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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes .. , " '- r Mr. Arden stated that the concern several years ago when the development agreement was drafted, was , to make sure that all of the land would not be developed until Rock Prairie Road is installed to make sure the city is not forced to construct the road in the future. The proposed subdivision should be completed approximately sixty days before the completion of Rock Prairie Road. Commissioner Lightfoot moved to approve the final plat with the comments outlined in the Presubmission Conference Report and the condition that the City Council approve the amended development agreement prior to filing the final plat for record. Commissioner Massey seconded the motion which passed unopposed (6 - 0). AGENDA ITEM NO.6: Consideration of a driveway variance, an appeal to the City Engineer's decision to deny a second access point along Rock Prairie Road for the property located on the northeast corner of Rock Prairie Road and Wellborn Road. (97-803) Assistant to the City Engineer" Homeyer stated that the applicant has submitted a driveway variance request for a convenience store at the comer of the Rock Prairie Road extension and Wellborn Road. This request was reviewedhy the City Engineer and was denied, therefore the applicant is appealing this decision to the Commission. As part of the Rock Prairie Road extension project a raised median will be constructed.with several openings to allow traffic to access future developments. There is a proposed median opening located approximately 275 feet from Wellborn Road. During the design process, this median opening was purposely placed at this location to comply with the I}riveway Access Location and Design Policy. This location was determined in August of 1996. The first pre-development meeting to discuss this proposed development was held on September 10, 1996; At this meeting, staff indicated that curb cuts on both Rock Prairie and Wellborn would need to be a minimum of 275 feet from the intersection. At a later date, the · applicant proposed a third driveway to be located approximately 125 feet fr()m the intersection because he felt that the driveway located at the median opening would not provide adequate access to his development. Staff has maintained its. prior decision to not approve the third loCation because the proposed distance does. not meet the minimum spacing as identified in the driveWay ~ccess qrdinance. It is staff's position to vary from the ordinance only under extenuating circumstances. in order to maintain consistency and fairness with.. past, present and future requests. The architect has submitted a letter from himself and a report from a traffic. engineer citing specific reasons for the. ,third driveway location. These letters are attached for your review. This intersection has the potential for a.similar use to be located on the opposite comer. If this occurs, and if -the variance request is approved, then staff would be in a difficult position to deny a similar request on the opposite comer. TneCity Engineer is the designated administrator of the driveway access ordinance. The applicant has not. demonstrated the need for more than two driveways at this site. In addition, the third proposed driveway does not meet the minimum spacing and staff recommended denial of this variance request. Commissioner Lightfoot questioned staff concerning the safety issues of the proposed driveway location and the possibility of medians along Wellborn Road. Assistant to the City Engineer Homeyer stated that there will be raised medians in Wellborn Road; however, the time frame is unknown. Staff is uncomfortable with the variance request primarily because of the severity of the driveway separation. The proposed driveway is 125' from Wellborn Road which is less then half the required distance of275'. He stated that the driveway ordinance is based on street classification and speed in order to reduce the chance of rear end collisions. The ordinance does not distinguish between divided and undivided streets. P & Z Minutes April 3, 1997 Page 40f6 .. "" '- Applicant Jim Loveless of 7050 W oodoak Drive in Bryan approached the Commission and stated that if the driveway ordinance addressed raised medians, the variance request would probably not be necessary. The major purpose of the ordinance is to keep vehicles from turning left and crossing lanes of traffic; however, in this case, the raised medians will do the same thing. Mr. Loveless stated that the proposed use is a convenience store and it is important that there is easy access to and from the site. Traffic Engineer Joe Blaschke is in.support of the variance request and says that the additional driveway will not be a violation of good traffic engineering practice. Representative of the applicant Joe Blaschke of 4303 New Castle Court in Bryan informed the Commission that he is in support of the driveway ordinance and staff's position to insure conformance with the ordinance. However, there are many other cities in the state that consider raised medians when determining driveway locations because there is less interference with traffic. Mr. Blaschke stated that he would not support a similar variance across Rock Prairie Road because of the direction of traffic and the location of the future signal; A variance. across Rock Prairie Road would interfere with the que of vehicles traveling toward the future signal. The proposed driveway on the subject property will not create a safety problem and work in this location due to the raised median. Mr. Blaschke stated that the existing driveway ordinance could be expanded to address raised medians and be more consistent with the rest of the state. Commissioner Lightfoot moved to grant the driveway variance and overturn the City Engineer's decision to deny a second access point along Rock Prairie for the property located on the northeast comer of Rock Prairie Road and Wellborn Road. Commissioner Parker seconded the motion. Commissioner Lightfoot stated that he respects staff's position to deny the variance request. However, in this particular case, the raised median in Rock-Prairie Road and future medians along Wellborn Road is a factor. There does not appear to be a safety hazard which is one of the major reasons for the access ordinance. The - property across Rock Prairie Road is a different situation primarily because of the direction of traffic. Commissioner Parker agreed and stated that the real issue is that the ordinance does not take into consideration raised medians. Based upon the consulting engineer's remarks, there appears to be a basis for an exception to the ordinance. He suggested that the Commission pass this matter on to the City Council to look at a possible amendment to include raised medians in the driveway ordinance. Commissioner Smith stated that he is not comfortable with the variance request because of safety reasons. Until the issue of raised medians is investigated and addressed in the ordinance, the variance should not be granted. Commissioner Gribou expressed concern that if traffic is speeding to beat a signal, this will happen in both directions. increasing the possibility of rear end collisions. He stated that if he knew the exact future plans for Wellborn Road, including deceleration lanes, etc., he may reconsider. The motionto grant the variance request passed (4 - 2); Commissioners Gribou and Smith voted against the motion. P & Z Minutes April 3, 1997 Page 50f6