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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CALLAWAY: They are currently in the process--correct me if I'm wrong--of applying for a building permit. Now, a prerequisite to obtain a building permit is approval of the parking lot plan. The new parking lot (inaudible). Their plans are in the office of the building official and have been in- spected. They have obtained a demolition permit and have removed part of the interior of that HAZEN: Has this building been approved for whatever they are going to use it for? MODERATOR: Any questions? From the staff? From the commission? Also, this is the Northgate area and the parking situation, as you all know, is a problem and we can assume that not all of his customers will be persons who drive there by automobile. CALLAWAY: This application concerns a request for approval of a parking lot plan for the Alamo. I assume most everyone here is familiar with that struc- ture. It is currently set in the general area of the Dixie Chicken and the Phillips 66 Station. The applicant is (inaudible). A copy of this has been placed in your packet and on the wall. The applicant is talking on it and scoping out (in- audible). I don't have anything to add other than (inaudible) has already (inaudible). ...the parking requirements for this building were established by the building official when that was his interpretation to make under the ordinance. The parking lot does orient towards patricia Street, and this is, as far as I know, the first real attempt to orient a business in that area towards patricia Street. Since this will have entrances on both sides and a business area here that is structured (inaudible). I'm sure the architect will point (inaudible). for Drive Agenda Item No.7 -- Consideration of a the Alamo Bar & Grill to be located at in North.9,ate. Transcript of a Portion of the Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting June 21, 1979 ~~~~J' It's only like ten foot off the street here. ...fire exit is from the rear. It might be necessary (inaudible) because of the close proximity of the building to University Drive. Yeah. Don't we have an ordinance... There is a building code that addresses that, I believe. Isn't that right? Ann, I think that, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't... I can't address the sprinkler system, that's up to the builing official's office and the fire marshal. It concerns me the parking lot doesn't Seem to leave access in the rear for a fire apparatus, you know, for a fire engine, or anything like that. And I wondered, you know, using a two story frame building, if we shouldn't allow for- some kind of--either have a sprinkler system in the building or some kind of access for fire engines. when their building permit are daily You might You might answer that. But Mr. Mayo's letter said the seating capacity would be 200. Does that mean two floor? Okay. Now is this going to be then--I've driven by it--it looks like a frame building. Is it going to sprinkled--a sprinkler system? building. That property has been inspected by the the building official's office. They are in the process of obtaining all the necessary plans and specifications for approval to ensure the building code requirements that they meet (inaudible). UNKNOWN: ASH: UNKNOWN: CALLAWAY: UNKNOWN: CALLAWAY: HAZEN: UNKNOWN: CALLAWAY: HAZEN: Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Two MODERATOR: Yes, sir. HAZEN: So all we're,doing then is approving... CALLAWAY: The building official established whatever his interpretation was to make the parking requirement for that structure. If you don't want to agree with that, you are going to have to appeal that to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. MODERATOR: Yeah. CALLAWAY: I don't think that's the question, I think the question is whether or not you want to approve this parking plan. UNKNOWN: That's the basic question. HAZEN: So what our question really is then whether we are going to allow 27 parking spots instead of 67. UNKNOWN: Well, they--that doesn't concern me so much as --because, you know, they are going to fight the fire from University Drive, if the have a fire. (Inaudible), that's your closest point.. HAZEN: I guess when I see the great big parking lot back there it looks like it is going to be a long way to the street. Well, the building doesn't look very big for 200 people. That's what it is, I guess. Well, I am concerned about--that a wooden frame building doesn't have a--with a fence all the way around it. It looks kind of tight. CALLAWAY: No. Here's University here. The parking will be back here. You drive right in there. HAZEN: Oh, the rear is in--is going to be on University Drive? Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Three The building official, in conjunction with the fire marshal, established a maximum seating capacity based on the type of structure that it was. I don't remember how they classified it, or what have you. At the time this discussion was started, this particular tract of land was in the so-called "fire zone". By action of the City Council, on recommendation of the City staff, including the fire marshal, an ordinance was passed removing this tract of land and the adjacent tract of land which contains the Phillips 66 station, now the Thirsty Turtle. These two tracts of land were removed from the fire zone to allow some future use under very strict adherence to the building code. The type structure that they are proposing here does not require sprinkling as long as the maximum occupancy is held at 200: and that's why it is stated. I don't think that's what's considered to be the seating capacity or anything else like that. That's the maximum allowable occupancy. The parking requirements that were established at the time by the building official, included a front driveway and everything else. The