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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2007-09-19 RegularCommunity and Economic Development Committee Minutes September 19, 2007 Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Community and Economic Development Committee on held Monday, September 19, 2007, at 6 p.m. at Friendswood Public Library, 416 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas, with the following present: Vice Chair — Kirk Lippert, Pauline Moore, Claude McEwen, Brett Banfield, Michael Barker and staff liaison Karen Capps. Discussion was held with the Friendswood City Council and Planning and Zoning regarding updating the Comprehensive Plan for the City. City Manager Bo McDaniel introduced Dan Sefko with Dunkin, Sefko & Associates, Inc. who made a presentation to Mayor, Council, Planning and Zoning Commission and the Community and Economic Development Committee. Mr. McDaniel stated the future Land Use map needs updating, land use issues have density issues that drive the infrastructure, development community is sensitive about being overcharged, the original Comprehensive Plan (CIP) was prepared by Dunkin & Sefko, one size does not fit all, and Mr. Sefko has the experience to help find where the City wants to go. Dan Sefko made his presentation and introduced Alan Greer, Regional Manager, who prepared the City's 1995 plan, stating planning is like a jigsaw puzzle, you turn pieces right side up and look at the box and putting the puzzle together, if you did not know what the picture was of it would be a lot harder, planning helps put the picture together, provides better tools to get started, planning is necessary to realize the common values that are vital to our individual and collective well-being. Some common values are clean water, air, housing appreciation, areas for leisure and recreation, less traffic congestion, good schools and public facilities and safe areas to work, live and play. Planning is necessary to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the community, we sometimes encounter difficulties because we have limited resources, different opinions, external forces such as natural, economic, political and social, we plan and make decisions about where we want to be in the future, cities benefit from planning just as you do in your personal life, planning has many definitions but generally planning is oriented toward the future, a continuous process, facilitate decision making, goal directed and intended to link a "means" to an "ends." A Comprehensive Plan needs to be updated regularly because a city is a complex organization, problems can be solved on an individual basis, substantial savings in acquisition and development, coordinate public and private development, assists in matching utilities with ability to serve, circulation plans can be coordinated with land use intensities, the Plan makes it possible to provide the most efficient future transportation systems, it can assist in a better bond rating for the City, increase changes for approval of a general obligation bond referendums, creates a better public perception of the City, can help keep the City out of the courthouse. The basic planning process is baseline analysis, issue identification, development of goals and objectives, preparation of plan recommendations, plan adoption, preparation of implementation tools (zoning/subdivision ordinances: CIP), and ongoing update of the plan. Comprehensive planning is a process by which a community can assess what it has, express what it has, decide how to achieve what it wants, implement its decisions, attain what it wants, the difference between Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Map is Comprehensive Plan is a long range guide and policy for decisions making, once adopted it becomes official City policy. Zoning is an implementation tool, it accomplishes objectives stated in the Comprehensive Plan, is a police power measure, state law requires that zoning standards in accordance/consistent with the Comp Plan, regulates the use of land. The last Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1995, most plans should be updated or completely revised every 10 years. The majority of zoning decisions are not consistent with the Plan (an indicator of obsolescence). Discussed Vision 2020, and proposed revisions by the Planning and Zoning Commission, there are a couple of options to do; a complete plan rewrite or revise only the City's goals and objectives and revise the Future Land Use Map. There are areas in Friendswood that need to be redeveloped, if we do a rewrite it will take 10 months to a year to complete and will be more expensive, revisions will only take about 5 months or less and costs less, they do a community survey with their process, is an attitudinal survey. Some issues for the City to consider is how can the City improve it's appearance, how can the City attain a better balance of land uses, how can better tools be provided to the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council to make better zoning decisions, how can the City do a better job of capital improvement planning, how can the City manage its density and storm water runoff better, and how can the City achieve its vision, tries to get cities to raise the bar, quality development generates other quality development, all of this can be accomplished with the Comprehensive Plan. A question and answer session took place between Council, Community Economic Development Committee (CEDC), Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and Dan Sefko with Dunkin, Sefko & Associates, Inc. Mr. Sefko asked does the 1995 plan still have what the City wants it to have, have a great community, how can we make it better for the next 50 years, the City is at 80 percent buildout, the 20 percent left is very important, Mayor Smith stated the City is lacking the last little bit to help with the 20 percent. Planning and Zoning member Sherry Weesner stated the Planning and Zoning Commission had been working on this for two years and would like to pass the Comprehensive Plan on an interim basis in the next couple of months and then work on revisions. Mayor Smith stated public input is needed to call it Interim Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Sefko stated they have done interim before, if the City needs guidance on basic issues they can do that also. CEDC member Brett Banfield asked how to incorporate free market into a Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Sefko stated the City has to establish its vision and you have to say this is what we think we want for Friendswood and ask developers how they can do it better. Councilmember Ewing stated she is a CEDC liaison and when they looked at land use, they did a good job as well as P&Z, the City needs something immediately because it is turning out decisions based on a 12-year-old plan, asked can the plan be taken "as is" and look at revisions and pass something in the short-term. Mr. Sefko stated he could put together a scope and get back to Mayor and Council. Councilmember Rivera stated redevelopment is an issue, can look at older neighborhoods, the City should be driving the developers and not the other way around, would like to validate proposed zoning plan with input from CEDC and make this the starting point, have a good road map, have put a lot of time into it, needs to have a central theme such as more green space. Mr. Sefko stated Council will have to enforce the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Smith stated he wants to develop a process and start a timeline to make this happen and what he hears is everyone wants: 1. A map of proposed land use -needs validation (leadership) 2. A need for public input before adoption 3. Adopt an interim plan 4. Process outline, should have budget money to update Comprehensive Plan regularly. Councilmember Rivera used old ACE Hardware store as an example of good redevelopment since it is now a very nice retail center. The special meeting ended at 7:40 p.m.