uses to continue until they are removed, but not encourage their survival." Councilmember Smith stated that gas stations are having a struggle right now because there is not a big profit margin in just selling gas so they have to either have a convenience store or make car repairs also. The City needs to recognize their uniqueness and accommodate them. P&Z Commissioner Bob Bertrand stated he is concerned that if the City makes an exception for this gas station owner, then everyone else will start wanting an exception. The City needs to work on the problem for everyone. Mayor Brizendine stated that Staff needs to work with the owner, Mr. Jadidi, to see what he needs and move this forward. As the ordinance sits today, the City is bringing harm because of it, and this needs to be expedited. Councilmember Ewing stated she thinks the landscape buffer needs to stay at 10 feet. Councilmember Smith stated trees and gas stations do not mix, requiring a gas station to have landscape installed is a safety issue. Councilmember Goza stated it needs to be reduced to 5 feet and 1/9/06 2416 Councilmember Measeles agreed as did Councilmembers Smith and LeCour, and Mayor Brizendine for reasons of safety, visibility, etc. City Manager Ron Cox asked for clarification, proposed ordinance on the table, Staff has an alternate proposal that would incorporate the 50% policy, which is not included in this language. Councilmember Goza stated 50% is not high enough. Mayor Brizendine asked for Staff to meet with the gas station owner to see exactly what he needs. Mayor Brizendine stated he would like to move to Item D for consideration of people waiting in the audience for this item. In a Joint Work Session with the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), discussion was held during the previous agenda item discussion regarding considering issues related to the Entryway Overlay Districts. The City Manager stated Council discussed this indirectly and P&Z will address this and will come back with a recommendation. In a Joint Work Session with the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), discussion was held regarding developing regulations related to master planned developments. P&Z Chair Kevin Holland stated the P&Z did not see the additional need for the Master Plan and asked why the City needed a Master Plan. City Manager Ron Cox stated that in October 2002 this was first discussed with Council and P&Z at two separate work sessions, and no action has been taken. In October 2002, Council discussed this with the P&Z and the result of that meeting was to have the ordinance in place. P&Z's position was that a Planned Unit Development (PUD)/Specific Use Permit (SUP) approach would sufficiently handle any master plan approach. In May 2005, Council discussed the issue and agreed the zoning ordinance should be amended. Staff prepared the proposed language and placed it on the July 21, 2005 P&Z agenda. The position of P&Z remains the same and this issue has not moved out of P&Z, at this point. Councilmember Goza requested it be considered again. This issue becomes important when developers propose a project that has multiple phases and will require multiple years to accomplish. P&Z will approve a conceptual master plan that may not be fully constructed, unless the entire project is platted. Developers and landowners are reluctant to go through the expense of platting large parcels of land that early in the conceptual development of the project. The idea behind the master planned development regulations is to add some strength to the requirement that the developer, landowner, and even potential subsequent developer if applicable, will follow the original plan. Interim Director of Community Development Dan Johnson stated the Master Plan concept is great but the nuts and bolts of it need to be worked out. Staff was a big proponent of this discussion so they could hear Council's concerns. Councilmember Goza stated if someone has 100 acres zoned Single-Family Residential (SFR), they do not need a PUD since it is a Master Plan. City Attorney John Olson stated PUD is the law and a Master Plan is a proposed plat. The City Manager stated the City could not enforce compliance until the plat is filed. A PUD changes the zoning and a Master Plan is a conceptual plan. Can the City enforce a conceptual plan? P&Z Chair Kevin Holland asked what happens when a conceptual plan and plat do not match. John Olson stated an ordinance needs to say that they have to match. Mayor Brizendine asked P&Z to come up with a recommendation on this. In a Joint Work Session with the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), discussion was held regarding the use of portable buildings by churches. Interim Director of Community Development Dan Johnson explained the issue and stated it is not a permanent building. City Attorney John Olson stated there was a lawsuit in the City of Boerne where it was questioned if cities should have power to enforce zoning laws on churches and the City won. The City should probably look at this like it looks at portable buildings for schools and allow it. Councilmember Ewing stated the City should consider the reasoning behind why the church needs the portable building and asked if it frees up space for overcrowding, it might be a safety issue. Mayor Brizendine asked if any of Council had any objection. No one objected but Councilmember Measeles asked a clarifying question about what the rules are regarding portable buildings. P&Z Chair Kevin Holland asked if the City would require plumbing and electrical permits and Dan Johnson said yes it would be required. Councilmember Goza stated he understands the church is expanding and this would only be a temporary building. P&Z Commissioner Bob Bertrand gave history as to why they were prohibited in the first place. The Mayor stated that the consensus from Council is that it is okay to allow the portable building. Councilmember Smith stated the City should celebrate that its churches are growing. 