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MEMORANDUM
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TO:
FROM:
THROUGH:
DATE:
RE:
Lisa Jones, REMA
Sabine Kuenzel, Staff Planner
Cathy Locke, City Attorney
January 3, 1992
Legal status of Woodstone Shopping Center
Pursuant to our telephone conversation regarding Woods tone Shopping Center, I
discussed the matter with senior members of the planning staff and with our Legal
Department. Specifically, we discussed the fact that Woodstone was built before changes
to the Zoning Ordinance took place. Ordinarily, the property would have nonconforming
status and would need to meet only those regulations that were in effect at the time the
project was built.
Cathy Locke, City Attorney, does not agree that the property retains the nonconforming
status it once had as a shopping center. The property owner allowed Blinn College to
move into the center and reserve parking solely for the college, thereby changing the use
and relinquishing the center's legal nonconforming status. All City codes are therefore
applicable.
There are several factors that were taken into consideration in our analysis of the parking
agreement that REMA has with Blinn:
1. The parking at the center as a whole does not meet current codes.
The parking lot provides 322 spaces; 346 are required.
2. Forty five percent of the total number of spaces (146 spaces) are
allocated to Blinn students on a parking permit basis. The retail
businesses, or the lease spaces that make up the actual '.shopping
center", are left with 176 parking spaces. For its square footage
(36,200 square feet), the retail portion should provide 241 parking
spaces. Parking for the actual shopping center is deficient by thirty
percent.
3. There is a provision in the Zoning Ordinance that limits uses such as
restaurants and bars to twenty five percent of the leasable space in a
shopping center. Twenty five percent of the 36,200 square feet left
for shopping leaves 9050 square feet that may be devoted to such
intense uses. The floor area devoted to restaurants and bars in
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Woods tone adds up to 10,200 square feet, which exceeds the
allowable limit by 1150 square feet.
Therefore, the City will not authorize any additional square footage to be devoted to
intense uses under the given circumstances. If the mix of uses in the remainder of the
shopping center should change, the City will allow up to twenty five percent of the floor
space not devoted to Blinn to be used for restaurants, bars, and theaters.
Cathy has asked that all questions regarding this matter be referred to her.
cc: Jane Kee, Senior Planner
Jim Callaway, Planning Director