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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z Minutes 2021-01-28 RegularCITY OF FRIENDSWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 - 7:00 PM Minutes MINUTES OF A FRIENDSWOOD REGULAR MEETING HELD AT 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS STATE OF TEXAS CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS JANUARY 28, 2021 1.Call to order MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION THAT WAS HELD ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021, AT 07:02 PM 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS CHAIRMAN JOE MATRANGA VICE-CHAIRMAN RICHARD SASSON COMMISSIONER TOM HINCKLEY COMMISSIONER TRAVIS MANN COMMISSIONER LISA LUNDQUIST COMMISSIONER MARCUS PERRY COUNCIL LIAISON ROBERT GRIFFON CITY ATTORNEY MARY KAY FISCHER DIRECTOR OF CDD/PLANNER AUBREY HARBIN DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR BECKY BENNETT COMMISSIONER RICHARD CLARK WAS ABSENT FROM THE MEETING. 2.Communication from the public/committee liaisons (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) Brady Mora spoke against the proposal for 501 S Friendswood Dr. He said the owner has the right to develop every square foot and he has a right to speak against it. Mora told the Commission it was their job is to enforce the ordinances but asked the Commission to break the law and go against the ordinances to make a difference. Mora stated the first public school was built on this site and that the trees are over a hundred years old. Lorrie Foreman spoke against the development at 501 S Friendswood Dr. She said she is a tree hugger but also realistic. She asked the Commission to not be hasty. Foreman stated attempted dialogue with the property owner has gone unanswered and she felt he has a responsibility to come to the table and discuss options. She said there is a cost to save the trees and that the city should participate in absorbing some of the cost. Kevin Holland spoke against the development at 501 S Friendswood Dr. He read part of the city's tree preservation ordinance that encourages preservation of significant trees. Holland stated the property is worth more with the trees on it. He encouraged the applicant to attend and discuss options. Doug McAninch spoke against the development at 501 S Friendswood Dr. He said he moved to Friendswood from Texas City that lacked trees and vegetation. He spoke about the Friendswood flag featuring an oak tree and how it was so important as to orbit the earth on the third Columbia space flight. He thanked the Commission for their service. Justin Estopinal spoke regarding the development at 501 S Friendswood Dr. Estopinal explained he is a certified arborist and felt the two trees in front of the property could coexist with the proposed building. He proposed an oxygen system to feed the trees and said the community had found the resources and funding to implement that system. Estopinal explained keeping the trees would pose a minimal impact on the site plan; they have plan at no charge, they have the resources, and they just need the owner to sit down and talk with him and the other interested parties. 3.Consent Agenda These items are considered routine or ministerial in nature and will be enacted with one motion. There will be no separate discussion of items unless a commissioner so requests in which case the item would be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. A.Minutes for the regular meeting held January 14, 2021 **Commissioner Lisa Lundquist moved to approve Minutes for the regular meeting held January 14, 2021. Seconded by Commissioner Tom Hinckley. The motion was approved unanimously. 4.Action Items According to the Planning and Zoning Rules of Procedure (R2019-15), all action of the Commission shall be made by an affirmative vote of four (4) or more members of the Commission present at such Commission meetings. A.Consideration and possible action regarding the site plan for GC Ortho to be located at 108 N. Friendswood Drive **Commissioner Tom Hinckley moved to approve Consideration and possible action regarding the site plan for GC Ortho to be located at 108 N. Friendswood Drive. Seconded by Commissioner Marcus Perry. **Commissioner Tom Hinckley moved to amend his motion to include approval of payment into the Sidewalk Fund. Seconded by Commissioner Marcus Perry. The motion was approved unanimously. Harbin said the proposed orthodontics office would be located on the small lot north of W hataburger on North Friendswood Drive. She explained it is a non-conforming lot in the Community Shopping Center (CSC) zoning district. Harbin said a non-conforming lot may be developed as long as the design meets all applicable development regulations. She said this property is also subject to the Community Overlay District (COD). She said the