1/9/06 2417 In a Joint Work Session with the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), discussion was held regarding amending front yard fencing requirements. Interim Director of Community Development Dan Johnson stated the question from one of the Councilmembers was whether it should be 1 acre or 2 acres. There should be some minimum. There is a lot that is 1'h acres on Cowards Creek and the owner wants to put a fence up. Mayor Brizendine stated he does not understand why acreage is the issue and not frontage. Councilmember Goza stated this should be covered by deed restrictions. City Manager Ron Cox stated some subdivision's deed restrictions have expired. Councilmember Smith stated if the City allows it on smaller lots there are some older lots that are larger such as on Sunset Drive that would allow a fence in the front and not just to the building line. City Manager Ron Cox stated Planning and Zoning needs to workshop this item. 6:00 PM —CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION Council convened into Executive Session in accordance with the Texas Government Code, pursuant to Section 551.071 — Consultation with Attorney concerning pending or contemplated litigation; a settlement offer; or a matter in which the duty of the Attorney requires it and Section 551.072 — Deliberation regarding Real Property. Council convened into Regular Session at 7:00 pm with action taken later in the meeting. RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION 7:00 PM — REGULAR SESSION The invocation was given by Pastor Dennis Owens, New Life Assembly of God church. Mayor Brizendine led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. JOINT DOCKETED PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Brizendine and Planning and Zoning Chair Kevin Holland called a Joint Docketed Public Hearing to order, to receive comments from the public, either oral or written, regarding a request for a Zone Classification change for a tract of land containing 1.00 acre, being a portion of Lot 52 of the Slone Subdivision, situated in the John Dickinson League, property located at 2302 Old Road, Galveston County, Texas, from Agricultural District (A-1) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC). Trey Weaver, Community Development Manager for Friendswood Development Company, and applicant, stated this 1-acre parcel of land is adjacent to the West property, feels this will be in line with what the City's goals are for this area. The major benefits will be added tax base, commercial services, will be part of West Ranch, will be aesthetically pleasing as is the West Ranch development. No one spoke in opposition. Don Seyfert, 2304 Old Road, addressed Council and stated he owns 4 acres of the 1.00 acre this is out of, spoke in favor, further stated he supports West Ranch development, is concerned and read paragraph 2 of the Rezoning Report that says shared access will need to be established with adjacent tracts during the platting process, further stated he is concerned about access to FM 518, he is an avid supporter of property rights, will fight against eminent domain if it came up, and need to be careful when talking about access to FM 518. Larry Telger questioned if Friendswood Development owned a particular piece of property in this area. Mayor Brizendine suggested he speak to Staff later. Leo Campos addressed Council and stated he owns property at FM 518 and Old Road and is the one most affected by traffic, and is concerned about realignment of Old Road. 1/9/06 2418 Mayor Brizendine stated if anyone has specific questions regarding details of the proposal to ask Staff. Hearing no further comments, Mayor Brizendine closed this Public Hearing. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Jay Horecky, 304 Sunset Drive, addressed Council and stated he is here on behalf of himself and his neighbors, he recently sent a letter to building officials regarding a flooding problem in the lot directly behind him, the owners put in fill dirt, raised the lot 15-20 inches and has had no response from Friendswood building officials, asked if the drainage code was selectively enforced, and would like a remedy. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL REPORTS Community and Economic Development Committee Chair (CEDC) Kirk Lippert gave his annual report and stated the CEDC is trying to attract commercial development and follow Vision 2020, to expand and maintain commercial activities, CEDC has accomplished this by serving as a liaison to other committees, attended and put on Broker's Day event, reviewed City's Business Incentive Program, made several recommendations to City Council including reviewing 13 land parcels for land use, recommendation to Entryway Overlay District (EOD) rules, reviewed a tax abatement application and made recommendation to Council, and reviewed commercial developments in the City such as Best Storage, Morningside Office Park, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Patriot Bank and Sterling Plaza. Councilmember Peden stated he measures success in commercial development by increased construction and does not see new businesses. Do they have statistics to measure this? If you cannot measure it then why would you do it? Need to see the success or failure of the economic development program. CEDC Chair Kirk Lippert stated they tried to measure and it is a negligible task, hard to measure tax- exempt properties, etc. Chairman Lippert stated he has not spent a considerable amount of time on this issue but the CEDC can discuss at their next meeting. Mayor Brizendine stated he agrees with Councilmember Peden and suggested he put it in writing for Mr. Lippert to take back to the CEDC. The Mayor asked if there are additional tools they need, does the City need multiple layers of incentive, where is the City weak, how does it grow this effort, and asked CEDC to discuss this at upcoming meetings. Councilmember Smith stated he thinks a truthful measuring stick is needed. Councilmember Measeles thanked Mr. Lippert for attending the Eco-Tourism meeting recently and thinks they should look at that for opportunities. CEDC Chair Kirk Lippert said yes they had and had asked Councilmember Ewing to come speak at a CEDC meeting to discuss. Councilmember Ewing thanked CEDC for their hard work and so did the Mayor and recognized CEDC member Rebecca Hillenburg who was in the audience. