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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2013-10-07 RegularFriendswood Community and Economic Development Committee Meeting Minutes October 7, 2013 The Friendswood Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, October 7, 2013, at 4:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers of City Hall, 910 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas, with the following members present: Chair Pauline Moore, Vice Chair Tony Annan, Brett Banfield, Mark Conrad, Skip Evans, Jeremy Magnuson, Marcus Perry, and Dr. Hilmar Zeissig. Also present was Dan Seal of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership. Absent from the meeting was Bill Provenzano. Staff member present was Karen Capps. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order by Chair Pauline Moore at 5:15p.m. with a quorum present. The CEDC met with City Council to discuss and present the FM 528 Strategy Final Report. City Council discussed the seventeen page report with the committee and asked questions about how to prevent downzoning of future properties along the FM 528 corridor. Committee member Jeremy Magnuson and CEDC Vice Chair Tony Annan reiterated to City Council that the main goal should be to deter, or minimize further development along FM 528 that doesn't have the potential to increase city revenue. The corridor has the largest amount of commercial acreage left in the city, and therefore has the greatest potential to diversify the tax base. Also, free market has determined this area to be the most attractive for commercial development. FM 528 is linked to Interstate 45 with great visibility and physical attributes of being a seven -lane road that carries more than 31,000 cars per day. Records indicate that this area generates a substantial portion of Friendswood' property and sales taxes. The CEDC reported on the meetings with property owners and/or their representatives. Eighteen commercial property owners were visited by members of the CEDC which accounted for ninety- five percent of the undeveloped land along FM 528. Property owners reported to committee members that their primary concerns were that neighborhood objections deter future development, non-commercial developments have devalued their land and made it less attractive to developers, there is a severe lack of infrastructure along FM 528, and the City is not business friendly and sends mixed signals in regards to commercial development. The CEDC recommended that the FM 528 Corridor be utilized at its highest and best use. There are only 71 undeveloped commercial properties abutting FM 528, which accounts for the majority of all undeveloped land. The city has just enough prime real estate to reach the city's 80/20 (residential/commercial) goal. Every year, the city relies more heavily on residential property values as a source for tax revenue. At the pace of current development, residential will build out first leaving only undeveloped commercial land. As the city runs out of residential zoned land, there will be ever mounting pressure to rezone commercial property to residential in order to meet market demand. The CEDC stated that City Council can help by adopting a resolution of support for the FM 528 strategy, improve infrastructure on FM 528, seek CEDC input on all downzoning requests, require an economic/fiscal impact analysis on zone change requests from commercial to residential, seek CEDC input when utilizing incentives and special financing districts, formulate a unified FM 528 policy to ensure all boards and committees work cohesively in promoting, protecting, and development Friendswood's most valuable commercial land, and launch a public awareness campaign to help communicate the FM 528 Strategy and the overall importance to diversity the tax base. The committee said that now is the time to develop a unified FM 528 policy to be used across all facets of City government including City Council, Planning and Zoning, Keep Friendswood Beautiful, and Parks and Recreation to ensure the City can achieve the highest and best use of FM 528 commercial land. City Council thanked the committee for their diligence, hard work, and time. 2. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m.