HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z Minutes 2006-07-10 SpecialMinutes of a Special Meeting
Of the
Friendswood Planning and Zoning Commission
July 10, 2006
A special meeting of the Friendswood Planning and Zoning Commission was held Monday, July
10, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. in the council chambers in city hall located at 910 S. Friendswood Drive,
Friendswood, Texas.
3:00 P.M. JOINT WORK SESSION WITH CITY COUNCIL
The following members were present:
Kevin Holland
Jim Gibson
Sherry Weesner
Diana Steelquist -Staff Planner
Dan Johnson-Community Development Director
John Olson-City Attorney
Mona Miller -Development Coordinator
Jim Hill -Council Liaison
Mayor Smith called the meeting to order. Commissioner Holland asked that the order of the items
be changed to allow item 3 to be addressed first. The following items were discussed:
A.Discussion with the Planning & Zoning Commission regarding the following items:
1.Entryway, Downtown and Community Overlay Districts
Staff Planner, Diana Steelquist, provided information regarding the ex1stmg and
proposed overlay districts through a Powerpoint presentation. A lengthy discussion
ensued regarding the differences in the districts, the areas affected by the districts, the
setback distance for screening, garage bay doors and landscape buffers.
Commissioner Weesner explained that the COD change is a first step. She stated that
this is intended to help the downtown prope1ty owners. She also informed Council
that a subcommittee is working toward revising downtown zoning in order to
alleviate other downtown issues.
3.Setback requirements for private swimming pools:
Commissioner Holland explained that this change was originally proposed to address
a hardship in a garden home development. Conunissioner Weesner clarified that fhe
5' setback requirement is not in-addition-to the easement and does not allow
construction in the easement. She explained that the ordinance would require that
you abide by whichever is the larger of the two (the easement or setback) with the
minimum being 5' off of the property line. Mayor Smith expressed a concern for
whether this was a safe distance. Director of Community Development, Dan Johnson
answered that the 5' distance is consistent with other code requirements. He added
that this would also allow enough space for utility repair to be done in the easement
without damage to the pool.
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2.Non-conforming uses and structures
Director of Conununity Development Dan Johnson stated that staff and the Planning
and Zoning Commission have been working on this for about two years. He
explained that the existing ordinance states " ... permit non-conforming uses to
continue, but not to encourage their survival." This proposal is to remove the portion
of the ordinance that states " ... not to encourage their survival." A discussion ensued
regarding prohibiting rebuilding if the non-conforming structure is more than 50%
damaged. John Olsen, City Attorney, stated that the 50% requirement is set by state
government.
4.Special Exceptions for gas stations
Commissioner Weesner explained that this change is primarily for gas stations in the
Original Business District.
7:00 P.M.-DOCKETED JOINT PUBLIC HEARING
The following members were present:
Kevin Holland
Jim Gibson
Sherry Weesner
Bob Bertrand
David Brakebill
Diana Steelquist-Staff Planner
Dan Johnson -Community Development Director
John Olson-City Attorney
Mona Miller -Development Coordinator
Jim Hill -Council Liaison
Commissioner Holland called the Joint Public Hearing to order at 7: 13 p.m.
1.To receive public input, either oral or written rega rding the following:
A.Zone classification change request for a tract of land conta ining 3 .2895 acres, being
out of Lots 1 through 5 of the Forestwood Subdivision, situated in the Sarah
McKissick Survey, property located off of Friendswood Link Road, Harris County,
Texas, from Multi-Family Residential-Garden Home District (MFR-GHD) to Multi
Family Residential-High Density (MFR-H).
David Wyatt, 2501 Briarglen Drive, Pearland, explained that he works for the development
company that would be building the proposed townhomes. He stated that they have met with
many of the homeowners associations in the area in order to address their concerns. He
added that they would extend the water line, build a detention pond on the property and have
only one entrance to the property. Mr. Wyatt explained that they are marketing this new
development to empty nesters; therefore, it would have very little impact on the school
district. He stated that they are proposing a price range from the $ l 40s to $ l 60s and they
have lowered the density to 36 units.
