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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z Minutes 2011-04-04 RegularPLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING HELD MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011 AT 7PM CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS SPECIAL MEETING Joint Public Hearin 1. The Joint Public Hearing was called to order at 7:05pm with the following people in attendance: Vice Chairman Mark McLean Commissioner David O'Farrell Commissioner Hassan Moghaddam City Attorney Bill Olson Morad Kabiri, Dir. of CDD Aubrey Harbin, Development Specialist Commissioner Jim Gibson Commissioner Jim Nye City Council Mona Miller, Planner Frank Manigold, Dep. Dir. of CDD 2. Receive comments from the public, both oral and written, regarding: Proposed amendments to Appendix C — Zoning Ordinance: A. Section 7, Regulation Matrix Janis Lowe, Friendswood, stated that in regards to the GHD district, she has questions regarding the changes that are proposed. She stated that she lives in a garden home development and is aware of the issues in regards to construction, building, easements, accesses and driveways. She stated that she understands the goal is to get cars off the street, but that in requiring a 20-foot front yard and 20- foot rear yard setback, it would reduce the size of house that will fit on the lots. She stated that some of the Garden Home Districts have Utility Easements in the rear, but when Mitch Mitchell developed the Gardens, the utility easements were moved to the front because the utility companies did not want to go thru the lots to access easements in the rear. She asked that Council revisit why the UEs are being moved to the back of the lots where they did not work versus the front where they did. She stated that her other question is if the goal of the changes is greater green space and she stated that another lesson learned was the lot sizes of the GHD. She stated that the minimum lot size was 60x 100 and was changed to 60x120, or 7200 square feet, but that it was changed back to 60x100 and she is not sure why it was changed. She stated that the small lots increases density and forces smaller homes to be built which in turn lowers the amount of taxes paid on the home. She said that maybe going back to the 60x120, 7200 square foot lots would achieve the goals and asked that these things be considered during the discussion. B. Section 8, Fenestration Requirements No comments. C. Section 15, Notice Requirements Charles Prendergast, Friendswood, stated that he is on the Board of Directors for Boca Raton Homeowners Association. He stated that notice should be given to homeowners adjacent to proposed commercial development and that any notification is better than none. He stated that the proposed ordinance change is not the best. 3. The Joint Public Hearing was adjourned at 7:12pm. REGULAR MEETING 2"' floor conference room, follotping Joint Prrhlic Hearin The regular meeting was called to order in the 2nd floor conference room at 7:15pm with the following people in attendance: Vice Chairman Mark McLean Commissioner David O'Farrell Commissioner Hassan Moghaddam Frank Mangold, Dep. Dir. of CDD Commissioner Jim Gibson Commissioner Jim Nye Mona Miller, Planner Aubrey Harbin, Development Specialist 2. Communication from the public/committee liaisons (To comply ivith provisions of the Open Meetings Act, the Commission may not deliberate on subjects discussed under this agenda item. Hotivever, the Commission may direct such subjects be placed on a later regular Commission agenda for discussion and/or possible action) No comments. 3. Consent Agenda: A. Approval of minutes for the: 1) March 17, 2011 regular meeting No corrections were made to the minutes. Stand approved as presented. 4. Consideration and possible action regarding the final plat of West Ranch West Lake Section 2, being 14.56 acres out of the John Dickinson Survey, Abstract 9; also being a partial resubdivision of a portion of Lots 87-89 and 108, Slone Subdivision as recorded in Volume 3, Pg 61A (Volume 254A, Pg 6), Galveston County Map Records, Galveston County, Friendswood, Texas Motion to Approve: Moghaddam Second: O'Farrell Vote: 5 to 0 (unanimous) Motion Carried 2 5. Consideration and possible action regarding the final plat of West Ranch Restricted Reserves E and G, and Lake Mist Lane Extension, being 18.95 acres out of the Johnson Dickinson Survey, Abstract 9; also being a partial resubdivision of a portion of Lots I11, 112, 129-136 and 148.149 and a portion of the 30' unimproved road north of Lots 129-132, Slone Subdivision as recorded in Volume 3, Pg 61A (Volume 254A, Pg 6), Galveston County Map Records, Galveston County, Friendswood, Texas Motion to Approve: Gibson Second: O'Farrell Vote: 5 to 0 (unanimous) Motion Carried 6. Consideration and possible action regarding proposed amendments to Appendix C -- Zoning Ordinance, Section 7, Regulation Matrix Motion to Approve: Gibson Second: O'Farrell Vote: 5 to 0 (unanimous) Motion Carried Miller explained that the Garden Home District allows 6,000 square foot lots with 50% lot coverage. She stated that the proposed changes will change the front setback from the current 5-foot minimum to a 20-foot minimum so that cars can be parked in driveways. She also stated that the rear yard setback is being changed to make room for a 10-foot UE and I 0-foot landscape buffer, if they are required. Miller also explained that the parking requirements are being removed from the Regulation Matrix because the minimum parking standards are located in the Design Criteria Manual. City Attorney suggested having a reference in the table to the Design Criteria Manual. There was some discussion regarding the comments made during the Joint Public Hearing that changing the setbacks would create a footprint that would restrict the size of home built on the lot. Staff clarified that a 3,000sgft house would still be able to be built on a 6,OOOsgft lot with 50% lot coverage. Staff does not know when the changes were made to the GHD as mentioned in the JPH. O'Farrell stated that he thinks the lot sizes were originally 60x100 and were changed to 60xl20 back in the late 1980s, but then changed back to 60x100 in the last decade. He would like to research and look at possibility of going back to 60xI20 lots. He also suggested maybe obtaining input from Peter Gorman, a developer of GHD lots to provide practical information. He stated that most owners of GHD lots will be senior citizens so most homes will be one story. Miller explained that in regards to the question about landscape area in the JPH, if a GHD abuts residential, it requires a I Oft landscape buffer and if utilities are in back that takes up an additional I Oft, which results in a 20ft setback. 7. Consideration and possible action regarding proposed amendments to Appendix C — Zoning Ordinance, Section 8, Fenestration Requirements Motion to Approve: Moghaddam Second: Nye Vote: 5 to 0 (unanimous) Motion Carried Miller explained that this will allow more flexibility to owners to meet the fenestration requirements in the Downtown District by adding a definition and allowance of faux windows. She also explained that it removes the exception that no doors or walls except for an emergency access are allowed on a zero lot line. McLean stated that this has been discussed several times and no changes have been made to the recommendation. 8. Consideration and possible action regarding proposed amendments to Appendix C — Zoning Ordinance, Section 15, Notice Requirements Motion to Approve: Gibson Second: Moghaddam Vote: 5 to 0 (unanimous) Motion Carried Miller explained that the Commission has discussed this several times. She stated that part of the changes are cleaning up some verbiage and that number 2 is being added which states that notices may be sent when there are proposed changed to the Permitted Use Table to the citizens registered with the City's news alert program, the City's email notification system. She explained that the proposal also includes an initial mail out to citizens explaining the process of how to sign up to receive the emails and a flier would be included in the packet distributed to new residents by Utility Billing. McLean stated that adding this requirement is above and beyond what State law requires. He also clarified that the notices would be sent when changes are being proposed in the Permitted Use Table, not individual property owner zone change applications. 9. Consideration and possible action regarding future Planning and Zoning Commission meeting dates Miller stated that the next regular meeting will be Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 7pm. 10. Communications from the Commission Moghaddam stated that he attended the last Council meeting and that the petition to Council for a letter of support by the developer of the Gardens at Friendswood Lakes to expand the senior apartment complex was rejected. O'Farrell stated that the tour with City staff was great and that staff members are high quality folks doing a good job. He stated that compared to other cities, Friendswood is an amazing place. 4 McLean stated that he, Hassan, Mona, Aubrey, and Frank attended the Land Use Conference in Austin and that the program was very informative about community development and the state of the economy. He said that being able to present tools to developers to help spur development is a vital part to keeping development going. 11. Reports A. Council Liaison - none B. Staff -none 12. The regular meeting was adjourned at 7:44pm. subm Development