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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda November 19, 2007 Regular Agenda Comprehensive Plan Amendment for 2021 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 Comprehensive Land Use Plan from Institutional and Floodplain & Streams to Planned Development and Floodplain & Streams for 7.60 acres located at 2021 Harvey Mitchell Parkway in the general vicinity of the intersection with Rio Grande Drive. Recommendation(s): The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended denial of the original request (Institutional and Floodplain & Streams to Residential Attached and Floodplain & Streams) and recommended Planned Development and Floodplain & Streams at their November 1, 2007, meeting. Staff had recommended denial of the original request. Summary: The original request was analyzed as follows: 1. Changed or changing conditions in the subject area or the City: The subject property is designated on the Comprehensive Land Use Map as Institutional and Floodplain & Streams. The Institutional designation is appropriate for schools, churches, hospitals, and other government or quasi-public uses. Institutional was likely placed on the property in association with the two electric substations that abut the property to the southwest. The Floodplain & Streams Land Use designation originated with the Comprehensive Plan in 1997 and is intended to protect development from the FEMA 100-year floodplain plus provide additional areas to be reserved for open space. The existing FEMA 100-year floodplain boundary, as based off of contour data, follows in relative proximity to the adopted Floodplain & Streams boundary. The City is currently engaged in a capital improvement project on the Bee Creek watershed that should reduce the amount of FEMA 100-year floodplain on the subject property. The project and associated flood study is still under way, however, and the final limits of a new 100-year floodplain boundary are still uncertain and have not been submitted to or adopted by FEMA. The subject property has frontage along Harvey Mitchell Parkway, a Major Arterial on the City's Thoroughfare Plan. This frontage is the property's only potential access as it is surrounded by developed land and Bee Creek. The adjacent commercial properties to the east have access through a frontage road that does not exist in front of the subject property. Since TxDOT maintains Harvey Mitchell Parkway, a TxDOT driveway permit will be required to gain access to the property. In preliminary discussions the City has had with TxDOT, direct driveway access will likely be permitted. If such access is not granted or only temporary allowed, however, access will be gained through the extension of the frontage road across the property and down to the intersection with Rio Grande Drive to the west where the access will be signalized. Though the final determination will result from a TxDOT driveway permit, the applicant has stated that the possibility of not having direct access to Harvey Mitchell Parkway as a reason that precludes retail commercial from being viable. 2. Compatibility with the remainder of the Comprehensive Plan: The proposed Amendment is to change the 5.38 acres currently designated as Institutional to 6.05 acres of Residential Attached and reduce the Floodplain & Streams acreage from 2.22 acres to 1.55 acres. It is of note that the subject property has a portion currently zoned for C-3 (Light Commercial) along Harvey Mitchell Parkway, R-3 (Townhouse) in the mid and back portions of the property, and A-O (Agricultural Open) along Bee Creek. At the October 15, 2007 meeting held with neighboring property owners, the applicant expressed the intent to ultimately develop a multi-family apartment complex. The applicant's request to Residential Attached will allow the applicant to pursue a future multi- family rezoning request. The proposed Amendment will help facilitate the applicant's desired development and thus would be in keeping with the City's objective to promote the use of vacant land where infrastructure and services are readily available. As noted above, however, the property is currently zoned for various uses and the potential to develop already exists. The first Land Use Goal of the Comprehensive Plan is for the City to provide and locate adequate amounts of appropriately zoned land for all necessary types of land uses in an efficient, convenient, harmonious, and ecologically sound manner. A large portion of the subject property is zoned R-3, Townhouse, and represents only one of two tracts of land with R-3 zoning that is not already developed or developing. The Residential Attached land use designation allows for R-3 zoning as well as other more intense multi-family zoning districts. While a Residential Attached designation may be viable, knowing the applicant's intent to develop an apartment complex, there is concern that a future multi-family rezoning request will ultimately diminish the variety of housing choices available in this area of the City. Other applicable objectives of the Comprehensive Plan include protecting the integrity of residential areas by minimizing intrusive and incompatible land uses and densities and also encouraging compatible in-fill development. Members of the adjacent neighborhood present at the meeting expressed a range of concerns regarding the intensity that a Residential Attached land use may allow. As stated previously, specific concerns were expressed about density, traffic, drainage, sanitary sewer capacity, and noise. Appropriate buffering could be addressed during a rezoning request but Staff has a concern regarding the effectiveness of the existing buffer requirements due to the elevation changes between this property and the single family homes. Other items regarding adequate infrastructure will be addressed during the platting of the property. As for existing conditions, portions of the existing R-3 zoning district are within the existing FEMA 100-year floodplain. The proposed request seeks to reduce the Floodplain & Streams area and could result in allowing a higher intensity of development to occur in the floodplain area and closer to Bee Creek than currently exists. STAFF RECOMMENDATION While the Institutional designation may not appropriately reflect the future land use of the property, the property has many unique characteristics that a Residential Attached designation may not address. The subject property is surrounded by Bee Creek, Harvey Mitchell Parkway, and developed uses of single family, multi-family, commercial, and electrical substations. In addition, the existing multi-family to single family buffer requirements may not be effective due to the elevations changes that occur near the property line between the two. As such a Planned Development designation, instead of Residential Attached, would be more appropriate to account for these items. In addition, density, land uses, buffering, and other site characteristics would receive additional oversight through the submission of a Concept Plan that would be required as part of a Planned Development rezoning application. Also, while changes are occurring to the Bee Creek watershed, the flood study has not been completed and a new FEMA 100-year floodplain has not been adopted. Once a new floodplain has been adopted by FEMA, further consideration could then be given to the appropriateness of the Floodplain & Streams boundary being reduced or retained as open space. Based on this evaluation, Staff recommended denial of the original request which would designate the subject property as Residential Attached and reduce the area of Floodplain & Streams on it. Budget & Financial Summary: N/A Attachments: 1. Small Area Map (SAM) &Aerial 2. Draft Planning and Zoning Minutes, November 1, 2007 3. Ordinance (as per application) 4. Ordinance (as per P&Z recommendation)