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Home My WebLink AboutTEEX CorrespondenceTHE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM Office of General Counsel November 30, 2009 Mr. Jason Schubert Project Manager Planning & Development Services City of College Station 1101 Texas Avenue College Station, TX 77842 RE: Consideration of a Rezoning Request of 3.364 acres for the Property Located at 1270 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South SF Business Investments, L.L.C. has resubmitted a rezoning request to the City of College Station for 3.364 acres of land located at 1270 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South (the "Subject Property") from R-1 Single Family Residential to R-4 Multi -Family and A-O Agricultural Open. The developer presumably intends to use the property for apartments. The Texas A&M University System owns the land west of the Subject Property (Office for Solid Waste Operations). We have previously submitted objections to this request noting numerous problems that have been identified by Texas A&M University, Texas, AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University Physical Plant and Texas Engineering Extension Service (see Exhibit "A" attached). In addition to those objections, we would also like to request a denial of the application on the basis that the one - hundred and eighty (180) day period for rehearing required by Section 32](E)(4) of the City of College Station's Unified Development Ordinance ("UDO") has not expired. This Section states: "If a petition for a plan amendment is denied by the City Council, another petition for reclassification of the same property or any portion thereof shall not be considered within a period of one -hundred and eighty (180) days from the date of denial, unless the Planning and Zoning Commission finds that one of the following factors are applicable: (4) The final decision on the application was based on a material mistake of fact. " The applicant has resubmitted its request before the 180-day deadline on the basis that the proposal's failure at the City Council meeting held on September 10, 2009, was because "City Council mistakenly voted against said Rezoning Request based upon concern over the left-hand turns to a State Highway." (See Bayliss letter of September 29, 2009). According to the applicant, it was a "material mistake of fact" for Council to consider the hazard of left-hand turns raised by City Council Members Dennis Maloney and James Massey. Specifically, Mr. Maloney noted that barriers were erected on Luther Street to prevent people from making left-hand turns due to the number of accidents at that intersection. Mr. Massey was concerned about left-hand turns into 60-mile per hour 200 Technology Way, Suite 2079 • College Station, Texas 77845-3424 979.458.6120 • 979.458.6150 fax • www.tamus.edu Page 2 of 3 Jason Schubert November 30, 2009 traffic along Harvey Mitchell Parkway. These concerns were not mistakes of fact, but were legitimate issues, among others, to be considered by Council. Other reasons considered by Council in denying the application include Mayor Pro Tem Ruesink's concern for the safety of students crossing Harvey Mitchell Parkway, and the need for bus stops on both sides of the highway. Section 3.2(D)(9)(d) of the UDO sets out factors that can be considered by City Council when reviewing a zoning amendment. One of those factors is the "[s]uitability of the property affected by the amendment for uses permitted by the district that would be made available by the proposed amendment." Traffic and pedestrian safety is certainly an important factor that the Council could consider in determining whether the subject property is suitable for rezoning to R-4 Zoning. Weatherford v. City of San Antonio, 157 S.W.3d 473 ("zoning is a legislative act, and in making zoning determinations, a municipality is entitled to consider all the facts and circumstances which may affect the property, tl:e community, and the welfare ^f Its c:tiZe ns"). It is our position that the rezoning request should not be reheard before the 180-day deadline. The Council's consideration of the hazard of left-hand turns (one of several facts that may have influenced its decision), was not a mistake of fact. Finally, we regret that we were unable to oppose the Commission's agreement to rehear the application at its October 16, 2009 meeting, but we had no notice that the issue was on the agenda. y Counsel The Texas A&M University System TVC/mjh cc: William Dugas Director Texas A&M AgriLife Research A. Scott Williams Executive Director, Real Estate Development Texas A&M University John Skrabanek Associate Agency Director/Chief Financial Officer Texas Engineering Extension Service John H. Happ, Jr. Director of Aviation Easterwood Airport THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM Office of General Counsel August 12, 2009 Mr. Jason Schubert Project Manager Planning & Development Services City of College Station 1101 Texas Avenue College Station, TX 77842 RE: Consideration of a Rezoning Request of 3.364 acres for the Property Located at 1270 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South It has come to our attention that SF Business Investments, L.L.C. has submitted a rezoning request to the City of College Station for 3.364 acres of land located at 1270 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South (the "Subject Property") from R-1 Single Family Residential to R-4 Multi -Family and A-O Agricultural Open. The developer presumably intends to use the property for apartments. The Texas A&M University System owns the land west of the Subject Property (Office for Solid Waste Operations). Several problems have been identified from my contacts with Texas A&M University, Texas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University Physical Plant and Texas Engineering Extension Service ("TEEX"). A summary of those problems is presented as follows: TEEX operates the Brayton Fire Training Field and Disaster City in order to fulfill the Texas Legislature's mandate to provide fire and emergency response training to the firefighters of the State of Texas. Typical hours of operation are 7:00 AM —11:00 PM Monday through Friday, as well as many weekends throughout the year. TEEX's mission has been expanded to include emergency response training for responders from across the United States and around the world. While TEEX has taken all feasible measures to minimize the smoke and noise associated with this type of training, locating multi -family housing in close proximity to the field could lead residents to call for a reduction in training activities at the field. Should this occur, TEEX's ability to provide training vital to the safety and security of communities around the world would be negatively impacted. The property is located near the end of Easterwood Airport's secondary runway, which is used when the main runway is closed for maintenance (repairs, light bulb changing, mowing, etc.). An important source of airport income is derived from military "touch and go" landing operations (a significant source of noise). A plane crashed on the old landfill site a few years ago which demonstrates the real danger to living in the flight line of the airport. Possible extension of the safety area in the future would involve closer proximity of air traffic to the proposed multi -family location. 200 Technology Way, Suite 2079 • College Station, Texas 77845-3424 979.458.6120 . 979.458.6150 fax - www.ta us.edu Page 2 of Jason Schubert August 12, 2009 • The flight path would propose a problem to residents of a multi -family housing unit due to the amount of noise generated by the planes flyovers. • The proposed apartments would also be near the main Office for Solid Waste Operations, which is used for staging of solid waste disposal, transfer stations and vehicle storage. Solid waste operations are six (6) days a week normally and seven (7) days a week during football weekends and other special events. Operations begin by 5:30 AM and significant noise is generated as trucks are started and metal containers are loaded, emptied and moved for waste collection. • Operations and activities of the A&M Poultry Center, approximately 1,000 feet north of the subject property, are not conducive to the proposed change to multi -family use. The center houses a minimum of 3,000 poultry, and, at times, may house as many as 20,000 poultry. it is the position of " University Physical Plant and denied. exas A&M University, Texas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M Texas Engineering Extension Service that the rezoning request be .ounsel niversity System TVC/mjh cc: William Dugas Director Texas A&M AgriLife Research A. Scott Williams Executive Director, Real Estate Development Texas A&M University John Skrabanek Associate Agency Director/Chief Financial Officer Texas Engineering Extension Service John H. Happ, Jr. Director of Aviation Easterwood Airport