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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z Minutes 2015-08-03 Special PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION . JOINT PUBLIC HEARING 1. The Joint Public Hearing was called to order at 7:03pm with the following people in attendance: Chairman David O’Farrell Commissioner Rich Borghese Commissioner Arthur Triplette Commissioner Craig Lovell Commissioner Rhonda Neel Commissioner Tony Annan Aubrey Harbin, City Planner Nick Haby, PIO/Planning Manager Becky Summers, Dev. Coordinator Absent: Branson 1. Receive comments from the public, both oral and written, regarding: A. A zone classification change request for a .6402 acre tract of land located at 810 S. Friendswood Dr., also known as Reserve A, Block 1 of the Final Plat of Cedarwood Estates Subdivision, a subdivision in Galveston County, Texas, according to the map or plat thereof recorded in Volume 18, Map Page 662, of the Map Records in the Office of the County Clerk of Galveston County, Friendswood, Texas from Downtown District (DD) to Downtown District/Specific Use Permit for NAICS Use #713940, Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers for 4,450 square feet of the building None 2. The Joint Public Hearing of the Planning & Zoning Commission adjourned at 7:04pm. REGULAR MEETING – 2nd floor conference room 1. The Regular Meeting was called to order at 7:06pm with the same people in attendance. 2. Communication from the public/committee liaisons MINUTES OF A SPECIAL & REGULAR MEETING HELD MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2015 AT 7:00 PM CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS & 2ND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS 2 August 3, 2015 P & Z Meeting (To comply with provisions of the Open Meetings Act, the Commission may not deliberate on subjects discussed under this agenda item. However, the Commission may direct such subjects be placed on a later regular Commission agenda for discussion and/or possible action.) None 3. Consent Agenda A. Approval of the minutes for the meeting held: 1) July 13, 2015 Motion to approve: Triplette Second: Borghese Vote: 6/0 Unanimous Motion carried 4. Consideration and possible action regarding the a zone classification change request for a .6402 acre tract of land located at 810 S. Friendswood Dr., also known as Reserve A, Block 1 of the Final Plat of Cedarwood Estates Subdivision, a subdivision in Galveston County, Texas, according to the map or plat thereof recorded in Volume 18, Map Page 662, of the Map Records in the Office of the County Clerk of Galveston County, Friendswood, Texas from Downtown District (DD) to Downtown District/Specific Use Permit for NAICS Use #713940, Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers for 4,450 square feet of the building Motion to approve: Lovell Second: Borghese Vote: 2/4 O’Farrell, Neel, Annan, Borghese Motion Denied Richard Harris, owner of Anytime Fitness, said the business had been located in Friendswood since 2008, he purchased the franchise in 2012. The location he was renting has since been sold and demolished by the property owner. He explained Anytime Fitness is not a big box gym and they usually have no more than 6-8 clients onsite at a time. He said he entered into a shared parking agreement with the neighboring business, Sonic, to account for the additional required parking for a gym. O’Farrell asked what the fire occupancy was on the proposed space square footage. Luis Tannos, property owner, said he was not sure but could find out. He stated the gym has minimal people and their parking is accounted for. He said he would guess the occupancy is at least 40 people. Borghese asked how many square feet the old lease space was. Mr. Harris stated the former gym space was about 3800 sqft and the new space is 4500 sqft. Borghese stated the increased area could potentially increase the client base therefor requiring more parking. Mr. Tannos said Anytime Fitness has an established member base while Mr. Harris explained the extra square footage is to allow the personal trainers more space to work. O’Farrell asked if the proposed lease space would have more expensive rent than the previous location. Mr. Harris and Mr. Tannos both agreed the rent price was reasonable. 