Scott McCollum, 2001 S. Friendswood Drive, stated that he is an 18-year resident of
Friendswood. He expressed his support for the project and explained that the lots have been
vacant for a long time.
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Donnie Battenfield, 1208 Silverleaf Drive, supported the request stating that it seems like the
area could use a boost. He added that some buildings in the area are vacant and this project
might help bring in viable businesses.
Ram Aguilera, 2230 Leading Drive, suggested that the project would help to increase
property values in the area.
Elisabeth Wagner, 4427 Paradot, spoke in opposition of the request and expressed her
concerns with traffic; especially the school traffic. She also was afraid that this property
would become investment property for renters and increase crime.
Lou Ellen Hatchett, 16811 Paint Rock Road, stated that she is very proud of living in
Friendswood, and has enjoyed the quiet streets between the subdivisions. She believes that
this development is affiliated with Friendswood Link Road being widened and opened to El
Dorado. She is concerned about traffic cutting through the area.
Bobbie Jones, 16722 Hibiscus Lane, explained that she has lived in Friendswood for thirty
five years. She stated that this development would intrude on the privacy of the homeowners
that this development backs up to. She reiterated the concern about traffic and home values
in the area. She also commented that thirty-six units is too many and does not allow for a
playground, or pool.
James McClain, 16626 Oxnard Lane, restated concerns for traffic and privacy. He explained
that there is a need for a traffic light to slow traffic down as they come across the bridge. Mr.
McClain was also worried about drainage with this additional development. He disagreed
with the earlier comments that this project would increase property values. He feels that it
will lower values.
Shary Luck, 4410 Lucian Lane, commented that she has been a Friendswood resident for ten
years. She added to the previous comments regarding school traffic by stating that it is not a
short term problem. She explained that school traffic runs from early in the morning until
late in the evening.
Marina and Walter Bahn, spoke in opposition of the project. Mrs. Bahn stated that they
purchased their home about a year ago. Now, they are concerned that this project will invade
their privacy, cause drainage problems and destroy the wildlife in the area.
Roger Baust, 16726 Hibiscus, explained that he is a Friendswood resident of thirty-four years
and a volunteer fire fighter. He expressed concern for the development only having one
access and about drainage.
B.Amending the Zoning Ordinance, Appendix C, removing Section 8, I., 2, f., 1-7
Preserving Trees -Historical Significance, by deleting tree survey requirements, tree
mitigation and incentives and tree protection requirements.
Staff Planner, Diana Steelquist, explained that a sub-committee worked on the tree
preservation ordinance for years before it was passed in September 2005. She stated that the
current proposal is to remove certain sections of that ordinance. She also added that it mostly
affects commercial properties.
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Arthur Hsu, 709 Pin Oak Drive, spoke in favor of amending the ordinance. He
acknowledged how much work had gone into creating the ordinance to keep developers from
clear-cutting properties. However, he stated that the landscape plan for a development
should include the trees, thereby, making these sections of the tree ordinance unnecessary.
Mike Sharp, 1200 Shooting Star, asked for a follow up from the last council meeting on how
many trees have been protected and/or planted by these ordinance requirements in the last ten
months. He stated that if the ordinance has not been effective, then it should be amended.
He submitted photos of the upcoming West Ranch development that had been recently clear
cut. He added that the ordinance did not protect the trees on this property.
Fred Kreh, 209 Dawn, explained that he is a fifty-year resident of Friendswood. He read a
statement regarding the micromanagement of ones life and not infringing on others. He
added that it is not right to tell property owners what they can and cannot do on their own
property.
Judy Kimball, 802 W. Edgewood, spoke in opposition of amending the ordinance. She
explained that she was one of the committee members who worked to write this ordinance.
She stated that the committee was made up of many different types of people, including
developers and builders. She read off a list of committee members and their occupations.
Ms. Kimball stated that there is a lot of confusion about this ordinance, but that it does not
have anything to do with individual property owners. She explained that there are two
different tree ordinances: 1) The Heritage Tree Ordinance, which is strictly voluntary and 2)
the Tree Preservation Ordinance, which was written with developer's involvement.
