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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda May 22, 2008 Regular Agenda Comprehensive Plan Amendment for 1250 Harvey Mitchell Parkway To: Glenn Brown, City Manager From: Bob Cowell, AICP, Director of Planning & Development Services Agenda Caption: Public hearing, presentation, possible action, and discussion on an ordinance amending the Land Use Plan element of the Comprehensive Plan from Industrial / R&D to Residential Attached for 6.2 acres located at 1250 Harvey Mitchell Parkway generally located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Luther Street West. Recommendation(s): The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-2 to recommend approval at their May 1st meeting. Staff recommended denial of the request. Summary: 1. Changed or changing conditions in the subject area or the City: With the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan in 1997, the subject and adjacent property to the south were designated as Texas A&M University, which is for properties owned by the University. With the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map clean-up in 2004, the subject property was designated correctly as Industrial / R&D in connection with the other properties on the west side of Harvey Mitchell Parkway, a highway on the Thoroughfare Plan. In July 2006, the Council approved a land use amendment from Industrial / R&D to Residential Attached for the development known as 2818 Place. With the adjacent property to the south approximately 10.5 acres of Industrial / R&D is still contiguous in this area. In March 2007, Council approved a land use amendment known as the Luther Area Plan which changed Single Family Residential High Density to Residential Attached, Planned Development and Retail Neighborhood. Part of the purpose of that amendment was to match the land use designation to the existing development. Prior to the adoption of the UDO in 2003, rezonings were not required to be in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. In October 2007, the City installed traffic signals on Harvey Mitchell Parkway at the intersections with Luther Street West and Holleman Drive. Though the subject property is near the Luther Street West intersection, the property at the intersection is owned by Texas A&M University. In communication with the Real Estate office for the Texas A&M University System, Staff was informed that access would not be granted through the A&M property since it already has access directly to Harvey Mitchell Parkway. If that remains, the subject property will only access Harvey Mitchell Parkway but at a non- signalized location. 2. Compatibility with the remainder of the Comprehensive Plan: As stated by the Comprehensive Plan, the Residential Attached land use designation "contains exclusively multi-family residential developments, with densities ranging from 10 to 20 dwelling units / acre." The subject property is located near TAMU and Comprehensive Plan policies support the development of multi-family for the student population near TAMU. The Industrial / Research & Development designation is for "medium to large-scale development of tax-generating developments such as industrial/R&D parks, technology centers, clean manufacturing, and assembly/distribution. These developments are very dependent upon good access to highways, rail lines, and/or airports." The subject property is located on a highway and is near the airport. As for location in general, the subject property meets the desired proximity for both the Residential Attached and Industrial / R&D land use designations. The Comprehensive Plan also asks that "adequate amounts of appropriately zoned land for all necessary types of land uses in an efficient, convenient, harmonious, and ecologically sound manner" be provided. The Residential Attached developments built in the area over the last decade have been located on the east side of Harvey Mitchell Parkway, which has a right-of-way width of over 330 feet. On the west side of Harvey Mitchell Parkway, the aforementioned 2818 Place multi family development is currently under construction. In general, an Industrial / R&D land use designation would allow for a C 2 Commercial Industrial, R&D Research & Development, M-1 Light Industrial, or M-2 Heavy Industrial zoning district depending upon the area. The subject property abuts the Texas A&M Poultry Science Center to the west (see Figure 1) and a Texas A&M sanitation area to the south (see.Figure 2). Figure 3 is a view of the property from Harvey Mitchell Parkway in whch storage in the sanitation area and activities of the Brayton Fire School can be seen in the background. Though multi family developments have been constructed in the area, none are directly adjacent to these Texas A&M uses. Though zoned C U College and.University, if owned privately, the Poultry Science Center and sanitation area are industral in nature and would likely be zoned M 1 or M-2. According to the UDO, M 2 uses are not compatible with residential uses of any density, or even lower intensity commercial uses. The addition of multi family units in closer proximity to the airport and these intense uses is not appropriate and could compromise the quality of life that residents of such a development would enjoy. 01, a'uuiiiuu r+ t,z +. a1 11 l t � , _R- . . Esc Figure 1: Texas A&M Poultry Science Center northwest of property. A g tis E 9 A.... Al111,111,;.: 1,'-,-T-- -i # '—_ Ma ,p Figure 2: Texas A&M sanitation area west of property. I � 41- I�r�,e�� 's , . xr o Imo_ MM0 , IY .41014 fps .w�TW II _ Figure 3: Property from Harvey Mitchell Parkway with Texas A&M uses in background. The City has grown substantially since the Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1997 which is why the effort to update it is underway. Though conditions have changed significantly in some areas of the City we are still within the 20 year planning horizon the Plan anticipated. Within this area (west of Wellborn Road and north of Harvey Mitchell Parkway), over 30 acres of land is designated as Residential Attached but still is undeveloped. Over the past 4 years, more than 1,500 new multi-family units have been added to the City bringing the total number of multi-family units to almost 19,000 (55% of all housing units). In addition, over 1,000 more multi-family units have been approved or are under construction. There are about 1,400 acres in the City designated as Industrial / R&D. Not including C-2 zoning districts, approximately 470 acres is currently zoned for industrial uses with only about 45 acres remaining when City owned and University owned property are excluded. Beyond these considerations, the subject property poses some concerns with limited access. The property does not have access to the signalized intersection with Luther Street West and unless resolved will only have access directly to Harvey Mitchell Parkway at an unsignalized location. Given the acreage of the property, a R-3 zoning would allow 86 units, R-4 would allow 124 units and R-6 would allow up to 186 units. Given the potential traffic generated from any of these scenarios, it appears that a non- residential use would generate less traffic and maintain greater safety along this portion of Harvey Mitchell Parkway. Budget & Financial Summary: N/A Attachments: 1. Aerial and Small Area Map (SAM) 2. Draft Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting minutes, May 1, 2008 3. Ordinance 4. Letter from Texas A&M University System