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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2005-03-02 RegularCommunity and Economic Development Committee Minutes March 2, 2005 The Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, March 2, 2005, at 8 a.m., in the second floor conference room of City Hall, 910 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas, with the following members present: Vice Chair Gregory Crinion, Tony Banfield, Brent Goswick, Gary Harris, Rebecca Hillenburg, Kirk Lippert, and Robert McAfoos. Also present were the following liaisons: City Council Member Jerry Ericsson, Planning and Zoning member Jim Gibson, Friendswood Chamber of Commerce President Carol Jones, and Galveston County Economic Alliance President Don Gartman. Staff members present were Karen Capps, Ron Cox, and Dan Johnson. Also present were Christina Brodsley and Wendy Slaton of Griffin Integrated Marketing, and Bill Finger of the Main Street Committee. Absent from the meeting were Maurice Estlinbaum, Zekie McVeigh, Jim Reinhartsen, Trish Hanks, and Ron McPherson. 1. Call to Order. Vice Chair Crinion called the meeting to order at 8:10 a.m. with a quorum present. 2. Elect new Chair. Gary Harris made a motion to nominate Tony Banfield as Chair to fill the remaining term of the vacant position through June 2005. Brent Goswick seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously in the committee. 3. Approval of Minutes. Gary Harris made a motion to approve the February 10, 2005 meeting minutes. Brent Goswick seconded the motion and it passed unanimously in the committee. 4. Presentation regarding an informational update on Vision 2020. Dan Johnson, Deputy Director of the Community Development Department, gave a presentation to the committee on Vision 2020. Dan provided a recap of Vision 2020's purpose in that the study provided a strategic vision for the city and identified 15 priority goals for the community. The top goal was to develop the tax base and is the focus of this presentation. At the time Vision 2020 was conducted, the land use percentage of residential/commercial land was 92 percent residential and eight percent commercial. Vision 2020 recommended developing all remaining undeveloped land at 73 percent residential, and 27 percent commercial in order to achieve an end result of an 84 percent residential and 16 percent commercial land use split. Dan went on to explain that some of the land use assumptions used in Vision 2020 were not correct. One of the land use assumptions was that all tax-exempt land totaled 1,184 acres at that time in 1998. Currently, more than 3,000 acres are exempt properties in the city, which includes rights- of -way, schools, churches, parks, city buildings, and other uses, thus making the presumption that not all of the exempt land was accounted for in the study. Dan went on to report that of the 13,284 total acres in the city, currently there are 6,638 acres developed and 3,584 undeveloped in the city. Of the developed land, 5,806 acres are residential and 832 acres are developed as commercial. There are 3,062 acres that are tax exempt. Dan charted the City's revenue and expenditure trends for the past ten years. The trends were used to help project revenues and expenditures at build -out in the year 2020 and predict what revenues would be required to support expenditures at that time. Based upon an average $/per acre used to calculate property tax revenue and sales tax revenues, it is estimated that the city will need to have at least 2,200 acres zoned commercial to remain status quo with revenues/expenditures in order to provide the same city services and maintain the quality of life residents currently enjoy. Dan suggested that based on his assumptions and calculations, the city would need to rezone at least 320 additional acres to utilize as commercial. It was discussed that the West Ranch development would reduce this amount by approximately 75 acres. The committee discussed the importance of having commercial land that is in a good location and that has the market potential to develop as commercial. It was noted that some properties were zoned commercial, but have financial and physical development barriers that will be hard to overcome. The committee concluded that it will be important to have land zoned in appropriate commercially -zoned districts that will be viable to develop: location, appropriate zoning, transportation access, and infrastructure availability will all be important. 5. Report on status of Brittany Bay Boulevard. Dan Johnson discussed the status of Brittany Bay and Friendswood Link. Dan stated that Friendswood Link will be expanded to four lanes and will be proposed by H-GAC for construction in the 2008-2010 funding cycle. Brittany Bay will extend from SH646 to I-45 to FM 528 and connect to Beltway 8 in Pearland. It is projected that this summer a public hearing will be held regarding the four -lane divided boulevard and that construction would be in 2008 or later. 6. Report from sub -committees regarding 2004-2005 goals. Karen Capps provided an update on the economic development message for the communication subcommittee. Greg Crinion reported on the corridor/target development subcommittee progress. He said that Jim Reinhartsen is working with the University of Houston Clear Lake to set up a regional brownfields presentation. Once the date is established, the committee will be invited to attend. Greg mentioned Dan Johnson's report on Brittany Bay, and that the CEDC requested that Mike Hodge start the process in evaluating a plan for a regional drainage study for the panhandle area. Karen Capps reported that the regional drainage study would require a request for funding in next year's FY05-06 budget. Kirk Lippert and Karen Capps reported on goal three that was modified as follows: Review large undeveloped parcels in the city to pursue economic development opportunities. Kelly Watkins is preparing maps of undeveloped parcels along FM 528 from the new Public Safety Building property to the city limits. The maps will have layers to include zoning, easements, (pipelines, streets, etc.) ownership, and closest available infrastructure to access water and sewer. This information will be provided to the subcommittee to review at their next meeting. 7. Report from CEDC liaison to Planning and Zoning. Kirk Lippert reported that he attended both the February 3 and February 7 P&Z meetings. The Commission discussed and adopted their goals for the upcoming year. Three goals were adopted, 1) to update and adopt the Comprehensive Plan, 2) to complete and adopt the Tree Preservation Ordinance, and 3) to engage in Main Street activities that pertain to planning and zoning. Expanding the Entryway Overlay District that includes Blackhawk Boulevard was discussed. The Commission is currently working on the parks and open space plan as a part of the Comprehensive Plan. 8. Other Reports: A. Development Projects Karen Capps gave a report on current prospects and projects underway. She reported on several medical prospects with interest in different areas in the city. B. Marketing Christina Brodsley reported that a press release was created regarding the expansion of Timber Creek Golf Club. It will be distributed to the local media to run in next week's newspapers. Other projects include creating the next e-newsletter, which will feature the Friendswood Lakes Office Building once it is approved by P&Z. An article on Riley Sherman Shipping Agency will be prepared regarding their office expansion. Another new project will be to redesign and update the economic development brochure. New professional pictures will be shot in the spring. A Main Street fact binder is also being planned. 9. Adiournment. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m.