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Ron Cox stated he is looking forward to working with Council in 2006, and wished everyone a Happy New Year. 1/9/06 2419 ACTION ITEMS **Councilmember Goza moved for approval of the mediation settlement agreement between the City and Frost Constructors for the Centennial Park project subject to: 1) Approval by all subcontractors of the draft assignments; 2) Reconciliation of all subcontractor accounts; and 3) Written confirmation by Bean Construction regarding required warranty work, specifically, the regarding and dirt work around the athletic fields. Seconded by Councilmember Ewing. The motion was approved unanimously. ORDINANCES **Councilmember Peden moved to approve the Second and final reading of Ordinance No. T2005-35, An Ordinance amending Appendix C of the Friendswood City Code, said Appendix C being City of Friendswood, Texas, Ordinance No. 84-15, as amended, originally adopted the 19th day of November 1984, and being the Zoning Ordinance of the City, by amending Sections 7.R.1 And 7.R.9 thereof by adding a provision defining the application of regulations for the Entryway Overlay District ("EOD") to properties located at major intersections within the EOD; adding a provision extending the application of the EOD to Friendswood Lakes Blvd., Bay Area Blvd., and the planned extensions of Blackhawk Blvd. north of FM 2351 and south of FM 528; providing for severability; and providing a penalty in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for each day of violation of any provision hereof. Seconded by Councilmember Smith. The motion failed unanimously. **Councilmember LeCour moved to approve the First reading of Ordinance No. T2006-01, An Ordinance amending Appendix C of the Friendswood City Code, said Appendix C being City of Friendswood, Texas, Ordinance No. 84-15, as amended, originally adopted the 19th day of November, 1984, and being the Zoning Ordinance of the City, by changing the zoning classification of a certain 2.0195 acre tract of land located at 3500 FM 528 from Neighborhood Commercial ("NC") to Planned Unit Development (PUD); providing for the granting of a Specific Use Permit for use of such property for Mini-Warehouse purposes and the incidental use thereof for caretakers quarters; providing certain conditions and limitations; providing for the amendment of the City's Official Zoning Map; providing other matters relating to the subject; providing a penalty in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for each day of violation of any provision hereof; and providing for severability. Seconded by Councilmember Measeles. The motion was approved unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS Councilmember Measeles reminded everyone of the upcoming Galveston and Harris County Mayors and Councilmembers meetings. Councilmember Peden read a statement about this being the first council meeting of the year and will be making a New Year's resolution. He stated "I resolve to break with tradition and not spend your valuable time going over my prior meetings unless there was something germane to you that occurred during those meetings. For instance, I have attended three evacuation task force meetings but since nothing of real value happened, I have not reported my attendance. Instead I will try to articulate my position on upcoming issues or items I believe are important to the voters of Friendswood. Recently, a councilmember privately expressed the belief that I do things for political reasons. Another member of this body has publicly accused me of playing to the crowd, and I am guilty. As a member of this body, I am a politician and therefore much of what I do is political in nature. So doing things for political purposes should not come as a surprise to anyone. If giving voters an update on issues from my perspective is playing to the crowd, then you can expect more of it to come. One of my most trusted advisors suggested I call as many supporters as possible to attend tonight's meeting to support this change. After much reflection, I decided against that approach but hope that the few in attendance that might not support my positions will at least appreciate the public debate. In the past I have prided myself for speaking from the heart with little or no notes. In the future, I will attempt to speak using my mind as well as my heart and will prepare written statements before the meeting or speech occurs. I feel these subjects are too important and I do not want to miss anything or confuse anyone. I have very little 1/9/06 2420 experience at giving these types of speeches so be patient as I learn. In that spirit, I would like to make a few comments. During my campaign for Council, my platform was about one single issue, cutting taxes. This past budget cycle met that goal as this Staff and Council reduced the tax rate but I believe I failed the voters. Why? I think Director of Administrative