developer has subsequently determined that it would be much more to the better utilization of this tract of land to totally close the present driveway that enters onto University Drive. There are presently four parallel parking spaces The builder, or applicant, obtained a demolition permit so that he could go in there and remove the interior sheetrock from the walls so that he could determine what structure was there and what could be done as far as redesigning it and making changes in the structure. That was done so at the building official's okay. It might be appropriate, if I may make a few comments at this time. I'm George Boyett. The building's owner is A.P. Boyett, Sr., and Norma Boyett Bankston, my cousin. They own it in partnership. It is presently an apartment house. It is a frame structure with a stucco exterior. Lathe and plaster. It was built in 1929. It is fifty years old this month. BOYETT: Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Four It's a very accident prone location so we felt it would be much better to close that University Drive entrance and driveway, orient all the traffic parking, etc., onto patricia Street and get it off of University Drive: particularly to take the delivery vehicles and that sort of thing--the beer trucks, and the bread trucks, and what might come to a restaurant, and get them off University Drive, and utilize Patricia Street, which is now being utilized that way during the day. This particular plan, I think has a total of 30 parking spaces on it. The front entrance will actually orient itself toward University Drive. There's question about that. The the building faces University Drive now, and it will continue to face University Drive. There will be pedestrian entrances to the rear, on the deck and BOYETT: Maybe. Something like that. VIRGIL: on the tract of land on the front. By closing the driveway, one additional parallel parking space will be gained. These parking spaces, as I say, are parallel. When you go further to the northeast along University Drive, in fact at the next adjacent parking space is a diagonal space that heads in in front of what used to be called Andrea's Bicycle Shop. There are considerable problems with diagonal head-in parking spaces. This plan tries to alleviate that by keeping these parallel rather than creating more head- ins. As I understand it, the Highway Department is also making some waves about these head-in spaces on University Drive because many times if a person doesn't pull his car all the way in, say in front of the Farmers Market, he actually obstructs one of those lanes of traffic. We have a considerable problem here because of the offset between College Main and Houston Street. The University has seen fit some years back to close College Main where it enters the University in front of the post office and open up Houston street at an offset of about, I tbink it's about 125 feet. Isn't that right, Virgil? . Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Five Perhaps to expand the major parking problems we recognized in the Northgate area some two or perhaps three years ago, the parking in this particular block was changed to a one hour limit, and for a while it was enforced, particularly during the nine months of regular school time. It is very sporadically enforced now. Very much to the detriment of those businessmen who have to earn their livelihood over there, because University employees who choose not to park in University lots and, for that matter, who choose not to purchase University parking permits, park throughout this area. Particulary when they know that they are not going to get a ticket. In the block immediately behind this the City owns a single parking lot, which was purchased about 24 or 25 years ago for the purpose of providing parking for the Northgate merchants. At that time that was avowed the purpose of it. That lot is used now primarily by University employees in the custodial and maintenance departments. And you can go over there at 7:30 in the morning when they have to go to work, or 4:30 in the afternoon when they get off, and you can tell by the uniforms that they wear - the green custodial, or the green maintenance uniforms, or the black trousers and maroon smock that the custodial workers wear - where they are coming from and they choose to park there. There are a number of University professors and staff people who also park in that area because it is closer and more convenient for them to park there and then go over and eat in the Northgate area. So consequently the parking problem there is not compounded not only by the merchants but by the and University employees, particularly the custodial and maintenance workers who do fill up the streets and in this particular lot. the beer garden area. And the parking will all be in the rear, so there will be no vehicular access from the front with the exception of those five parallel spaces, as I say, and there are already 4 of them there. So they are not going to change those. But there will be no driveway entrance on University Drive. Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Six Mr. Stoler makes a good observation. About 3 years ago some people working on a project for him made a survey of the area and made some propositions that they thought might work well. And one of them, of course, was to close all the traffic access off of University Drive and actually close patricia Street about its middle but actually leave the street there so that from Boyett Street you fed into patricia Street and turned around with service trucks. From College Main you fed into patricia Street a little bit with service trucks and turned around and went back out. In other words, close patricia Street about the middle of it or about where the City's parking lot is and create strictly a service alley area and this lends itself to that configuration. BOYETT: I don't have a question. It's an observation. presuming that some day in the not too distant future something can be done with that whole area over there. This would not be a major problem to change and make it conform to most anything that I could see being done, so it is not an investment that is going to the property antl lock it into any configuration for any period of time. STOTLER: Now if you have questions, I would be glad to try and answer them. The architect is also here as well as the restaurant operators himself. which has more parking space than any other business in that area presently has. The Thirsty Turtle went in there, I believe, they platted 14 parking spaces for their business. At least he platted somewhat more than that. I think that it will offer a better use than it has for the last 50 years. That is no longer a suitable area for residences so consequently the owners decided not to pursue any apartment business there. The Northgate area it is an area of largely walking trade. A great deal of traffic is still generated around there. There are bars, there are restaurants, there are book stores, novelty stores, and that sort of thing. And this lends itself to that sort of use. Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Seven investments for Well we hope that, too. There is a real economic situation that you have to consider when you talk about a mass development like this because not only do you have property owners who have leases that may run three, five, fifteen or twenty years, then you have tenants who have got It might give some other folks some good ideas on it. We hope this lends itself to some future utilization. Personally, I don't have any problem with it. I think it is an improvement over what we have and like said, I think we are headed in the right direction. As for the Northgate area as a whole, I don't think wi'll have problems if we ever come up... Yeah there is one tree that is about in the middle of the parking lot that is going to have to come out, but in the area behind the deck, he is bringing in some four trees in the neighborhood 20 to 30 feet high to be planted there to screen thats back from the west sun. We revaluated that tree and it was dead. He has done his best by closing the driveway along the side of the building and utilizing what little vegetation that there already is there on the lot. I think in essence, we are going to lose one tree. But he is going to plant four more. Access and conformance so that you have parking back there, patio beer gardens, and whatever sort of thing at the rear. It seems the direction that things need to move. BOYETT: SPEAKER: SPEAKER: SPEAKER: BOYETT: SPEAKER: BOYETT: STOTLER: Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Eight This one tree that is presently there, we are going to lose that and then he is going to replace that with four large trees across that back. There are trees already here, trees up Mr. V: Is there any landscaping required in this instance? Mr. U: MODERATOR: We have a motion to approve and a second. Any further discussion? I second it. SEARS: I am going to move that we recommend - do we approve or recommend? I move for approval. SWEENEY: That is a much longer term than Mr. R: What you are saying is quite correct. If we can change the traffic patterns and the parking, we can possibly do the deal. If you go in there and talk about changing the whole nature of the structure... Mr. Q: not is, It can be done without interfering anybody's business, rather easily. interrupting it for a period of time. Mr. 0: with That There doesn't need to be a sacramental Mr. N: Yeah but unless the City can foot the whole bill you are going to have a hard time. Mr. M: I don't know that any of them will be out of business. That could be implemented without anybody being out of business at all. Mr. L: Somebody has to come up with the dollars to pay them off for the period of time that they are going to be out of business. Mr. K: perhaps the same period of time and they look at amortizing it and suddenly you say well let's look take this whole thing and re-develop it. Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page Nine MODERATOR: Okay, the question has been called. Our Motion is to approve. All those in favor signify by saying ave. A mid-size vehicle has a 10 foot swing with the door. If you are going to get in the door without turning sideways. A midsize vehicle takes ten. You'll find ten in commercial areas still being specified and they will be forever more. They have a rapid turnover. Mr. GG: Take a nine foot space for a smaller vehicle. We had it on the agenda last year to consider enlarging it to ten. As I recall. Mr. FF: Mr. EE: That may be something else you want to consider later on - the rapid number of smaller vehicles that are being used, but these are full size spaces. Mr. Dd: There are none. They are standard, 9x20's. Mr. CC: What's the rip on parking spaces? Mr. BB: The University Drive side over here is going to be landscaped. There are already hedges there and that little dirt area, and everything is going to be replaced by brick pavement. The entire walk area is goint to be redone. Mr. AA: Oh yeah. Mr. Z Z : We are going to landscape the entire front part facing Mr. YY: No sir. We are not going to put ?maze? in there simply because of the size of the... Mr.XX: There is no landscaping of any kind for the parking lot? And you're not going to put ?maze? in there or anything. Mr. W: this area, and trees along here that we are going to be able to save. Then on the adjacent property there are large trees, but they are not on this site. Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 page Ten Mr. KK: Did you get that, Chris? Mr. JJ: I would like to go on record as abstaining. MODERATOR: Motion carried unanimously. MEMBERS: Aye. Partial Transcript of P&Z Meeting of June 21, 1979 Page 11 ..r.,..,..,......