3 August 3, 2015 P & Z Meeting Lovell began calculating the number of members by the days in the week. Mr. Tannos explained the parking agreement was for 16 spaces next door which exceeds the parking requirement. Borghese asked if the lots were connected to which Tannos said yes. Harbin said page 3 of the Rezoning Report outlined the parking requirements. Neel asked if the agreement would terminate if/when Anytime Fitness moved to which Mr. Harris said the agreement is exclusive to Anytime Fitness, not the building. Borghese summarized that another gym could move in but there would not be a parking agreement in place. Annan asked if the applicant was seeking a variance. Harbin explained the Downtown District ordinance encourages shared parking for walkability. Annan asked about handicap spaces to which Harbin said the applicant meets the requirement. Lovell finished calculating the trips per day per month based on members and said Anytime Fitness should be okay on parking. Mr. Tannos asked the Commission if they would be more comfortable with a permanent parking agreement. O’Farrell said the Commission does not have the latitude to scrutinize private agreements and the parking provided meets the requirements of the SUP being discussed. He said his personal experience shows the NAICS parking table to be very accurate. He said when a development tries to lessen the required numbers, it causes problems. He went on to say there should not be a need for reciprocal parking agreements on new sites. He said the allowance of those agreements were for old lots within the Downtown District. He said Friendswood plans for excellence and a business should not be shoehorned into a space not designed for that use. O’Farrell went on to say this location is front row on Friendswood Drive, not a second rate location like the old location. He said it is difficult to park around the 24-Hour Fitness and Excel Fitness locations. He then described the parking difficulties in Rice Village and Aspen. O’Farrell stated if Anytime Fitness is successful, he will overwhelm the area and long term planning should not be clouded by wanting to help an applicant. O’Farrell said the Commission has been apologizing too long for not being business friendly. Mr. Harris explained his business model does not include seeking out young clientele. He would prefer the young stay at places like 24 Hour Fitness so his trainers can focus on more personal sessions. O’Farrell said he would not be supporting the motion. Triplette asked Mr. Tannos if he, as the property owner, had mentioned he would not be interested in leasing to a bigger user. Mr. Tannos confirmed that he would not rent to a gym the size of 24 Hour Fitness. O’Farrell mentioned Mr. Tannos may sell the building in the future. Triplette asked what would happen if there was not a parking agreement with a future, different gym. Harbin explained that if a new gym wanted to take over the space, they would apply for a Tenant Occupancy permit. Staff would review the application and verify the use is allowed and adequate parking is in place. Most Tenant Occupancies are in existing strip centers and if the use had been allowed before the application is usually approved. City Staff has the latitude to deny an application if parking is an issue. Borghese confirmed that any new business would need to apply for occupancy. O’Farrell stated the Commission needs to plan ahead. Borghese asked if the Commission may be overshooting their reach. He said Sonic consistently does not utilize all their parking spaces and comparing Friendswood’s Downtown to Rice Village is a stretch. 4 August 3, 2015 P & Z Meeting Triplette said he appreciated the concerns raised but would be voting in favor of the SUP. Annan asked if the City keeps track of parking agreements. Harbin stated the City did not and they were not very common. Private agreements are not always submitted to the city, either. O’Farrell relayed a situation in which the Shell at Edgewood requested to build additional space and the mayor at the time told Staff to “fix it.” O’Farrell said behind the scenes, Kroger was attempting to buy that city block and was planning on building a Kroger Signature store if Shell moved. He gave another example using a strip center on FM 2351 that he owned and allowed a spa to move in. He said they took over all the parking and made it so other businesses moved out. He stated a chiropractor that leased a space there went over to Robert’s Business Park which is also overbuilt for the parking provided. O’Farrell asked what the Tannos Development was originally designed for to which Mr. Tannos said retail. Lovell asked Mr. Harris what exceptional attendance would be for Anytime Fitness Friendswood. Harris said he does not want a packed gym. He wants his business to cater to personal training. Borghese asked what 24 Hour’s parking requirements are to which Harbin said it was the same: 7 spaces per 1000 gross floor area. O’Farrell said Velocity Sports convinced the Commission they would not be a big user and then the property they rent from sold off pad sites and now the parking is not enough in that area. Neel said the additional parking spaces needed is not insignificant, this business is not a retrofit and the building was designed for other uses. She stated she would not be supporting the motion. Chairman O’Farrell left the meeting to present the above item to City Council and did not return. 