Mary Yogas, 614 W. Castle Harbour, stated that she has lived in Friendswood for over thirty
years. She believes that the ordinance should be left as-is, if not made stronger. She
explained that it is very important to keep the trees in place in order to maintain better air
quality and even block damage from storms. Mrs. Yogas showed a 1992 forest cover map
and a predicted 2010 forest cover map of the Houston area showing how drastically it is
changing.
Jim Yogas, 614 W. Castle Harbour, explained that after growing up on Galveston Island, he
decided Friendswood was the type of place he would like to live. He stated that he served as
an elected official for the Clear Creek Drainage District for years. He saw this as a duty to
the community. He challenged the council to protect the trees and make the decision whether
their decisions were going to be for people or money.
Lorna Zeitler, 304 Friends Knoll, stated that she is a resident of over forty years. She
reminded those in attendance that the tree ordinance was created because of the trees being
stripped from the landscape. She gave examples of this practice with the Albertson's
property on FM 2351 and FM 528; and Camp Manison. She asked the council not to
sacrifice our heritage for the sake of development.
Commissioner Holland asked that Items C., D. and E. be addressed as one item. He
explained that the proposal is to do away with the Entryway and Downtown Overlay Districts
and create the Community Overlay District.
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I C.Amending the Zoning Ordinance, Appendix C, creating a Community Overlay
District.
D.Amending the Zoning Ordinance, Appendix C, removing Section 7, R -Entryway
Overlay District.
E.Amending the Zoning Ordinance, Appendix C, removing Section 7.5 -Downtown
Overlay District.
Mehran Jehidi, 101 S. Friendswood Drive, asked council members to support these changes.
F.Amending the Zoning Ordinance, Section 8, J, 4 -Setback requirements for private
swimming pools.
Diana Steelquist, Staff Planner, explained that the ordinance currently requires a swimming
pool, as an accessory structure, to maintain a 1 O' setback. However, that requirement has
created a hardship in cluster and garden home developments with O' lot lines. She stated that
this proposal is to reduce the required setback to 5'.
Janis Lowe, 401 Forest Pines Ct, spoke in support of the ordinance amendment.
G.Releasing rear utility easement located in the Friendswood Lakes Garden Home
Subdivision, Lots 1-13, Block 1, Lots 1-13, Block 2 and Lots 19-27, Block 2.
Janis Lowe, 401 Forest Pines Ct, spoke in favor of the amendment stating that the utility
easement was not used after the final plat was filed. She explained that the utility companies
have installed private utilities in the front of the properties. She added that all of the
homeowners have agreed to and signed this request for release of the rear utility easement.
2.Close Joint Docketed Public Hearing.
The Public Hearing was closed at 8:08 p.m.
3.Adjourn to second floor conference room for consideration and possible action on the
following items:
The Planning and Zoning Commission reconvened at 8:13 PM to consider the following
items:
Commissioner Brakebill suggested that Item B be considered first since the other items
would require so much more discussion.
A.Consideration and possible action regarding repealing the Entryway Overlay and
Downtown Overlay Districts and creating the Community Overlay District.
Motion: Gibson -to approve
Second: Brakebill
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Since all members were not available for the work session, Commissioner Weesner
recapped their discussions and concerns. A lengthy discussion ensued.
Amended
Motion: Weesner-to approve the proposed ordinance amendments with the following
changes: 1) limit Community Overlay District to apply to first 300' of property or
frontage of one street designated on the site plan, 2) Any microwave/satellite dish
over 24" inches must be screened, 3) Frontage, with regards to garage bays on corner
lots, shall be determined by the commercial site plan 4) Eliminate the South portion
of Blackhawk Boulevard from the Overlay district
Second: Brakebill
Voted For: Unanimous Motion Carried
B.Consideration and possible action regarding amending the Zoning Ordinance with
regards to setback requirements for private swimming pools.
Motion: Gibson -to approve
Second: Weesner
Voted For: Unanimous
4.Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:33 p.m.
·MkL�
Development Coordinator
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Motion Carried