applicant is requesting to pay into the sidewalk fund in lieu of installing a sidewalk. She explained one side of the property leads into the creek and the other side has a small strip of land between this site and the adjacent driveway. Hinckley commented the site layout looked good but that he was concerned with adding to traffic congestion. Perry said he was supporting the plan but would like to see sidewalks installed. He said the Commission needs to address the sidewalk ordinance at some point. Lundquist said she had no reservations. She thought is was a good use, a good fit, and would not create a lot of traffic. Sasson commented it was a good layout on a challenging location. He asked if the applicant looked at a shared driveway agreement with New Hope Church to have side access. Harbin answered that staff had already encouraged them to do the same and New Hope Church denied the request. Mann stated he also would like to see sidewalks but, at this location, the sidewalks would lead to nowhere on each side. B.Consideration and possible action regarding the site plan for Friendship Center to be located at 501 S. Friendswood Drive **Vice-Chairman Richard Sasson moved to approve Consideration and possible action regarding the site plan for Friendship Center to be located at 501 S. Friendswood Drive. Seconded by Commissioner Marcus Perry. The motion was amended to table by Sasson. Seconded by Perry. The vote to table was approved unanimously. Harbin stated the property is zoned Downtown District and a new 15,900 square foot retail building was being presented. She said the city is unaware of any particular tenants at this time. She said the project would be required to install the Downtown District (DD) amenities within a 15-foot landscape parkway. Harbin said the two side streets will require 6-foot concrete sidewalks within a 10-foot landscape buffer. She said the owner is proposing to keep two trees in the rear and mitigate on site for the trees being removed. Harbin said mitigated trees are to be Class 1 or Class 2 trees measuring a minimum 3" caliper. She stated staff reached out to the applicant and his engineer offering to decrease parking or accept alternate landscaping in order to retain some of the large trees. She said the plan currently being discussed is the plan the owner has chosen. Sel Thint/ Everest Design Group said he has known the trees were a sensitive issue since the beginning of design. Thint stated the property owner has elected to remove the trees primarily to satisfy his end users who want visibility. Thint said his team has proposed different solutions and City staff offered reduced parking and the reduction of new landscaping to protect the larger oaks but the owner has given directions he will not preserve the trees. Thint said the owner felt the landscape requirements were discussed early on at the pre-development meeting and the ordinance does not prohibit removal of the trees. He feels very strongly he has the right to develop the property and to remove the trees. Blair Korndorffer/Diamond Development said they met with an arborist to discuss possible solutions. He commented the low limbs of the oaks will hide the front of the building and impact the visibility of retail tenants. Korndorffer said if the arborist, Estopinal, has a way to preserve the trees at no cost to the owner they would be open to discussion. Sasson stated the Commission must balance the needs of the community with the needs of the developer. Sasson said the developer of a similar property is actively looking for solutions to protect the trees while this property owner just says "No". Sasson said he understands most of the trees have to be removed for construction but feels the two large oak trees are ideally located to bracket the entrance; trim the low branches. Sasson said the Commission heard some innovative ideas tonight and feels the need to have a dialogue that exhausts all options. Sasson asked the owner to sit down with the City Manager to discuss options as so many are willing to go above and beyond to protect the significant trees on Friendswood Drive. Perry commented that Friendswoodians will be hesitant to shop at this building after the destruction of the trees. He said the current tree ordinance is falling short of public desire. Lundquist said everyone has different visions of the Downtown District. She commented the area is now designed to have great big sidewalks and tree canopies intended to make the Downtown District walkable. She said removing those trees is not part of the vision of a walkable downtown. Mann thanked staff for coming up with ideas and commented that the dialogue has been one sided. Korndorffer said he could reach back out to the property owner. He said the owner is a developer who follows the ordinances and knows what national tenants want. Korndorffer