Services Roger Roecker said it best in the budget press release when he stated the tax cut came from reserves. I wonder if this Council truly understands the meaning of his comments. This Council funded a tax cut using funds made available by over taxation in the past. The reserve fund will not last forever and in order to sustain this cut, funds must come from some other source. The solution to this problem will require dramatic changes. It will require Staff to change their approach to budgeting. It will require this Council to work harder than ever before. My recent budget proposals were meant to start the process of change. I was saddened by the outcome as a slim majority was clearly for the status quo and resisted change. I woke up this morning in Orlando, Florida and flew into Houston this afternoon. I purchased my airline tickets on the internet, printed my boarding pass at my house, checked my luggage at the curb and boarded the plane. This entire process required personal interaction with one Continental employee and all they did was scan my bar-coded boarding pass. The airline industry has streamlined their operation because of competition. The level of their service was maintained but the cost to produce the service was reduced. Why can we not do this with city government? We know that Friendswood city government is the most efficient and best in the area but we can't become complacent. Do any of you remember a company named NCR? Wordstar? Underwood? Olivetti? They were at the top of their industry but management became satisfied and stopped introducing new products. The consequence: NCR no longer exists. This city government must keep getting better and more innovative. Our budget process should encourage if not force innovation. We should prepare our budget with a property tax rate equal to a 10% reduction. Staff should provide a list of items and services that were cut from the budget because of this reduction and allow Council to decide which are funded and which remain cut. If the citizens of Friendswood believe Council makes poor decisions, the voters can and should vote in a new Council. In the past five years, Friendswood property owners have seen an average increase in their property tax bill well over 50% while inflation has increased only an average of 15%. It does not take an economist to understand this cannot continue. Councilmember LeCour had a campaign slogan that said, `Raise families, not taxes.' Tonight I would like to restate this with a new twist. We must raise expectations not taxes. This Staff and Council are more than capable of blazing new trails in city government. The real question is are we up for the task? Are we willing to make the tough decisions and put in the hard work? I say, `yes,' and I look forward to the challenge ahead. At the next Council meeting I hope to tackle the issue of zoning and the real or perceived problem with building and economic development in Friendswood." Councilmember Smith attended several meetings, attended a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting recently, is excited about the progress and commends them. Councilmember Goza wished everyone a Happy New Year, and stated Councilmember Peden gave an excellent speech. Councilmember LeCour stated "here, here" regarding Councilmember Peden's speech. Councilmember Ewing reported she attended the Community and Economic Development Committee meeting, Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership meeting, on January 21st will have Tree Give-A-Way where you can get seedlings for free and some larger trees. Mayor Brizendine wished everyone a Happy New Year, stated it is starting off in a challenging way, believes Council is more than capable of better serving the citizenship, there are different perspectives, appreciates what Councilmembers Peden and LeCour bring to Council. He reported that he had one of the most memorable times of his life this week, saw the best football game in the whole wide world, University of Texas Longhorns won the national championship, came back refreshed, told Councilmember Peden there are no adversaries on Council and has great faith that this will be a great year, the City faces many challenges, and stated he feels comfortable with deliberative process during the earlier workshop. 1/9/06 2421 CONSENT AGENDA **Councilmember Peden moved to remove Item A-2 — Bid No. 2005-13, 2005-06 Fire Hydrant Audit and Repair from the Consent Agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Goza. The motion was approved unanimously ***Councilmember Measeles moved to approve the Consent agenda with the exception of Item A-2 — Bid No. 2005-13, 2005-06 Fire Hydrant Audit and Repair. A. Award of bids and authorize Mayor to execute contracts: A-1. Bid No. 2005-12, 2005-06 Asphalt Street Project. B. Approve Resolution R2006- 01, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Friendswood, Texas, authorizing the Friendswood Police Department to use unmarked vehicles in order to facilitate police undercover work and other official duties of the police department. C. Authorize the Mayor to execute an amended Interlocal Agreement with League City for a reduction in the scope of work for the Preliminary Engineering/Environmental Assessment portion of the Brittany Bay Boulevard extension. D. Approve Minutes of December 12 and December 19, 2005 Meetings. Seconded by Councilmember Smith. The motion was approved unanimously. "`***Councilmember Smith moved to approve Item A-2— Bid No. 2005-13, 2005-06 Fire Hydrant Audit and Repair. Seconded by Councilmember Goza. The motion failed unanimously. A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 7:53 PM. , � � � �� Mayor Kimball W. Brizendin Attest: p� f R��Np� � � V �� De oris McKenzie, TR City Secretary � * � �'�rE� ��