5. Consideration and possible action regarding the Final Plat of Clearwood Business Park, a 4.297 acre tract of land out of part of Division “B” of Lot 64, in the Hoidale Coffman Addition, according to the map or plat thereof recorded in Volume 3, Page 6, in the Map Records of Harris County, Texas, City of Friendswood, Harris County, Texas Motion to approve: Neel Second: Annan Vote: 5/0 Unanimous Motion carried Harbin explained the original two staff comments had since been corrected and there were no outstanding issues with the final plat. She said the development consisted of several tracts, the front along FM 2351 being zoned CSC was not currently being developed. Three lots in the rear zoned LI were in process and the Commission would soon be seeing the Commercial Site Plan for those tracts. She explained the project began in 2007 and they found pipelines in the ground. An Exxon easement has since been relocated to overlap the future Blackhawk Blvd. area. Borghese asked if Danbury is still drilling on site. Glen Graef/owner said no and he was currently petitioning to get the surface rights released. Harbin stated the drill site did not allow any vertical structures to be built but they could utilize it for parking. She also said the developer installed a new water line which will be dedicated to the City. 5 August 3, 2015 P & Z Meeting Neel asked if the property would be developed as drawn on the plat. Graef said it would be. 6. Consideration and possible action regarding a Preliminary Plat of Arbor Gate at West Ranch Section Two (A Gate, Private Subdivision) being 16.6 acres of land out of the John Dickinson Survey, A-9 and being a portion of Lots 102 through 107 of the Slone Subdivision, a subdivision plat filed for record under Volume 3, Page 61A (Volume 254A, Pg. 6) of the Galveston county Map Records, City of Friendswood, Galveston County, Texas Motion to approve: Lovell Second: Annan Vote: 5/0 Unanimous Motion carried Harbin stated this is another section in West Ranch. It would be a gated section so the HOA would be responsible for street maintenance while the City maintained the water and sewer lines. Annan asked if this would be an open ditch community to which Geoff Freeman/BGE said all of West Ranch is curb and gutter streets. Harbin told the Commission this was only a preliminary plat and they would see it again as a Final Plat later on. 7. Consideration and possible action regarding a Preliminary Plat of Arbor Gate at West Ranch Section Five (A Gate, Private Subdivision) being 7.63 acres of land out of the John Dickinson Survey, A-9 and being a portion of Lots 77 through 80 of the Slone Subdivision, a subdivision plat filed for record under Volume 3, Page 61A (Volume 254A, Pg. 6) of the Galveston county Map Records, City of Friendswood, Galveston County, Texas Motion to approve: Neel Second: Borghese Vote: 5/0 Unanimous Motion carried Harbin stated this is another West Ranch section consisting of 28 lots. She said this section combined with the other half is still under the 75 lot threshold that would require more than one point of access. 8. Consideration and possible action regarding a Preliminary Plat of Arbor Gate at West Ranch Section Six (A Gate, Private Subdivision) being 13.74 acres of land out of the John Dickinson Survey, A-9 and being a portion of Lots 82 through 86 and 104 through 107 of the Slone Subdivision, a subdivision plat filed for record under Volume 3, Page 61A (Volume 254A, Pg. 6) of the Galveston county Map Records, City of Friendswood, Galveston County, Texas Motion to approve: Borghese Second: Lovell Vote: 5/0 Unanimous Motion carried Harbin stated this is another West Ranch section and will include a round-a-bout past the gated entrance. Annan asked when street lighting gets reviewed to which Harbin explained the City’s Engineering Department reviews street lighting plans. Neel asked to 6 August 3, 2015 P & Z Meeting be shown where the gates would be located. 9. Consideration and possible action regarding future Planning and Zoning Commission meeting dates. Harbin said the next regular meeting would be held August 20th. She said a series of four short training sessions would be held following the regular meetings for the next couple months: 1) General Info 2) Subdivision Ordinance 3) Zoning Ordinance 4) Bus Tour Lovell asked when the next conference would be to which Harbin stated the APA conference was coming up in October in Galveston. Lovell said he highly recommended the other commissioners to attend. 10. Communications from the Commission Annan requested an item regarding how the Sidewalk Funds works to be put on the next agenda. Lovell reported on the Library expansion and said the rain put construction behind schedule. He also encouraged anyone interested to purchase engrave-able pavers for $100 each. Borghese welcomed the new Commissioners. 11. Reports A. Council Liaison – not present B. Staff - Harbin said the DRC Report would be sent out soon. She will also email the upcoming APA Conference dates. 11. The Regular Meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission adjourned at 8:22pm. These minutes respectfully submitted by: Becky Summers Becky Summers Development Coordinator/P&Z Secretary