did say that if the tree preservation will not cost the owner he may be open to the suggestion. Hinckley said Friendswood Drive has a 30 mph speed limit he personally feels the trees do not block the view. He suggested talking to the arborist about his ideas. He said the Commission wants the owner to personally participate in the discussion if he wants to be part of the community. Matranga said the ordinance speaks of intent then the actual regulations. He opined that removing the trees does not promote good will with the community or any potential local customers. Korndorffer said sometimes a site is tough to development and the current ordinance appears to be development oriented. He said League City has created ordinances that make property undevelopable and unsellable. He said he understands landmark trees are beautiful but, for development, they are costly. Korndorffer said replacing on a one-for-one basis becomes a forest. Matranga mentioned the proposed mitigation trees are all crepemyrtles and vitex, no oak trees. Korndorffer said they could look at changing some of the tree types. He added that the property has streets on three sides so they will need to be careful with the size of the trees. Matranga added that he appreciates the re-development of the property and that it will be a good addition to the community. Matranga said rows of new trees would ruin the sight line more than keeping the old, large trees. Korndorffer explained there are two different sight lines; pedestrian sight line and sign band on building. Korndorffer said he and the engineer would try to engage the property owner again. Perry mentioned the owner could watch this meeting on You Tube. C. Discussion regarding updates to the Zoning Ordinance Section 7. P. Permitted Uses, specifically the annual review of the Permitted Use Table and to receive staff report regarding revised NAICS Codes Bennett explained staff reviews the Permitted Use Table on an annual basis to determine if any uses need to be updated. She said, for this calendar year, no changes are proposed. 5.Discussion Items A.Discussion regarding the summary of 2021 Action Items as a result of the Annual Retreat that was held December 3, 2020. Matranga said he summarized the action items from the Planning and Zoning Commission Retreat (document provided in back up material). Perry said he could provide some updates to the Retreat document following today's meeting of the Planning Subcommittee. 6. Consideration and possible action regarding future Planning and Zoning Commission meeting dates A. Regular meeting Thursday, February 11 B. Regular meeting Thursday, February 25 7. Communications A. From Commissioners - suggestions for future agenda items, general comments and/or updates from liaison assignments Hinckley reported the Ordinance Subcommittee had met and discussed their 2021 "To Do" list. Sasson stated the Tree Ordinance has been moved up their list as a priority. He said the Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District (GCCDD) has removed more than 100,000 truck loads of dirt from Imperial Estates Section 1. Perry said the Planning Subcommittee met and discussed tackling the Comprehensive Plan with, first, low hanging fruit then moving onto more challenging items. He said they will have items to discuss with the full commission soon. B. From Planning Subcommittee – update on tasks C. From Ordinance Subcommittee – update on tasks D. From City Council Liaison, Robert Griffon - general comments and communication from City Council Griffon said he appreciates the citizens coming out to participate in the meeting. He said City Council is meeting February 1st at 6:30pm. Griffon announced the design concepts for the Public Safety Building expansion and the new Fire Station 2 are being revealed. He said the GCCDD buyouts are moving forward, the city closed on purchasing the Blackhawk facility, and are soliciting services for the shelter buildout. E. From Staff - Virtual training opportunity coming up April 14-16 - UT Land Use Conference; commercial and residential project updates, City Council action and ordinance updates Harbin said the annual Land Use Conference would be online from April 14-16 and would be open to all the commissioners this year. She stated Wednesday, April 14th would be the Fundamentals classes which are helpful for Commissioners. Harbin said the Planning Subcommittee starting working on updating the Future Land Use map. She explained they would be picking back up from the 2017 changes that were interrupted. Harbin said Friendswood Trails is moving ahead with future sections, that the Georgetown development has resubmitted, and Avalon Section 1 is moving along. Bennett said the Ordinance Subcommittee met and worked on prioritizing items for their yearly goals. 8. Adjournment This meeting was adjourned at 08:36 PM.